Ordinarily, I’m most sincerely disinterested in electoral politics, but this is just too great to pass up. It’s an epic example of libruls who’ve learned to love the CIA and other ‘intelligence’ agencies since the advent of the Mueller investigations. That there was no appreciable anti-war movement under the D Drone Killer in Chief, and there likely wouldn’t have been had the Red Queen been in the White House now is self-evident, but this evidence that the DCCC libruls have learned to love da bomb, high up military figures, as well as Special Ops and Seal assassins may have been predictable for some, but campaigning on those ‘credentials’ is breathtaking hubris in plain sight. But on with the show!
In Part One of his three part series at wsws.org, PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE, Martin writes that they discovered that:
“An extraordinary number of former intelligence and military operatives from the CIA, Pentagon, National Security Council and State Department are seeking nomination as Democratic candidates for Congress in the 2018 midterm elections. The potential influx of military-intelligence personnel into the legislature has no precedent in US political history.
“The Democratic leaders are promoting CIA agents and Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. At the same time, such people are choosing the Democratic Party as their preferred political vehicle. There are far more former spies and soldiers seeking the nomination of the Democratic Party than of the Republican Party. There are so many that there is a subset of Democratic primary campaigns that, with a nod to Mad magazine, one might call “spy vs. spy.”
Explaining how this series was prepared, Martin notes that currently, the House is controlled by a majority of 238 Republicans compared to 193 Democrats, and that to reach a majority, the Dems would need to gain of 24 seats.
He writes that according to the DCCC, 102 seats are seen as either priorities or at least completive, including 22 where five D and 17 R incumbents aren’t running again, and another 80 Rs who could be beaten if predictions of a swing to Dems prove accurate.
The World Socialist Website reviewed all of the FEC reports of these 102, most of whom had already raised $100,000 to make them competitive in primaries as starter war chests.
“The total of such candidates for the Democratic nomination in the 102 districts is 221. Each has a website that gives biographical details, which we have collected and reviewed for this report. It is notable that those candidates with a record in the military-intelligence apparatus, as well as civilian work for the State Department, Pentagon or National Security Council, do not hide their involvement, particularly in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They clearly regard working as a CIA agent in Baghdad, an Army special ops assassin in Afghanistan, or a planner for drone missile warfare in the White House or Pentagon as a star on their résumé, rather than something to conceal.
One quarter of all the Democratic challengers in competitive House districts have military-intelligence, State Department or NSC backgrounds. This is by far the largest subcategory of Democratic candidates. National security operatives (57) outnumber state and local government officials (45), lawyers (35), corporate executives, businessmen and wealthy individuals (30) and other professionals (19) among the candidates for Democratic congressional nominations.
Of the 102 primary elections to choose the Democratic nominees in these competitive districts, 44 involve candidates with a military-intelligence or State Department background, with 11 districts having two such candidates, and one district having three. In the majority of contests, the military-intelligence candidates seem likely to win the Democratic nomination, and, if the Democrats win in the general election, would enter Congress as new members of the House of Representatives.”
From Part II:
“Aside from their sheer number, and the fact that more than 40 percent, 24 of the 57, are women, there are other aspects worth considering.
Agents, but no longer secret
First: The number of candidates who openly proclaim their role in the CIA or military intelligence. In years past, such activities would be considered confidential, if not scandalous for a figure seeking public office. Not only would the candidates want to disguise their connections to the spy apparatus, the CIA itself would insist on it, particularly for those who worked in operations rather than analysis, since exposure, even long after leaving the agency, could be portrayed as compromising “sources and methods.”
This is no longer the case. The 2018 candidates drawn from this shadow world of espionage, drone murders and other forms of assassination positively glory in their records. And the CIA and Pentagon have clearly placed no obstacles in the way.
He writes that in Part One they’ve covered the cases of Elissa Slotkin, running in Michigan’s 8th District, who served three tours with the CIA in Baghdad, and Gina Ortiz Jones, an Air Force intelligence officer in Iraq, running for the Democratic nomination in the 23rd District of Texas.
“Aside from their sheer number, and the fact that more than 40 percent, 24 of the 57, are women, there are other aspects worth considering.
Agents, but no longer secret
First: The number of candidates who openly proclaim their role in the CIA or military intelligence. In years past, such activities would be considered confidential, if not scandalous for a figure seeking public office. Not only would the candidates want to disguise their connections to the spy apparatus, the CIA itself would insist on it, particularly for those who worked in operations rather than analysis, since exposure, even long after leaving the agency, could be portrayed as compromising “sources and methods.”
This is no longer the case. The 2018 candidates drawn from this shadow world of espionage, drone murders and other forms of assassination positively glory in their records. And the CIA and Pentagon have clearly placed no obstacles in the way.”
Let me see if I can shorten the bios of some of them, then you can read more of the details.
“Abigail Spanberger, seeking the Democratic nomination in a district in the suburbs of Richmond, Virginia, has the following declaration at the top of her campaign website: “After nearly a decade serving in the CIA, I’m running for Congress in Virginia’s 7th District to fight for opportunity, equality and security for all Americans. My previous service as a law enforcement officer, a CIA officer, and a community volunteer has taught me the value of listening.” Indeed!”
“Jesse Colvin, running in the 1st District of Maryland, spent six years in Army intelligence, including four combat deployments to Afghanistan and a year near the Demilitarized Zone between North Korea and South Korea. (quoting Colvin’s campaign material)
““As a Ranger, my four combat deployments in Afghanistan took place within a Joint Special Operations Task Force. I led intelligence teams whose work facilitated capture/kill missions of Taliban, al-Qaeda and other terrorist leaders. I managed a lethal drone program. I ran human intelligence sources. Every day, my team and I made dozens of decisions whose outcomes carried life and death consequences for my fellow Rangers, our Afghan partners, and Afghan civilians.”
“Jonathan Ebel, running in the 13th District of Illinois, served four years as a naval intelligence officer, including on the staff of the US European Command in Stuttgart, Germany during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. He now teaches religion at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Then there is Shelly Chauncey, seeking the Democratic nomination in the 5th District of Pennsylvania, in the Philadelphia suburbs. Her website strikes a feminist note:
“Shelly served her nation for more than a decade with the Central Intelligence Agency. She began her career as a secretary and worked her way up to become a counter-intelligence officer. Shelly served as an undercover officer with the CIA in Latin America, East Asia and throughout the United States, providing logistical and counter-intelligence support to operatives abroad.”
Another campaign website touches on the domestic operations of the US spy machine. Omar Siddiqui, running in California’s 48th District, describes his background as follows: “On the front lines of national defense, Mr. Siddiqui serves as a private advisor and consultant to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on issues of national security and counter-terrorism and was formerly an advisor and community partner with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Mr. Siddiqui is presently director of special projects of the FBI National Citizens Academy Alumni Association…”
Dan McReady, a Marine Corps veteran turned “clean energy” multi-millionaire, backed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for the Democratic nomination in the 9th District of North Carolina, even claims to have “found Jesus” in Iraq, where he was baptized in the waters of the Euphrates River.
Some of the career military candidates in the next list either joined the Obama administration, worked counter-terrorism, as Navy Seals, Special Ops, etc.:
Daniel Helmer, VA 10th, Alison Friedman (Also VA 10th w/ a $million war chest, Richard Ojeda VA 3rd, Josh Butner, CA 50th, Dan Feehan, MN 1st, Andy Kim NJ 3rd, Maura Sullivan NH 2nd, Jason Crow CO 6th, Matthew Morgan, MI 1st
From Part Three:
“From the State Department to Capitol Hill
The final category of military-intelligence candidates consists of veterans of the US State Department during the Obama years, most of them former aides to Hillary Clinton. These are among the best financed and most publicized of the likely Democratic nominees. In the event of a Democratic “wave” in November, most would find themselves with seats in Congress.”
Seventeen names are listed, but you can look at them at your leisure.
The next section is:
‘A stealth candidate—and some celebrities, including several candidates with over a million bucks in their war chests already.
Martin’s ‘Some political conclusions’ is long and worthy, but here are a few excerpts:
“The campaign takes place in the wake of more than a year of unrelenting focus by the Democrats on the anti-Russian campaign, a narrative claiming that Trump’s victory in the presidential election was the result of Russian interference and that Trump is, for all practical purposes, a Russian stooge in the White House.”
“Clinton ran in 2016 as the favored candidate of the military-intelligence apparatus, amassing hundreds of endorsements by retired generals, admirals and spymasters, and criticizing Trump as unqualified to be the commander-in-chief.
This political orientation has developed and deepened in 2018. The Democratic Party is running in the congressional elections not only as the party that takes a tougher line on Russia, but as the party that enlists as its candidates and representatives those who have been directly responsible for waging war, both overt and covert, on behalf of American imperialism. It is seeking to be not only the party for the Pentagon and CIA, but the party of the Pentagon and CIA.”
“The upper-middle-class layer that provides the “mass” base of the Democratic Party has moved drastically to the right over the past four decades, enriched by the stock market boom, consciously hostile to the working class, and enthusiastically supportive of the military-intelligence apparatus which, in the final analysis, guarantees its own social position against potential threats, both foreign and domestic. It is this social evolution that now finds expression on the surface of capitalist politics, in the rise of the military-intelligence “faction” to the leadership of the Democratic Party.”
A ‘part of a set’ Bonus: ‘Google admits collaboration with illegal US drone murder program’, Andre Damon, wsws.org, 8 March 2018
“In another milestone in the growing integration between the military-intelligence complex and Silicon Valley, Google’s parent company Alphabet has confirmed that it has provided software to identify targets used in the illegal US government drone murder program.” and toward the end:
“This [the third-offset against ‘the pacing’ threat from China] strategy revolves around the recruitment of the US private technology sector, which remains the most developed in the world. As the Economist put it, the United States “continues to dominate commercial AI funding and has more firms working in the field than any other country.”
Speaking at a conference last year, Marine Corps Col. Drew Cukor, the head of the so-called “Project Maven” in which Google is a key collaborator, declared the US in the midst of an “AI arms race,” adding, “Many of you will have noted that Eric Schmidt is calling Google an AI company now, not a data company.”
After reTweeting the wsws CIA Dems coverage, and likely having seen their Google helps drones coverage, this: @wikileaks march 8: ‘The beginning of the end of humanity: Google has put artificial intelligence (AI) into the Pentagon’s drone program Background: ‘Google Is Not What It Seems’, by Julian Assange, an excerpt from his book, in answer to: ‘Project Maven brings AI to the fight against ISIS’, 21 December 2017, the bulletin.org
“Maven is designed to be that pilot project, that pathfinder, that spark that kindles the flame front of artificial intelligence across the rest of the [Defense] Department.”
Air Force Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan
Ain’t it a beautiful world we’ll likely be handing over to future generations?
(cross-posted at caucus99percent.com)
davidly
Greyson Smythe
LeMoyne
juliania2
ohiobarbarian
stephenadavis1
wendyedavis
café babylon 
Born-again baptism in the Euphrates has got to be a bonus worth its bucks in the old war chest. Jebus Flyin’ Crest!
I got an idea: alert your next liberal loyal to these numbers and the list of bios in part II, but change the party affiliation to Republican, wait for their response, then spring the truth eternal on ’em. It is indeed a beautiful whirled. Here’s another devolvement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVGINIsLnqU
lol. and ‘support whirled peas’. but dayum,as to ‘freedom of choice’ as well, they got so much so right all those decades ago.
but as to labeling them Rs, what do you reckon would ensue? libruls would rant and rave?
jerry casale of devo became jihad jerry and the evildoers later. ;-) kent state radicalize him further, ya see…
As I remembered, people wanted the Democrats and the Republicans to both lose the election–and a lot of others as well.
What has been happening since the loss of the USS. Hillary is the loss of Republicans, hang with me now. Those losses won’t stop for now. There will be some brand-new, brand-new caucus and hitting the R-brand with guns, prairie rebelliion, and freedom of religion for proselytizing. Those guys have already been working the hustings. There are also some “serious Republicans” in the works like the Mittster. The two must haves for Democrats are the scalps of Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell. It’s Schumer’s turn and and Nancy’s swan song after triumph, don’t ya know. And time for a new speaker of the House. Mebbe one of them-there national security types will allow Miz Nancy to retire. But don’t fret yet. It will be the Democrats turn for the realignment scramble as Mueller works over the “constitutional crisis”.
You folks out in the Great Plains got good supplies of popcorn for the next three scheduled years of Trumpland? So far, the effort to suppress the first batch of Nazis and not to regularize Trump have succeeded outside of Congress. Yep, even the Dems. Somebody must have told Hillary to pipe down; she doesn’t have credibility as the Resistance–Vichy Democrats in Iraq and all that. But lots of others haven’t. I have some hopes of red-state surprises out of the resistance but not the Reesistance(tm). Where there will be will be the surprises, given that Perez was another Steve Israel.
Elections this year: if it’s not good enough for popcorn, don’t bother; people’s mileage will dramatically vary. Even for watching. Even Iron Stache.
Ya think that the Gang of 17 and their new donkey banners want to find out what the Republican oversight committees really know from swinging the info around the wall? I’m sure someone was asking “What are they talking about with Hillary and Bill and Benghazi, and Uranium One” You’d think that no one ever heard of Megatons to Megawatts over 20 years. Those 20,000 US and Soviet nuclear weapons went for electric power in the US, but you want to know what commission Bill Clinton made on the deal, or did Hillary keep the books? That was when Putin wasn’t around to keep everything nailed down, right? Jeffrey Sachs and his Schock Doctrine (oh, what did Jeffrey call that act of mercy?) Yep, the spy v. spy are gonna want to know what actually went on outside the silos there. Some think they have to be elected to Congress to do that. Apparently. Never saw when it ever worked out that way — even the Church Committee.
Seems Russian counterspy for MI6 got caught in UK by Russia. They don’t like him any more than the US loves Reality Winner. What you mean, girl. Making us shit or get off the pot on the Russiagate story in December.
“Does we have this or does we not, boss Brennan?” Reality got lucky.
But here is between the lines of the Guardian. All the information came from UK government. All interpretations came from UK government. There is no acknowledgement of why Skirpa is in the UK; Russia apparently did not send him or his daughter to Salisbury. What you do know if the stories are true (whose? exactly) is that he was lousy at operational security if everything was up and up with MI6.
But in the Guardian, when the the spy, his daughter, and a cop, and then later others went to the hospital for unknown injuries believe but not confirmed to be chemical weapons poisoning, I remarked the following in a blog comment: Interesting that this is in the high profile track. What are each of the countries out to prove? It is no surprise that veteran KGB operative Putin internalized the values and practices that date back to the Soviet Union. What is valuable is that PM May wants to signal “Stop that in the UK”.
Personnel actions in intelligence services have nationally predictable results.
The salience of this story does not increase because of the Russian activities (which we are still waiting for clarity on) in the 2016 election. It is just another tragedy resulting from the fact that nations have clandestine services and means for enforcing discipline.
My evenhandedness with “enemies” was not appreciated. PM May wrested away the news cycle over this and dragged libruls with them (conspicuooously, the Washington Monthly).
And I see that Moon jae-i is escorting Trump to to meet Kim jung un. Which of Trump’s many roles will he be chatting with Kim about besides Commander-in-Chief.
Here’s a thought. If Trump tries to shake loose Moon so that Kim and Trump can go one-on-one mano-a-mano. How quickly will the South Korean Congress evict the US military from South Korea a la Subic Bay in 1991?
It could be that a lot of intelligence professionals (operational or analysis) are available for domestic politics without assignment (retired?) because there is nothing to do if the boss hates your organization.
And UK military seems to be well hung up on chemical weapons after Tony Blair signed on to Iraq. Interesting that one can’t be backed up.
Apologies for overstaying my welcome. It was funny at one point.
okay, i’ll as which election did many want both Rs and Ds to lose? romney for prez redux, do you mean? and the hustings more local than national?
but i still don’t get the mueller stuff as a constitutional crisis, myself, but loads of Ds seem to. but w/ this paragraph beginning w/ ‘Ya think that the Gang of 17 and their new donkey banners…’ that there might be some danger to the Ds if he digs too deep, discovers too much?
your evenhandedness was not appreciated in what venue, on what issue?
ah, shoot, i’d answered 22 over yonder in hopes i might feel bright enough to decode all of this. but perez is dcc, dccc is ben lujan or someone.
“It could be that a lot of intelligence professionals (operational or analysis) are available for domestic politics without assignment (retired?) because there is nothing to do if the boss hates your organization.” maybe, but doubtful in most of these cases, but it’s just a guess, but there’s no claim that they were ‘let go’, afaik.
Romney is up for US Senate from Utah, replacing Hatch. 2018
If they were not let go, the constitutional crisis starts getting wrapped around the axle then, doesn’t it.
Of course the last constitutional crisis that was allowed to “work itself out” was the combination of Watergate and the Church Committee subjects.
As for this investigation, watch what happens with Roger Stone. He fell too much in love with Watergate as a tactic.
Finally it is less about Rooskies and more about how desperately both parties wanted to win at all costs.
thanks much, but you didn’t answer the questions i’d really wanted answered most, but no matter. on the putin spies, were you talking about these folks? i’d read the comments a b’s, found this link. i dunno what it actually said, cuz i dinnae want to tun off my adblocker, too much to do in so little time. (i kinda forget who roger stone is to say the truth, lol.)
on edit: oh, lordie, here he is.
bleary eyes now from too much reading commenting, and tra la la. cripes, sun’s gonna set soon, ooof, i hate time changes.
I’ll be back to absorb all of this more carefully (brain a bit foggy with a gluey bug that doesn’t want to leave at present) but just latching onto TD’s ‘peole didnt want either Republicans or Democrats to win’ with a hearty AMEN that I am sure will be reinforced by wendye’s as usual indefatigable research.
And again, amen.
so nice to see you, juliania, so sorry to hear you’re buggy, though. already got the new ‘trump to meet kim jong-un’ one up. give peas a chance….
not over-staying, but i’m having trouble following your drift esp. at the beginning, as this writing isn’t akin to your usual writing, imo.
but as to herr T meeting jong-un, i’d been considering putting up an open thread for both here and over yonder as to who will be, is, screeching the loudest against it (never mind the lindsey graham’s who are couching their bets so as not to be wrong it it all blows up.
but i’ll read this again in the mornin’ w/ fresh eyes, maybe even fresh mind. for now: don’t forget to set your clocks ahead tonight, goddammit.
yeah, may’s tea party with crown prince saud: execrable.
Thanks,wendye – did forget, or rather not know due to ignoring all news outlets – so son an hour late to work but a stellar employee so was forgiven. I did wonder why I seemed to have missed the early part of Tiger Woods comeback finale, in spite of tuning in, I thought as early as us peons minus pay tv can be allowed to watch. (For anyone interested, a tigger minus his bounce is so much more a charming character, as AA Milne has taught us..)
Aha, so Vlad is as out of patience with his spies as is Mohamed. Or at least Terry May would have you think that.
?
“The upper-middle-class layer that provides the “mass” base of the Democratic Party has moved drastically to the right over the past four decades, enriched by the stock market boom, consciously hostile to the working class, and enthusiastically supportive of the military-intelligence apparatus which, in the final analysis, guarantees its own social position against potential threats, both foreign and domestic. It is this social evolution that now finds expression on the surface of capitalist politics, in the rise of the military-intelligence “faction” to the leadership of the Democratic Party.”
when I drive around to the hemp outlet & the crunchitarian food coop & am buying my organic cotton fiber bed linens, tooling about in my emissions free Lexus SUV (more sophisticated than a Hummer! and more earth-friendly, too. isn’t it nice to rub it in the face of your neighbors w/your competitive consumerism AND care for mother nature at the same time?), anyway, not only is it easy not to see the sprawling homeless camps everywhere, it’s easy not to hear about ICE destroying water supplies in the desert, millions deported, and to be shocked! shocked! to hear about how many prisoners there are in this country, etc., etc. wait, what? are you telling me that our humanitarian campaigns create millions upon millions of refugees? gtfoh. “why does there have to be a revolution? we’ve got the machine [orgasmatron], the orb and the telescreen! what do these people want??” “hard to understand the criminal mind…”
and here comes the CIA democrats. just what the hell are other “dignitaries” & “statespoodles” from furrin nations supposed to think about talking to the CIA when they meet an “elected, public” official of the US? do they bring their own spy school shit to this meeting? and get ready to stab someone in the eye w/a fork if they have to?
wtff? the now more aspirational than actual middle class & upper middle & lower upper and upper and upper upper classes…I pulled out my crystal ball called a history book & predict that 99% of these people will continue to look the other way, distracted by a $ symbol, until swastikas (excuse me, crosses, or the magen David) are being branded in their childrens’ foreheads at the Montessori schools they ship their brats off to. (they go to Montessori schools b/c all the security gates & guards & guns at public schools are not good for a child’s self-esteem. and all the black people.) all you really have to do is to tell these professionals they need recertification again this year in whatever field they are “experts” in, and that’ll keep ’em busy & worried for a good while.
this is a bit OT, but this technology stuff is DOD/etc directed. I assume the content of video games is, as well. Marvel comics & video games are the global culture. in China, before I learned to say “mother” *in English*, I learned to say “bullet” and “assassin” and “drone” and “human shield.” it’s astounding. I know Smurfette slipping honey away from the humblebees unstung may not be the most exciting video game plot ever, but “Assassin’s Creed”? gimme a fookin break. Tom Clancy Call of Duty #65: another country gets screwed.
anyway, all this, all of it, and in this case, the openness of “civilian,” “elected” officials to self-cheerlead over their extensive resumes of faithful service to empire, signs of corruption & decadence. and further warning to the US public not to buck the political system, cuz you immediately crash into this Nazi dod/intelligence apparatus that runs everything. immediately. and you wonder why Senator Kerry tazers fuckers who ask uppidy questions?
bless yer pea-pickin’ heart, man w/o a home. later for more, but i sincerely wish that you had the time and inclination to register at c99 and cross-post your too-fun-for-prime-time comment. exquisite!
on edit: if you do accept this assignment, a big IF, you might register as ‘a homie w/out a home’.
i’ll think about it. the NSA reads my mots justes, and that’s all that matters. on your blog. look out, world!
I tend to look at the cspan version of the US gov’t as a kind of Plymouth Plantation Village or what’s that colonial thing in virginny? Williamsburg? I mean, the performances have about the same effect on the country. who gets paid more & who is more authentic can be debated. less people show up for the senate version, that’s for sure. In any case, if the US Senate/House is “just a big charade,” why stick a bunch of DOD/CIA spybots in office?
to which I reply, self, don’t underestimate the power of charades. why does Barbra Streisand need the exact same dog? b/c training poodles from another kennel is just too difficult. Clones are the answer. from spy school & boot camp.
throw in Harvard/Yale w/your West Point/Annapolis in your CIA superpol, who is nothing more than the silly puddy of the state, even HRC types can’t discern how much they are supposed to fawn on such a…what shall we call him? First Citizen? Mark Warner will start asking our new breed of heroic warrior/assassin elected public servant for their autograph and if he can make baseball cards of them for his kids.
maybe a truly effective fascist asshole is not rising up fast enough for their liking thru the normal business cycle & grooming process of ivy league ed & summer’s on the Cape and sticking it to the natives with casinos? put some of these Trump types, after military school, in Washington. and when they come to run for POTUS after a term or two…BAM! CIA’s own Manchurian Candidate.
at the very least, constantly shoving the military/security services in people’s faces around the issue of supposedly democratically elected officials…solidarity w/the state.
lol. that ship’s already sailed, as i have two more diaries both here and over yonder. sorry that i can’t seem to get back into the game of this un, though.
but your answer to your question is just right: ‘to which I reply, self, don’t underestimate the power of charades.’ but sure the Ds need more of them, there are votes to consider! the comments i’ve collected on confirming both pompeo to head the state dept. and torture girl to head the cia: almost, but not quite…hilarious.
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/paul-edwards/78106/you-still-don-t-know-do-you-mr-jones
ha:
“You’re late, people. Lifetimes too late…
Managing the Great Charade that supports the sanctified dogma that America is a democracy has been the first duty of the Capitalist engine that owns everything, from the Founders down to today’s Imperial goat’s nest.
That democracy never functions and never has, Plato predicted and history confirms. This, notwithstanding the spin of one of the mightiest social and political reactionaries of all time–Mr. Churchill–that “democracy is the worst form of government known, except all others.” Hey, it worked for him.”
Full Court Press for Haspel – Letter from Fifty Former Officials
The Cipher Brief, April 9, 2018
More than 50 former senior U.S. government officials sent a letter to the Senate intelligence committee Monday to support Trump nominee Gina Haspel to lead CIA.
The Cipher Brief has obtained a copy of the letter, which was endorsed by eight former CIA directors or acting directors, three former directors of national intelligence, two former secretaries of state and numerous other well-known former officials.
[…]
Among those signing the letter were officials who served in both Democratic and Republican administrations. Former CIA Directors John Brennan, Leon Panetta, Michael Hayden, Porter Goss, George Tenet, and William Webster were among those signing. Other prominent names on the letter include former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, former Democratic Senator and Medal of Honor recipient Bob Kerrey, former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, and retired Admiral Bill McRaven, the former head of the U.S. Special Operations Command and is best known for being in command of the operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden.
lol: “A former senior intelligence official, speaking anonymously to discuss why the letter was drafted, said the officials were concerned that media coverage focused on Haspel’s role in the now-illegal detention program, rather than on the full range of her career.”
ach, i should have checked whether (former D candidate for prez) wesley clark had signed, given what he’d said in a video on my new diary.