The Issues
Brennan’s number-one priority will be protecting the U.S. from terrorist attacks. He sees the “war on terror” not as a battle, but rather a global campaign to stamp out terrorism.
In an August 2009 speech before the Center for Straegic and International Studies, Brennan outlined the ways in which Obama's war on terror is different than George W. Bush's, pointing specifically to diplomatic efforts, the decision to close Guantanamo Bay prison, and attempts to mend fences with important U.S. allies. He said Obama was actively confronting al Qaeda in what amounts to the group's safe haven in Pakistan.
"Tactics such as waterboarding were not in keeping with our values as Americans,” Brennan said, “and these practices have been rightly terminated and should not, and will not, happen again," he continued, describing them as a "recruitment bonanza for terrorists."
Brennan also sought to portray Obama as a decisive commander-in-chief who was unafraid to aggressively confront al Qaeda, saying that he approved a "number of actions and initiatives against al Qaeda and other terrorist groups" since becoming president.
Though he didn't name Bush, Brennen said that his new boss “rejects an absolutist approach or the imposition of a rigid ideology on our problems. Like the world itself, [Obama's] views are nuanced, not simplistic; practical, not ideological.”
Torture
Brennan was a top aide to former CIA head Tenet after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11; since then, it has been revealed that the CIA used harsh interrogation methods against terrorist detainees, including waterboarding, sparking a controversial political debate over the meaning of torture. But Brennan has since sharply distanced himself from the CIA program.
In August 2009, President Obama handed Brennan ultimate power over the conduct of his war on terror when he named him the head of a new task force that would be charged with overseeing the Justice Department's high-value detainee interrogation program.
In an August 2009 interview with ABC's "Political Punch Podcast," Brennan answered critics who have attacked him for his role at the CIA while such tactics were employed.
“I personally was always opposed to waterboarding and certain types of techniques, and I think there were people who supported me in that and were able to acknowledge that I was a critic of that when I was in the agency,” Brennan said. “What I want to do is make sure that the United States really projects an image, and its actions convey its strong commitment to individual rights and dignity and waterboarding was not in keeping with that.”
Speaking about his CIA tenure, Brennan told ABC: "I was involved in a lot of things supporting our national security. I felt good about them, and I wanted to maintain my involvement in these national security initiatives and programs so I don’t have any regrets about what I did while I was in the Agency."
He added: "I'm frequently surprised at what I see I am reported to have been involved in or to have said because there's quite frankly a lot of misrepresentations out there in the press.”
But Brennan has previously defended the CIA's tactics. In a 2005 interview with Jim Lehrer, Brennan called extraordinary rendition“an absolutely vital tool.” Critics of the practice, which involves arresting detainees in one country and transporting them to another (often without any public notice of the arrest), charge that it is used to move suspects to countries that are willing to use torture. On CBS in November 2007, Brennan said that enhanced interrogation techniques have generated “a lot of information … that the agency has in fact used against the real hard-core terrorists.”
During the 2008 presidential campaign, Brennan changed that stance, saying repeatedly that the Obama administration would not condone torture. He also called himself a “strong opponent” of the CIA’s techniques in 2008, and spoke out against waterboarding.
However, these assurances were not enough to assuage bloggers and some human-rights advocates, who called Brennan's CIA director candidacy dangerous. “Appointing John Brennan to a position of high authority would be to affirm and embrace, not repudiate, the darkest aspects of the last eight years,” wrote Glenn Greenwald, a liberal lawyer and blogger for Salon.com.
When he withdrew his name from consideration for CIA head, Brennan cited these criticisms as the reason, saying he did not want to distract from the work of the transition team.
Wiretapping
Brennan, like many intelligence community members, is a staunch supporter of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that allows the U.S. to collect information through wiretapping and other methods.
National Public Radio reported that Brennan convinced Obama to support reauthorizing the July 2008 reauthorization of the FISA bill, with some new restrictions, arguing that the program is “essential to the fight against terrorism.” Brennan supports granting telecommunications companies immunity from prosecution for providing information to the government after 9/11 because they were “told to do so by the appropriate authorities that were operating in a legal context.”
Brennan has suggested that a team of executive, legislative and judicial representatives work together to oversee the implementation of FISA and review the process in order to ensure that it is being implemented appropriately.
Civil Liberties
Brennan has argued that the government should have the right to view citizens’ records and eavesdrop on their communications “if there is probable cause, reasonable suspicion, about the involvement of a U.S. person in something.”
He has also said that the government should be able to utilize information gathered by private companies (like car rental records or purchases from web sites) in extreme circumstances.
Iran
In a July 2008 paper, Brennan called on the U.S. to soften its rhetoric towards Iran without relenting on its demands for Iran to cut ties to terrorists. He also called on American officials to reach out to the country and establish a direct dialogue.
Brennan has advised the U..S. to offer “meaningful carrots, as well as sticks” in its negotiations with Iran. He contends that U.S. officials could afford to relax their stance on certain issues, such as loosening sanctions on the sale of spare airline parts and offering to help negotiate key issues like Israeli-Palestinian relationships.
