Readers React: Don’t confirm Gina Haspel — and while we’re at it, let’s rein in the CIA

To the editor: In the Senate committee hearing on President Trump’s nomination of Gina Haspel to head the Central Intelligence Agency, Haspel refused to answer several questions about her own opinions as to whether the CIA’s acts of torture were immoral or not. Just like the president, she will do anything to accomplish whatever task has been assigned to her.

I believe the Senate should not confirm Haspel. We have all seen the fallout from the Bush administration’s lack of a moral foundation and the damage it has caused to our political institutions.

Instead, Congress should rein in the CIA and refocus it exclusively on gathering and analyzing information. The agency should not be engaged in covert actions to kidnap and interrogate foreign nationals or to overthrow or destabilize foreign governments.

Patrick Sullivan, Reseda

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To the editor: The Times Editorial Board, which has misgivings about Haspel, knows full well that her role in the CIA after the 9/11 attacks was the gathering of intelligence following the deadliest strike on our country since Pearl Harbor.

She carried out to the letter the program vetted by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. It was not for the CIA and certainly not for Haspel to question the legality of the government’s directive.

That those with political power later decided these methods were wrong should not be an excuse to transfer responsibility to the people who had been directed to use them. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have stated that Haspel has served her country for 33 years with honor and distinction.

Kent Schmidt, La Cañada Flintridge

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To the editor: Well beyond the concerns that confirming Haspel would condone torture and reward her for destroying evidence, there are also strong policy arguments against her appointment.

The CIA is exceptionally insular. Just as we want civilian control of the military and thus shy away from making generals or admirals the secretary of Defense, it is important for the CIA to remain responsive to the outside world via external management. It should not be headed by someone with virtually no professional experience outside the CIA.

It is a recipe for disaster to confirm someone who not only has no connection to external concerns, but whose primary experience within the CIA is not with its end product — the careful analysis of information — but only with intelligence gathering.

Robert Neches, Los Angeles

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To the editor: How refreshing to learn that Haspel started at the agency 30-plus years ago and rose through the ranks through hard work and true talent.

Haspel, the agency’s No. 2 official, is now positioned to break through that glass ceiling to become the first woman to serve as CIA director. How remarkable!

Jeffrey Whitfield, Santa Ana

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