Throughout his presidency, Donald Trump has made some questionable decisions. Many (rightfully) questioned, and disagreed with, his terminating the executive order which granted legal status to Dreamers, his pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, and his inconceivable lack of caution with his Twitter feed, among other actions.
Few overall paths by this administration, however, have been criticized more than Trump's nominations to key positions (or lack thereof). From the absurdly unqualified to the dangerously bigoted, his picks have seemingly flaunted in the face of any and all respect for the positions they will be filling.
However, despite all of this, one of his most recent nominations might, shockingly enough, be his worst yet. After the President fired Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State--presumably for referring to him as a "moron" and disagreeing with some of his views--and nominating then CIA director Mike Pompeo in his place, he nominated Gina Haspel--who has worked for the agency in varying roles since 1985--to be the first-ever female director of the CIA.
On the surface, this might sound great: Donald Trump, of all people, "progressively" nominating a woman to head our premier intelligence agency? But while Haspel's gender may be where the progressiveness of her nomination starts, it is also where it ends.
See, the thing about Haskell is that she oversaw the torture--let's call it what it is, please--of detainees, specifically in 2002. And then, she participated in the cover-up and destruction of tapes of such torture.
In case you're skeptical about how bad this could be, really, just take a look at how the Washington Post described it: "the torture of at least 39 detainees who were subjected to waterboarding, mock executions, sleep deprivation, rectal feeding and other brutal techniques."
This kind of treatment of anyone--let alone potentially innocent people, as many detainees at black sites are--has no place in any civilized place, let alone a country like the United States purporting to be a leader of democracy in the world.
Even some Republicans are calling for more scrutiny of Haspel. Senator John McCain said, “The torture of detainees in U.S. custody during the last decade was one of the darkest chapters in American history,” before going on to say Haspel needs to explain her involvement.
I would say she does not even deserve a chance to explain. No one even remotely linked to this disgusting and reprehensible practice should be considered, let alone someone as closely linked as Haspel. If she is to be confirmed, it would be an international embarrassment and, frankly, a slap in the face to US prisoners of war from past decades.
