‘Torture supporter’ withdraws from intelligence job consideration

John Brennan, the 25 year CIA veteran who is leading the Obama transition team for the intelligence agencies, has withdrawn his name from consideration for a position in the intelligence community during the upcoming administration.

Brennan has been the target of a great deal of criticism in his current position because of past statements in support of torture and extraordinary rendition, practices that Obama was highly critical of during the campaign. Glenn Greenwald called Brennan an “ardent supporter of torture.” Brennan says this controversy is why he is withdrawing his name from consideration for a position like Director of Central Intelligence:

“It is with profound regret that I respectfully ask that my name be withdrawn from consideration for a position within the intelligence community.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.

Brennan says that he has 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,” but Greenwald points to many statements made by Brennan in support of sending detainees to other countries where they are routinely tortured.

In a 2005 interview on PBS, Brennan called rendition “an absolutely vital tool” for intelligence gathering and said “we have a lot of assurances from these countries that we hand over terrorists to that they will, in fact, respect human rights.” But there are many cases like that of Maher Arar, the Canadian citizen who was seized by the CIA and shipped to Syria, where he was tortured for nearly a year. He had no connection to terrorism.