On Jan. 7, President Obama nominated John Brennan, the man who masterminded the expansion of the hugely controversial drone program as the new director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Daily Mail

In 2009, it was Democrats on the left who scuttled Brennan's nomination to the same CIA post, because he was too closely associated with the CIA torture program promoted under the previous president. The Atlantic Wire

While serving as deputy executive director of the CIA under the Bush administration, President Obama’s nominee for CIA chief and current counterterrorism adviser John Brennan “had detailed, contemporaneous knowledge” of the use of torture on detainees in U.S. prisons. Antiwar

Now, he's solidified another policy that began under President Bush and is ready to head back to the CIA as its biggest booster. Whether or not the drone program continues as an intelligence effort or a military one, Brennan has ensured that, for better or worse, it will always be a key part of America's fighting overseas. The Atlantic Wire

In 2011, John Brennan, made an extraordinary claim about drone attacks in Pakistan: "In the last year, there hasn't been a single collateral death because of the exceptional proficiency, precision of the capabilities that we've been able to develop." Common Dreams