Spycraft

The Rehabilitation of Gina Haspel by the New York Times

Last week, the New York Times did its best to rehabilitate CIA director Gina Haspel, who was one of the agency’s leading proponents and players in the unconscionable policy of torture and abuse in CIA’s secret prisons.  Today, the New York Times doubled down on its bet, and ran a letter to the editor from a former operations officer, Douglas Wise, who predictably extolled the virtues of “Bloody Gina.”  Whereas the Times’ reporters credited Haspel with the “skills of a spy,” the CIA operative explained that it was “not spycraft (sic); it’s professionalism.”  The one thing that the Times and the letter writer have in common is the purveying of bullshit.

The obvious issue concerns their belief that Haspel has genuinely ingratiated herself with the commander-in-chief.  Their view is “yes;” my answer is “you must be kidding.”  Let’s review the bidding.  The CIA believes that Russian hacking took place during the 2015-2016 presidential campaign.  The president believes Russian President Vladimir Putin’s denials.  The CIA believes that North Korea continues to expand its nuclear weapons program.