As Gina Haspel, President Trump’s nominee to head the CIA, testified at the Senate hearing this week, media from around the world — especially from India, Russia and Ukraine — weighed in with their admiration, intrigue and concerns.
On Wednesday, the controversial but widely respected long-time veteran of the CIA’s clandestine service batted back allegations of torture and promised members of the Senate Intelligence committee that she would fight any effort to reimpose post-9/11 interrogation practices if confirmed.
The full Senate is soon expected to consider confirming her with the vote remaining hard to predict because a few crucial members remained undecided.
In the battle of perception, much of the U.S. media focused on how Ms. Haspel handled questions about the morality of torture, in addition to her role at a secret CIA prison in Thailand where detainees were waterboarded in 2002.
On Thursday and Friday, the Indian media, however, debated comments she made at the hearing about her concern over potential contacts been between Pakistan nuclear scientists and extremists — a terrifying prospect to Indian’s counterterrorism community.
The Hindu newspaper, with a circulation of more than 1.2 million, also focused on Ms. Haspel’s remarks on Asia, playing up her observation that China is “a major national security challenge for the U.S.” and that the CIA “plays an important role in monitoring China’s rise as a global power.”
The Indian Express also highlighted the China exchange, which she had with Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida Republican, in which she mentioned China’s “efforts to diminish U.S. influence, not only in the Pacific, but all around the world, China’s unfair trade practices, and China’s overt and illicit efforts to steal U.S. technology and know-how and intellectual property.”
In the pro-Western Ukrainian media, where Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, is a seen as hero who actively supports the country’s European aspirations and continuing standoff with Russia, his opposition to Ms. Haspel grabbed headlines.
After the hearing, Mr. McCain, who is currently in Arizona recovering from brain cancer treatment and is unlikely to vote on her confirmation — told his Senate colleagues that while he admired her Ms. Haspel’s patriotism — he wanted them to vote against her because of the torture issue. Mr. McCain is himself a victim of torture as a POW during the Vietnam war.
Ukraine’s Gordon UA news portal, delved into Ms. Haspel’s lengthy undercover career, pointing out that her work in Russia coincided with the collapse of the Soviet Union and end of the Cold War.
The news outlet played up that her clandestine work “is still classified even to members of the Senate and her existence in Azerbaijan [where she was station] and other parts of the former Soviet State were unknown until now.”
Meanwhile, the pro-Russian Ukrainian tabloid paper, Komsomolskaya Pravda, took the spy novel approach to a biography piece on Ms. Haspel, titling an article: “The name Gina is shrouded in scandal.”
Anything that plays up American divisions is always appreciated by the Russian government-controlled news agency, Sputnik.com.
The Kremlin propaganda website played up the brief but chaotic portions of Ms. Haspel’s hearing in which protesters disturbed proceedings and were forcibly escorted out.
• Dan Boylan can be reached at dboylan@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.