When Dick Cheney criticized President Obama's rhetoric over the attempted Christmas Day bombing, John Brennan, the deputy national security adviser for homeland security and counterterrorism, became the administration’s loudest defender, saying on Meet the Press that Cheney is either “willfully mischaracterizing the president’s position” or is “ignorant of the fact.” Who is Brennan? After having set up the National Counterterrorism Center for President Bush, Brennan’s appointment to be CIA director was scuttled by liberals who were upset over quotes they thought supported the use of torture. He was given his current post instead, which did not require Senate approval, and now The New York Times Magazine calls him “the top counterterrorism official in the Obama administration.” Though he ended up out of favor with the Bush administration after criticizing the war in Iraq, the Times notes that Brennan is one of several Bush veterans leading Obama’s counterterrorism policy: others include Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen, Deputy CIA Director Stephen Kappes, and General David Petraeus.
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