Várias pessoas, inclusive nós aqui n'Os Tomates, tivemos o momento eureka ao ler um artigo no New York Times, de 16 de Abril de 2019 sobre a directora da CIA,
Gina Haspel, porque numa passagem mostrava, inocentemente, que ela induziu o presidente Trump a expulsar 60 diplomatas russos em Março de 2018. Aqui estão os parágrafos de interesse:
“During the discussion, Ms. Haspel, then deputy C.I.A.
director, turned toward Mr. Trump. She outlined possible responses in a
quiet but firm voice, then leaned forward and told the president that
the “strong option” was to expel 60 diplomats.
To persuade Mr. Trump, according to people briefed on the
conversation, officials including Ms. Haspel also tried to show him that
Mr. Skripal and his daughter were not the only victims of Russia’s
attack.
Ms. Haspel showed pictures the British government had supplied her of
young children hospitalized after being sickened by the Novichok nerve
agent that poisoned the Skripals. She then showed a photograph of ducks
that British officials said were inadvertently killed by the sloppy work
of the Russian operatives.
Ms. Haspel was not the first
to use emotional images to appeal to the president, but pairing it with
her hard-nosed realism proved effective: Mr. Trump fixated on the
pictures of the sickened children and the dead ducks. At the end of the
briefing, he embraced the strong option.
The outcome was an example, officials said, of how Ms. Haspel is one
of the few people who can get Mr. Trump to shift position based on new
information.”
