Today, John Brennan, the controversial co-leader of Obama’s Intelligence Transition Team, removed himself from consideration for a top intelligence post in the Obama administration. He has been strongly criticized by many liberal blogs for his support of rendition and some extreme interrogation tactics.

His response and mine after the jump.

He hit back today, saying:

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 pre-emptive war in Iraq and coercive interrogation tactics, to include waterboarding. The fact that I was not involved in the decisionmaking process for any of these controversial policies and actions has been ignored. Indeed, my criticism of these policies within government circles was the reason why I was twice considered for more senior-level positions in the current administration only to be rebuffed by the White House.

Just because you’re not torture-happy enough for the Bush Administration doesn’t mean you’re right.

I wrote a long piece about Brennan’s policies last week and voiced my concerns about his ideology. What it comes down to is that he tacitly endorses “enhanced interrogation techniques” that I consider torture.

I’m very glad he has taken his name out of the running. If the Obama team forced him to remove himself, that’s fine too. Either way, this increases the likelihood that Obama will follow through on what he said (and what is right): the United States doesn’t torture.

Photo from Flickr user takomabibelot used under Creative Commons.