NATIONAL BRIEFING / WASHINGTON, D.C.
Barack Obama picked CIA veteran John Brennan as his top advisor on counter-terrorism, a White House position not subject to Senate approval. Brennan will be an influential advisor on the Middle East and on Iran, an area in which he has called for a sharp break with past U.S. policy.
The president-elect’s decision comes only six weeks after Brennan was forced to pull out of contention for the directorship of the Central Intelligence Agency because of fears that his statements supporting some controversial interrogation techniques would have complicated his confirmation.
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