Bush’s unintended “gift” for Obama

[DogPoundPup]

By Wayne Madsen

On October 16, 2008, the Bush administration’s Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Mike McConnell, signed Intelligence Community Directive (ICD) Number 623. The new directive, possibly with an eye on a surprise election win by Senator John McCain, permits the DNI to “select, appoint, compensate, and detail highly qualified experts (HQEs) within Intelligence Community (IC) elements.”

Had McCain won the election, a torrent of neoconservatives would have likely descended upon the Intelligence Community from all the think tanks and right-wing news organizations in the greater Washington, DC, area.

But McCain did not win the election but ICD 623 remains in force. From the department of unintended consequences Obama’s DNI could reinstate into the intelligence community all those individuals purged from the CIA, National Security Agency, FBI counter-intelligence division, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and other agencies because they dared to challenge the neocon party line emanating from Vice President Dick Cheney’s office and the rival intelligence apparatus set up in the Pentagon under Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

John O. Brennan, fluent Arabic speaker, former CIA station chief in Riyadh, and graduate of the American University in Cairo, in other words, a so-called “Arabist” much hated by the neocons, is rumored to be a top choice for DNI or CIA director. Brennan would, under ICD 623, be able to bring in “from the cold” such targeted, sacked, or compromised intelligence employees as the CIA’s Valerie Plame Wilson, NSA’s Russ Tice, or the FBI’s Sibel Edmonds and Colleen Rowley. To sweeten the deal, the DNI may set the pay scale for HQEs “up to or equal to the salary of the Vice President of the United States.” The Vice President’s salary is set at $198,600 a year.

Continue reading @ http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_4032.shtml

[Phredicles]

1. Aww man, this would be so friggin' sweet;

on the other hand, cue panicky Foxperts and other rightie pundits peeing their pants over the dangers of unchecked executive power in four... three... two... :eyes:

[Enthusiast]

2. They are predictable as the sunrise. nt

[liberalla]

3. "unintended consequences"

well, well... just daydreaming about what could be...

and Sibel Edmonds ?!?! now that would be righteous.

[GardeningGal]

4. Good thing Obama's momentum was too great for them to steal

the election again. I wonder what the difference in popular vote would have been without any shenanigans.

[HillbillyBob]

9. it would have been a rout not just a landslide I think

nt

[waiting for hope]

5. Do you know anything about Brennan?

John Brennan

From SourceWatch
On March 11, 2003, the White House announced that John O. Brennan "will become director of the Terrorist Threat Integration Center when it begins operations May 1, 2003. Brennan, the current CIA deputy executive director, is a career CIA terrorism analyst with a background in Middle Eastern affairs. The Terrorist Threat Integration Center 'fuses the FBI's counterterrorism division with the CIA's counterterrorism center. By placing those units under one roof, the administration intends to create a 'hub' for all terrorist intelligence analysis in the government.'"

"Brennan is a top aide to George J. Tenet and has been with the CIA 23 years in both operational and analytical roles at the agency's headquarters in Virginia and abroad."

How was Brennan selected? ....

"CIA Director George Tenet handpicked Brennan, whom he described in a statement as 'an extraordinarily talented and innovative officer.'"
"CIA Director George Tenet appointed Brennan after consulting with Attorney General John Ashcroft, FBI Director Robert Mueller, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.
"Brennan, 47, is a 23-year CIA veteran and served as Tenet's chief of staff before taking the position as CIA deputy executive director in March 2001.
"' brings a wealth of experience and an abundance of energy to the job,' Tenet said in a statement. 'Under his direction, TTIC will service as the U.S. government hub for all terrorist threat-related analytic work.'"
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_O._Brennan

Obama Adviser: I ‘Strongly’ Believe Telecoms ‘Should Be Granted Immunity’

Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) has consistently spoken out and voted against granting retroactive immunity for telecoms that participated with the administration’s warrantless wiretapping program. This stance was part of the reason he won the support of Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), a leader on civil liberties issues.

One of Obama’s advisers on intelligence and foreign policy advisers, however, is someone who “strongly” supports telecomm immunity. John Brennan is a former CIA official and the current chairman of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance. In a new National Journal interview, Brennan makes it clear that he agrees with the Bush administration on the issue of immunity:

There is this great debate over whether or not the telecom companies should in fact be given immunity for their agreement to provide support and cooperate with the government after 9/11. I do believe strongly that they should be granted that immunity, because they were told to do so by the appropriate authorities that were operating in a legal context, and so I think that’s important. And I know people are concerned about that, but I do believe that’s the right thing to do. I do believe the Senate version of the FISA bill addresses the issues appropriately.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/07/obama-brennan/

No appointees have been named as yet, but questions are already being raised about the people heading Obama’s transition efforts on intelligence policy. John Brennan and Jami Miscik, both former intelligence officials under George Tenet, are leading the review of intelligence agencies and helping make recommendations to the new administration. Brennan has supported warrantless wiretapping and extraordinary rendition, and Miscik was involved with the politicized intelligence alleging weapons of mass destruction in the lead-up to the war on Iraq.

John Brennan was deputy executive secretary to George Tenet during the worst violations during the CIA period in the run-up to the Iraq war, so he sat there at Tenet’s knee when they passed judgment on torture and abuse, on extraordinary renditions, on black sites, on secret prisons. He was part of all of that decision making.

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/11/17/obama_taps_ex_cia_officials_tied

I don't see the "gift" here, unless you are referring an exchange being made at the customer service counter.

[Hydra]

6. Ouch! Burned!

Thanks for posting. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm not seeing a rollback of the BS spying on citizens thing anytime soon.

[RedLetterRev]

8. Except that the club they intended to use on us

they're crapping up their backs because they're pretty certain we can and probably will use it on them. Though I'm a bit skeptical, I'd be willing to say that if convictions of neoKKKon players come from the use of their own tools against them, those doors will slam shut pretty quickly. The neoKKKons never dreamed that the rattlesnakes they let loose would be shoved down their own britches. It could be delicious.

[balantz]

7. I couldn't figure out what people were cheering about in this thread

and was glad to see your post. Brennan never has been a gift to us. He hails from the ranks of the fascists.