Obama & Brennan, Leading Us Down to the 9th Circle of Hell

Dear Mr. President,

There you are on the front page of the New York Times this morning, beaming at Dr. Death, John Brennan, your nominee to head the CIA, praising him for “his role in killing suspected terrorist leaders, his devotion to American values.” Extrajudicial assassination is not an American value, Mr. President, but apparently it’s one of yours—and definitely one of his. A 25-year veteran of the CIA, Brennan defended torture under Bush (again, not an American value), and as your Counterterrorism Chief, oversaw the escalation of drone strikes in Pakistan, your secret counterterrorism operations in Yemen, and is currently busy beauracratizing and institutionalizing targeted assassinations and unending war. Every Tuesday he’s there with you in the Situation Room approving each of your picks for the Kill List that week. He gives speeches about the legality and morality of targeted killing, and believes his own propaganda that “not a single civilian was killed in a drone strike last year.” There is no morality, justice or justification for extrajudicial killing, Mr. President, they are repugnant and a crime against humanity and the toll on civilians from your drone wars is neither zero nor insignificant; the fallout will last for generations. John Brennan would fit right into Hitler’s Gestapo or Stalin’s NKVD, a man without soul, conscience or morality. He is the poster boy for the banality of evil (see Medea Benjamin’s account of her visit to his suburban home last November, https://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/11/05-10). He was your first choice to head the CIA in 2008 but withdrew after objections to his defense of torture. So here we are 4 years later, people forget, people accept, people grow resigned, and this time smooth sailing for Dr. Death with Feinstein paving the way in the Senate and Mike Rogers in the House. Your 2^nd term is shaping up. Those who voted for you in 2012 thinking you would make a hard left turn were delusional. It’s more of the same only more: more wars of aggression, more crimes against humanity, more security statism, more erosion of constitutional protections, and more betrayal of American values. Those who still believe you are at heart a progressive/humanist antiwar savior live in a fantasy world. As a friend speculates, “they still think Obama’s progressive because they’re so progressive in voting for him.” But here you are this morning with Brennan, two peas in a pod, leading America down to the 9^th circle of Hell.

President Obama and his choice for Defense Secretary, former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, left, listen as the president's choice for CIA Director, Deputy National Security Adviser for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, John Brennan, right, speaks Monday in the East Room of the White House.  Associated Press