Brennan Pulls Out Of Running For CIA Chief, Chides Liberal Blogs

WASHINGTON — John Brennan, President-elect Barack Obama's top adviser on intelligence, took his name out of the running Tuesday for any intelligence position in the new administration.

Brennan wrote in a Nov. 25 letter to Obama that he did not want to be a distraction. His potential appointment as CIA director has raised a firestorm in liberal blogs that associate him with the Bush administration's interrogation, detention and rendition policies.

Brennan, a 25-year CIA veteran, helped establish the National Counterterrorism Center and was its first director in 2004. He has privately and publicly said that he opposed waterboarding and questioned other interrogation methods that many in the CIA feared could be later deemed illegal.

"It has been immaterial to the critics that I have been a strong opponent of many of the policies of the Bush administration such as the pre-emptive war in Iraq and coercive interrogation tactics, to include waterboarding," he wrote. "It is with profound regret that I respectfully ask that my name be withdrawn from consideration for a position within the intelligence community. The challenges ahead of our nation are too daunting, and the role of the CIA too critical, for there to be any distraction from the vital work that lays ahead," Brennan wrote.

An Obama adviser said Brennan made the decision to withdraw on his own and that he will remain heavily involved in the transition. The adviser is not authorized to discuss internal deliberations so asked not to be named.

Obama's spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said Obama accepted Brennan's decision and "is grateful for John's continuing assistance as a valuable member of our transition team."

However, a group of about 200 psychologists published an open letter to Obama on Nov. 22 opposing Brennan's leadership of the CIA. They cited several media interviews in which they deemed Brennan insufficiently opposed to rendition and harsh interrogation to make a clean break with the Bush administration's policies.

They noted that he told the National Journal in March that he would favor "continuity" in intelligence policies in the early days of the Obama administration.

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"I would argue for continuity in those early stages. You don't want to whipsaw the (intelligence) community," Brennan said. "I'm hoping there will be a number of professionals coming in who have an understanding of the evolution of the capabilities in the community over the past six years, because there is a method to how things have changed and adapted," he said.

In a 2005 interview on "The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer," Brennan defended rendition as "an absolutely vital tool." In 2007 on CBS News, he said the CIA's harsh interrogation program, which included waterboarding on at least three prisoners, produced "life saving" intelligence. Waterboarding is a form of simulated drowning.

Brennan has spoken out publicly against waterboarding.

"The fact that I was not involved in the decisionmaking process for any of these controversial policies and actions has been ignored," he wrote in a letter obtained by The Associated Press. "Indeed, my criticism of these policies within government circles was the reason why I was twice considered for more senior-level positions in the current administration only to be rebuffed by the White House."

One former intelligence official said Bush in 2005 rejected nominating Brennan, then interim National Counterterrorism Center director, as the actual director.

"The politicos at the White House said no because they thought he was too outspoken in his criticism of the administration and not sufficiently on board with their program," he told AP.

National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell in 2007 had Brennan on a short list to become his principal deputy director, the second-highest position at the organization. The White House again rejected him, intelligence officials said.

(This version CORRECTS that letter was from psychologists, not psychoanalysts.))

Comments

[spytalker]

what i don't get is how could President Obama even think about keeping this Kappes guy, never mind making him the CIA director. Kappes was IN CHARGE of carrying out the detainee torture program, was involved in the decision making in the Peru tragedy where that lady and her child were killed by the CIA, shot out of the air, and prides himself on being a close personal friend and advisor to Bush. I don't care how much he stood up to the right wing, this doesn't excuse his crimes against humanity. With the Rick Warren decision, if Barack puts Kappes in as CIA director, we might as well have Bush in for a third term. Is this the way Barack is going to treat us for the next four years? We have to stop this.

[bbrecht]

YAY

[eastutican]

This guy didnt have "wrong ideas". He was a "good German" who took orders and did not stop war crimes like kidnapping and torture.

He may be someone who has "good ideas" about intelligence gathering; perhaps his experiences at CIA have value. He is also one of the thug-enablers we have had too much of for far too long. Good riddance.

[Invox]

Betcha he didn't think he'd pass the vetting process.

[arvay]

What's the evidence that he opposed waterboarding and the other Bush policies? Why didn't he resign?

[Doofus]

Let the Progressive Blogosphere suppose that they were able to knock
'this guy' out of the box for having 'wrong ideas' about how to do his job.

What he really seems to have is enough character to realize he would be
a detriment to the incoming administration, and get the hell out of the way.

[rollingdivision]

Told you. But keep in mind Obama also supports the new expanded FISA .

[Housewife]

For people who supported Obama and are now going to question every decision he makes, I say, relax. He's smart. He'll make many good decisions and a few bad ones. Stop waiting for him to turn out to be someone other than who you voted for. You are setting yourself up for disappointment.

[harrymellon]

Richard Clarke would be great...an­d he realizes our vulnerabilities regarding nuclear and internet/c­omputer/sa­tellite aspects. He's the best we have to prevent the dark side within us from winning.

[larazon]

Good riddance! Don't let the door hit ya, lier! One down and two to go.

[Ranta]

Every time something like this comes up go to change.gov and express yourself. It all helps.

[duze]

Wesley Clark.

[westcoastsc]

I very much like Clark, but I think that he s c a r e s Obama with his direct talk. To wrest contol from this rogue C I A is going to take somebody who won't end up like William Casey.

[BrettonWoods]

As many in the CIA, John Brennan has blood on his hands. It takes a thief to catch a thief. Brennan knows the organization inside-out. His work with Obama indicates he has had a change of heart.
Tim Geithner has ruined millions of widows and orphans. Importantly, he knows how the Federal Reserve did it. How many liberals with untainted credentials could make a dent in the Fed?

[westcoastsc]

My point exactly. You need to know where the d i r t is in order to clean it up.

[Bitsko]

Maybe it really had more to do with this:

"The CEO of a company whose employee is accused of improperly looking at the passport files of presidential candidates is a consultant to the Barack Obama campaign, a source said Saturday."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/22/passport.files/index.html

Too bad. Sounds like a pretty knowledgeable guy.

[S1m0n]

The lesson for men like Brennan is that there's no future for trimmers when crimes are being committed. Trying to have it both ways--to be both for and against the criminal acts--impresses no one.

[westcoastsc]

Excellent point. That is the correct stance to take.