John Brennan faces grilling over drone leak as senators demand answers

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

John Brennan faces grilling over drone leak as senators demand answers

Nominee for CIA director set for tough confirmation questions from
senators angered by lack of White House clarity on drones

Chris McGreal in New York
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 5 February 2013 18.51 GMT

John Brennan, Barack Obama's nominee for CIA director, will come under renewed pressure at his confirmation hearing on Thursday to justify the targeted killing of US citizens in drone strikes, following the leak of a secret summary of the White House rationale for one its most controversial policies.

Senators angered by the lack of transparency over the legal basis for targeting Americans are planning to demand more details from Brennan, currently the White House counter-terrorism chief and a key architect of Obama's drones policy.

The white paper, leaked on Monday night and dating from 2011, was shown to senators several weeks ago, but failed to allay their concerns. It was made public by NBC and justifies the killing of those US citizens who hold senior positions in al-Qaida and pose an "imminent threat of violent attack" against America.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/05/john-brennan-drone-strike-memo-confirmation

[bemildred]

1. That's going to be interesting.

One of those situations where nobody is doing what they seem to be doing.