Spencer Ackerman of Daily Beast calls it “a proxy war.” The nomination of Avril Haines to serve as director of the Office of National Intelligence (ODNI) has set off a power struggle between the center-left and center-right factions of the Democratic policy world. This is a consequential fight, the ODNI overseees–but does not actually run–17...
Tag: torture
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Who Will Biden Pick to Run the CIA?
President-Elect Joe Biden is looking for a CIA director. In CounterPunch.org, former CIA officer Mel Goodman runs down where past directors have gone wrong–and what Biden could do right. The directors who were agency professionals were a particularly motley group. [Gina] Haspel is best known for her leading role in the CIA’s sadistic torture and...
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The Undercover Mission of the New International Spy Museum
The new International Spy Museum in Washington D.C. is, not surprisingly, an institution in disguise, an undercover operation executed in plain sight. The museum’s beveled glassy front is more stylish than its neighbors–the bland façade of the Post Office to the west, the neo-expressionist face of the General Services Administration to the north. Yet the...
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Gitmo Testimony Sheds Light on $81 Million CIA Contract for Waterboarding Duo
The continuing testimony of James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, architects of the CIA’s torture program, at a military tribunal in Guantanamo sheds new light on the business side of “enhanced interrogation.” The duo make an appearance in their private jet in The Report, the movie sabout the Senate Intelligence Committee investigation of the CIA torture...
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The Report’s Daniel Jones: How the CIA Manipulates Presidents
Dan Jones (portrayed by Adam Driver in the riveting movie, The Report) recently spoke to Jeremy Scahill about the relationship of the CIA to the presidency. It’s not a theme that is really spelled out in the movie, which focuses on the politics of torture, but what Jones says is key to understanding the realities...