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Home Front: Politix
Obama Intelligence Pick Torpedoed By Bloggers
2008-12-23
President-elect Barack Obama has shown almost perfect pitch in crafting his new administration, aptly choosing old hands instead of fresh faces and bringing in the experience he lacks.

But there is one glaring void. Obama has yet to name key intelligence officials to manage the war against terrorism. And one of the central reasons he hasn't come forward with a pick for one of the top jobs is because he's running into pressure from an unexpected source -- left-wing bloggers.

John Brennan, Obama's chief intelligence adviser and anticipated CIA chief, was recently forced to withdraw his name. There was no drumbeat of opposition to Brennan from the front pages or on cable. Rather, the pick was torpedoed by the blogosphere.

"Apparently there is a lot of pressure on the Obama team from a blog saying that Brennan couldn't be made the director of the CIA because he was involved in torture and renditions, which he wasn't," said Mark Lowenthal, former assistant CIA director.
Count on the Kos Kiddies to be cannibals for the next couple of years ...
The turn of events only emphasizes the influence of the Internet on the operation of a president-elect whose campaign was powered in large part by the Web.

"Blogs do have significant influence," said blogger Glenn Greenwald, one of with his several sock-puppets those critical of Brennan. "I think the Obama team would be foolish if they just ignored what happened on blogs, and I know for a fact that there are people high up in the Obama campaign and now the transition team who read blogs regularly."
Gee Glenn, think you could puff yourself up a little more?
As a result, say knowledgeable sources, the Obama transition team pushed Brennan to withdraw his name. "Their knees buckled," one intelligence veteran said.
You don't push, you have a senior guy make a single call ...
Brennan once served as George Tenet's chief of staff and later took an administrative role at the CIA, before moving on to what became the National Counterterrorism Center.

Greenwald and other bloggers blamed Brennan, though, for condoning harsh interrogation methods, as well as rendition -- the practice of capturing terrorists, like 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and taking them to the U.S. or other countries for interrogation and imprisonment.

But many say Brennan had no control over those policies. "This is one of those Washington drive-by shootings that we have from time to time where someone is near a policy issue that's controversial and is dragged down by the conventional wisdom," said Douglas Paal, former CIA senior analyst.

Brennan did say rendition was a vital tool -- after all, without it, Khalid Sheik Mohammed and others might still be free.
Which doesn't bother Greenwald ...
But when he withdrew his name from consideration, he wrote a letter to the president-elect, obtained by FOX News, in which he described himself as a Bush critic on many fronts. "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 preemptive war in Iraq and coercive interrogation tactics, to include waterboarding," Brennan wrote in the Nov. 25 missive.
All that brave opposition didn't land you a job in the new administration. You'll have to find another rice bowl ...
Posted by:Fred

#5  To add to Gromkys comment and paraphrase Pete Townsend, "We just got fooled again".
Posted by: jimk   2008-12-23 09:05  

#4  aptly choosing old hands instead of fresh faces and bringing in the experience he lacks.

Uh, yeah, a nice way of saying he's filling his cabinet with Chicago machine pols and Clinton administration retreads. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
Posted by: gromky   2008-12-23 03:44  

#3  A few left wing bloggers and their readers don't have veto power over appointments. At least I hope not...
Posted by: Vanc   2008-12-23 01:47  

#2  ASIA TIMES > DISSECTING OBAMA'S PERESTROIKA [Russia may come to miss the days of Dubya]; + STRATEGYPAGE > PHILIPPINES: HAVE YOURSELVES A SCARY LITTLE CHRISTMAS. MILF hiding, aiding ABU SAYAFF and vice versa; MILF + NPA engaging in criminal drug-trading to suppor anti-Govt/Terror campaigns.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2008-12-23 01:42  

#1  Let's look at the CIA track record:

USSR - spent billions, couldn't predict it's collapse.

Various Al Qaeda attacks culminating in 9/11 - completely surprised.

Iraq - utterly clueless.

Conclusion - doesn't matter who's in charge of the CIA - the organization is worthless.
Posted by: DMFD   2008-12-23 00:31  

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