Brennan To Give Counterterrorism Speech

John Brennan, the president's chief counterterrorism adviser and a survivor of the Bush-era Central Intelligence Agency, will speak in public for the first time since the inauguration. On Thursday, he's slated to deliver a speech on counterterorrism in the Obama era at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.  The speech will focus on the CT challenges facing the administration and the institutions the administration is building to contain them. Brennan's portfolio at the NSC includes the Department of Homeland Security, disaster coordination and cybersecurity. Brennan was Obama's first choice to be CIA director, but he withdrew in the face of congressional and public pressure over his ties to the Bush administration, where he served in key CIA operational positions and was the founding director of the government's terrorist threat integration center. Aides say that Obama appreciates Brennan's blunt-speaking manner and his direct experience with the controversial issues with which Obama has had to contend, including renditions, detention policies and interrogations. Brennan has served as the NSC's chief liaison to the president's detainee review task forces.