President Barack Obama meets with John Brennan, Deputy National Security Advisor for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security, in the Oval Office, Jan. 4, 2010. (Official White House photo by Pete Souza)
John Brennan’s New Power -- Glen Greenwald, Salon
President Obama's counter-terrorism chief has "seized the lead" in secretly determining who will die by US drone.
In November, 2008, media reports strongly suggested that President Obama intended to name John Brennan as CIA Director. But controversy over Brennan’s recent history — he was a Bush-era CIA official who expressly advocated “enhanced interrogation techniques” and rendition — forced him to “withdraw” from consideration, as he publicly issued a letter citing “strong criticism in some quarters” of his CIA advocacy.
Undeterred by any of that unpleasantness, President Obama instead named Brennan to be his chief counter-Terrorism adviser, a position with arguably more influence that he would have had as CIA chief.
Read more ....
Update: White House weighs question of who picks al-Qaida targets for special operations drone strikes -- White House/AP
My Comment: President Obama clearly has confidence in Brennan .... a confidence that I believe stems from Brennan's success record and his loyalty to the office of the President. But Glen Greenwald has some good points in his analysis .... specifically on how easy it has now become for the White House to eliminate a threat through the simple use of a drone.
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