Brennan at CIA

Various reports have indicated that John Brennan, a man who worked closely with George Tenet at the CIA during the early part of the Bush administration, is Obama's likely choice as Director of National Intelligence. For a number of reasons, those of us who are concerned with civil liberties, the rule of law, and putting an end to the abuses of the Bush years, are somewhat alarmed by this prospect. Glenn Greenwald writes:

To appoint someone as CIA Director or Director of National Intelligence who was one of George Tenet's closest aides when The Dark Side of the last eight years was conceived and implemented, and who, to this day, continues to defend and support policies such as "enhanced interrogation techniques" and rendition (to say nothing of telecom immunity and warrantless eavesdropping), is to cross multiple lines that no Obama supporter should sanction. Truly turning a page on the grotesque abuses of the last eight years requires both symbolism (closing Guantanamo) and substantive policy changes (compelling adherence to the Army Field Manual, ensuring due process rights for all detainees, ending rendition, restoring safeguards on surveillance powers). 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.

Andrew Sullivan is also very upset:

Why is such a man even considered for the post under Obama? This man cannot end the taint of Bush-Cheney. He was Bush-Cheney. In fact, if Obama picks him, it will be a vindication of the kind of ambivalence and institutional moral cowardice that made America a torturing nation. It would be an unforgivable betrayal of his supporters and his ideals.

I share both Glenn and Andrew's concern, but I think a number of caveats are necessary here. First, it's not clear -- at least from what I've seen -- the extent to which Brennan was involved with or "read into" the worst of the Bush-era programs (torture, illegal surveillance, etc.). Though many of his expressed views are not encouraging, gleaning someone's opinions and past culpability from occasional public statements and spotty press reports is always difficult.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, the universe of people who have the experience and expertise necessary to competently oversee our enormous intelligence apparatus is very small. When looking for someone to run our intelligence agencies, a candidate's competency from an operational standpoint is arguably more important that his policy views (remember that policy decisions are generally made by others, a point I'll get to in a moment). Furthermore, because Bush has been the President for the entire post-9/11 era, virtually everyone who has any familiarity with our current intelligence operations will have worked for the Bush administration and therefore be "tainted." Putting these agencies under the charge of someone who has been on the sidelines for the last decade could be problematic, especially during a period of heightened risk of terrorist attack -- which everyone seems to agree the transition period will be. Anyone who is free of "taint" from the last eight years is going to have a very steep learning curve.

Finally, it's important to remember that the intelligence agencies don't set policy. Every illegal program and policy during the Bush administration emanated from the White House and was given legal imprimatur by the Justice Department. Regardless of what John Brennan personally thinks about surveillance, torture, rendition, etc., he will only be able to do what the White House and the DOJ authorize him to do. That's why Eric Holder's nomination is reassuring. And if Obama really wants to reassure people like myself, he'll appoint someone with Holder's expressed views (perhaps Marty Lederman?) to head up the OLC.

So long story short, while some of Brennan's expressed views are troubling, his appointment may be more about operational competence than policy or ideology. At least I hope that's the case. And I hope that Obama appoints people in other key positions who can and will serve as a check on the abuses of the Bush years and keep Brennan on a tight leash.