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Stansfield Turner

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Military Personnel

The Resume

    (December 1, 1923- )
    Born in Highland Park, Illinois
    Four-star Admiral
    President of the Navy War College (1972-74)
    Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (1977-81)
    Wrote 'Secrecy and Democracy' (1985), 'Terrorism and Democracy' (1991), 'Caging the Nuclear Genie' (1997) and 'Burn Before Reading' (2005)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was appointed to head the CIA by Jimmy Carter, one of his classmates at the Naval Academy.
    He was chosen to head the CIA only after Carter's first choice, Ted Sorensen, ran into difficulty getting Congressional approval.
    Because of his preference for technical and signal intelligence, he fired 800 people from the Agency in the 'Halloween Massacre' (1979).
    He sued former agent Frank Snepp, claiming that Snepp had violated the CIA's secrecy agreement by publishing 'Decent Interval,' but admitted during cross-examination to never having read the agreement.
    Ironically, the CIA would rely on the Snepp decision in forcing Turner to clear his own memoir with the Agency before publication.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He testified before Congress about the CIA's MK-ULTRA mind control program, noting, 'It came to my attention early in my tenure as director, and I felt it was a warning sign that if you're not alert, things can go wrong in this organization.'
    He survived a plane crash in Costa Rica that killed his wife, Eli Karin (January 15, 2000).
    He was critical of the Bush administration's war with Iraq, observing 'most of the assumptions behind our invasion have been proven wrong.'
    When Dick Cheney opposed a Senate bill to ban 'cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment' of US detainees, he responded, 'I am embarrassed that the USA has a vice president for torture. I think it is just reprehensible.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 87.50% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 20 Votes: 55.00% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 16 Votes: 56.25% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 13 Votes: 38.46% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 10 Votes: 70.0% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying