Eye Spy - May 2018

30 EYE SPY INTELLIGENCE MAGAZINE 115 2018

Climbing

The CIA

Ladder

President Trump nominates Gina Haspel as

new Director of the CIA. If the selection is

approved, Haspel will become the first female

to lead a premier US Intelligence service

ALL CHANGE AT LANGLEY

A PIVOTAL MOMENT IN THE STORY OF US INTELLIGENCE EVOLVEMENT

ust hours after announcing serving

Director CIA Mike Pompeo will

replace Rex Tillerson as US Secre-

tary of State, President Trump opted

to ‘tweet’ details of one the most

Jsignificant chapters in the spy

agency’s history - the nomination of Gina

Haspel as its first ever female Director. Haspel,

61, whose career began in 1985, served as

Pompeo’s Deputy Director.

CLANDESTINE OPERATIVE

Amongst her many overseas posts, Haspel

served as Chief of Station in London and

Deputy Director of the Agency’s National

Clandestine Service (from 2015 known as

Directorate of Operations - DO).

She said of the nomination: “After 30 years as

an officer of the Central Intelligence Agency, it

has been my honour to serve alongside Mike

Pompeo for the past year. I am grateful to

President Trump for the opportunity and

humbled by his confidence in me to be

nominated to be the next Director of the CIA. If

confirmed, I look forward to providing

President Trump the outstanding intelligence

suppor t he has grown to expect during his

first year in office.”

A CONTROVERSIAL CHAPTER

Already some critics have attacked Trump -

primarily because Haspel, who operated as a

global operational undercover agent - was

involved in Langley’s Extraordinary Rendition

programme of the early-mid 2000s.

One location frequently cited by opponents

and allegedly headed by Haspel was the ‘black

site’ in US-friendly Thailand. Codenamed

‘Cat’s Eye’, it was here several al-Qaida

terrorists captured in Afghanistan, including

some involved in 9/11, were sent. One

intelligence source said she “oversaw the

waterboarding programme.” Materials and

reported video of such interrogations were

destroyed over a decade ago, with some

commentators alleging Haspel herself

Mike Pompeo - from CIA to

State Department

Climbing

The CIA

Ladder

Haspel pictured with White House

Chief of Staff John Kelly and CIA

Operating Officer Brian Bulatao

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