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By The Time President Obama Took Office, Guantánamo Was Viewed Internationally As A Symbol Of A Counterterrorism Approach That Flouted Our Laws And Strayed From Our Values, Undercutting The Perceived Legitimacy - And Therefore The Effectiveness - Of Our Efforts.

-John O. Brennan

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By The Time President

John O. Brennan

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By The Time President Obama Took Office, Guantánamo Was Viewed Internationally As A Symbol Of A Counterterrorism Approach That Flouted Our Laws And Strayed From Our Values, Undercutting The Perceived Legitimacy - And Therefore The Effectiveness - Of Our Efforts.

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I'm Not Ideological. I Think Sometimes When People Are Ideological, The World's A Lot Easier. Because It Falls Into Either Right Or Wrong, Or Black Or White, Or Whatever. To Me, I'm Still Trying To Figure Out A Lot Of Things.

We Are In This Business, Whether It Be Intelligence Or The Government, To Protect Freedom, Democracy And Liberty, Not To Violate That.

In Full Accordance With The Law - And In Order To Prevent Terrorist Attacks On The United States And To Save American Lives - The United States Government Conducts Targeted Strikes Against Specific Al-qa'ida Terrorists, Sometimes Using Remotely Piloted Aircraft, Often Referred To Publicly As Drones.

By The Time President Obama Took Office, Guantánamo Was Viewed Internationally As A Symbol Of A Counterterrorism Approach That Flouted Our Laws And Strayed From Our Values, Undercutting The Perceived Legitimacy - And Therefore The Effectiveness - Of Our Efforts.

While The Intelligence Profession Oftentimes Demands Secrecy, It Is Critically Important That There Be A Full And Open Discourse On Intelligence Matters With The Appropriate Elected Representatives Of The American People.

Is Real, It Is Serious, It Is Growing, And It Constitutes One Of The Greatest Threats To Our National Security And, Indeed, To Global Security.

Our Democratic Values Also Include - And Our National Security Demands - Open And Transparent Government. Some Information Obviously Needs To Be Protected. And Since His First Days In Office, President Obama Has Worked To Strike The Proper Balance Between The Security The American People Deserve And The Openness Our Democratic Society Expects.

You Always, I Think, Debate With Yourself About Whether Or Not You Made The Right Decision. And You Have To Then Give The Person That You’re Working For - In My Instance, The President - Your Best Judgment Based On Your Understanding Of The Facts, But Also The Calculus You Use To Make A Determination About What’s The Best Way To Go Forward.

Terrorism Needs To Be Fought Against And Certainly Delegitimized Or Attacked, But Some Of The Underlying Grievances That Might In Fact Lead Individuals Astray To Terrorism Cannot Be Ignored.

The Risk Of Just One Terrorist With Just One Nuclear Weapon Is A Risk We Simply Cannot Afford To Take.

I Go To Bed At Night Worrying That I Didn't Do Enough That Day To Make Sure I Protect The American People.

President Obama Has Made It Clear That The United States Is Determined To Prevent Iran From Acquiring Nuclear Weapons.

Al-qa'ida Is The Antithesis Of The Peace, Tolerance And Humanity That Is At The Heart Of Islam.

I'm Neither Republican Nor Democrat. I've Worked For The Past Five Administrations.

I Want To Be Very Clear - Whenever It Is Possible To Capture A Suspected Terrorist, It Is The Unqualified Preference Of The Administration To Take Custody Of That Individual So We Can Obtain Information That Is Vital To The Safety And Security Of The American People.

We Know From The Material That Was Recovered From The Bin Laden Compound That Bin Laden Was Looking At The 10th Anniversary Of 9/11 As An Opportunity To Strike Yet Again At The U.s. Homeland.

We Will Use All Lawful Tools At Our Disposal, And That Includes Authorities Under The Renewed Patriot Act. We Firmly Believe That Our Intelligence Gathering Tools Must Enable Us To Collect The Information We Need To Protect The American People.

Intelligence Gathering

When We Uphold The Rule Of Law, Our Counterterrorism Tools Are More Likely To Withstand The Scrutiny Of Our Courts, Our Allies, And The American People.

We Are A Nation Of Laws, And We Will Always Act Within The Bounds Of The Law.

Al-qa'ida Does Not Follow A Traditional Command Structure, Wear Uniforms, Carry Its Arms Openly, Or Mass Its Troops At The Borders Of The Nations It Attacks. Nonetheless, It Possesses The Demonstrated Capability To Strike With Little Notice And Cause Significant Civilian Or Military Casualties.

Poverty Does Not Cause Violence And Terrorism. Lack Of Education Does Not Cause Terrorism.

The United States Is The First Nation To Regularly Conduct Strikes Using Remotely Piloted Aircraft In An Armed Conflict. Other Nations Also Possess This Technology. Many More Nations Are Seeking It, And More Will Succeed In Acquiring It.

As A Former Career Intelligence Professional, I Have A Profound Appreciation For The Value Of Intelligence. Intelligence Disrupts Terrorist Plots And Thwarts Attacks. Intelligence Saves Lives.

The Whole Technological Revolution And Evolution Gives Man Tremendous Capabilities For Good, And It Also Gives Individuals Tremendous Capability To Carry Out What Result In Lethal Action.

We Need To Make Sure That Leaks Of Classified Information, Of National Security Secrets, Needs To Be Rigorously Pursued And Prosecuted To The Fullest Extent Of The Law.

I Will Not, Nor Will I Ever, Publicly Divulge Sensitive Intelligence Sources And Methods. For When That Happens, Our National Security Is Endangered And Lives Can Be Lost.

As A Matter Of International Law, The United States Is In An Armed Conflict With Al-qaida, The Taliban, And Associated Forces, In Response To The 9/11 Attacks, And We May Also Use Force Consistent With Our Inherent Right Of National Self-defense.

Where Terrorists Offer Injustice, Disorder And Destruction, The United States And Its Allies Stand For Freedom, Fairness, Equality, Hope, And Opportunity.

How You Define A Problem Shapes How You Address It.

Jihad Is Holy Struggle, A Legitimate Tenet Of Islam Meaning To Purify Oneself Or One's Community.

Terrorists Are Not 100 Feet Tall. Nor Do They Deserve The Abject Fear They Seek To Instill.

Yes, War Is Hell. It Is Awful. It Involves Human Beings Killing Other Human Beings, Sometimes Innocent Civilians. That Is Why We Despise War.

Unfortunately, In War, There Are Casualties, Including Among The Civilian Population.

President Obama Is Determined That Our Foreign And National Security Policies Not Play Into Al-qa'ida's Strategy Or Its Warped Ideology. Al-qa'ida Seeks To Terrorize Us Into Retreating From The World Stage. But President Obama Has Made It A Priority To Renew American Leadership In The World, Strengthening Our Alliances And Deepening Partnerships.

I Have A Reputation For Speaking My Mind. I Like To Think My Candor And Bluntness Will Give You The Answers.

Speaking My Mind

The Men And Women Of The Cia Are A National Treasure.

Simply Stated, The Need For Accurate Intelligence And Prescient Analysis From Cia Has Never Been Greater Than It Is In 2013 - Or Than It Will Be In The Coming Years.

Why Should A Great And Powerful Nation Like The United States Allow Its Relationship With More Than A Billion Muslims Around The World To Be Defined By The Narrow Hatred And Nihilistic Actions Of An Exceptionally Small Minority Of Muslims?

Throughout My Career, I Had The Great Fortune To Experience Firsthand As Well As To Witness What It Means To Be A Cia Officer.

A Lot Of Things Look Good On An Academic's Blackboard In Terms Of The Actions That Need To Be Taken. It's Almost Like A Football Coach, When You Draw The X's And O's: Every Play That Is Chalked On That Board Goes For A Touchdown. Well, There Are A Lot Of Yards To Be Made Between The Line Of Scrimmage And The Touchdown.

The Preservation Of Our National Security And The Laws That Define Us As The United States Of America Demand That We Understand The Intersection Of The Two - Indeed, How They Reinforce One Another.

The Misunderstandings - Or, What Really Bothers Me Are The Intentional Misrepresentations Of The Facts, Which Take Place On A Fairly Regular Basis. To Think That We, People Who Are Involved In Counterterrorism, Do Not Care About Civilian Casualties Or Deaths Or Injuries, Is Just Totally, Totally Wrong.

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