Does Rand Paul Owe Gina Haspel an Apology?

NRO ^ | 14 March 2018 | Rich Lowery

[lowbuck]

Rand Paul launched a typically obnoxious attack on Gina Haspel today. Here is one account:

“To really appoint the head cheerleader for waterboarding to be head of the CIA? How can you trust somebody who did that to be in charge of the CIA,” Paul wondered, adding, “To read of her glee during the waterboarding is just absolutely appalling.”

Paul was referring to an account of a waterboarding session with suspected al Qaeda lieutenant Abu Zubaydah, who was subjected to so-called enhanced interrogation techniques now widely considered to be torture. ., .

The problem is that this conduct appears to be misattributed to Haspel. A U.S. intelligence official provided this statement:

Senator Paul’s claims today about Gina Haspel are not only inaccurate, but contradicted by the very source materials he relied on. The Senator quotes liberally from page 263 of James Mitchell’s book “Enhanced Interrogation” in describing the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah in claiming that Ms. Haspel was the CIA Chief of Base who was present and expressing joy at this interrogation. A reading of the same page demonstrates that the Chief of Base present and quoted during this event was a man, not Gina Haspel. This is just one of many false claims about Ms. Haspel being peddled by the uninformed. . . snip

[Kazan]

No, I'm right and those that have been in combat know I am:

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/03/guess_what_hillary_waterboarding_works.html

As an infantry NCO in Vietnam, I saw freshly captured Viet Cong prisoners punched, kicked, choked, and even electrically shocked with field telephones during battlefield interrogations, and every single one broke quickly and began giving up intelligence on their troop formations and placements.

[yldstrk]

You are an embarrassment

[Kazan]

You're a liberal.

Thankful, Lt. Generals like Thomas McInerney are on cable news networks refuting lies of leftists like you:

McInerney was riding with Trump on this one: “It’s very simple to me, Charles. If we have some terrorists and the possibility of five nuclear weapons going off in U.S. cities, I want to use any method that will determine where they are, when it’s going to happen and how we can nullify them,” he said. “I’m not interested in values. I’m interested in saving a million American lives. It is very simple. And that kabuki that went on yesterday on the Senate intel committee by the Democratic members is the [inaudible] set of questions I’ve ever heard. And it ought to ensure all our viewers — never elect a Democrat again. ”

[Kazan]

How are religious minorities in the ME and northern Africa doing after regime change?

Religious minority would be doing much better with a regime in Iran, the one place Obama refused to back protesters demanding one.

Regime change worked out better for Christians in Egypt after the military took over for the Muslim Brotherhood.

[grania]

The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt was the result of regime change chaos caused by foreign influence. Until that, Christian communities were doing fine. Christians communities were doing just fine throughout the region until regime change made a mess of things.

[RinaseaofDs]

Preach it.