Haspel is not the right woman for the job

White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted her shameful support for Gina Haspel’s nomination to become CIA chief: “There is no one more qualified to be the first woman to lead the CIA than 30+ year CIA veteran Gina Haspel. Any Democrat who claims to support women’s empowerment and our national security but opposes her nomination is a total hypocrite.”

Haspel is a documented torturer dur- ing her tenure overseeing America’s network of black site prisons around the world after the 9/11 attacks. Haspel was also involved in destroying videotapes of the torture she oversaw in violation of a Justice Department order. Haspel not only escaped censure, loss of her job, maybe even prosecution for her conduct that shames America’s cherished values, she’s up for confirmation to head the agency she shamed. Empowering women is a worthy goal. Promoting torturers to achieve that goal is not. Walt Zlotow Glen Ellyn, Ill.