John Brennan CIA Nomination: Everything You Need to Know About Obama's Choice For CIA Director

Impact

On Monday, President Obama officially nominated John Brennan to become the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The move has left many wondering who exactly John Brennan is.

Brennan, who currently serves as the Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism for the Obama administration, has built quite the reputation for himself over the years. Brennan climbed his way into the upper echelons of the CIA, where he served 25 years and has directly worked with the last five administrations.

In the 1990's, Brennan served as Bill Clinton's daily intelligence briefer before being assigned as the CIA's station chief in Saudi Arabia — after the terrorist group Hezbollah bombed the Khobar Towers, killing 19 servicemen.

Brennan was promoted to deputy director of the CIA in 2001, after serving as chief of staff to then-director George Tenet. He then moved on to become the director of the CIA's Terrorist Threat Interrogation Center, from 2003 to 2004 — where he gathered information for President George W. Bush's daily intelligence briefings.

Before joining the Obama administration in 2009, Brennan left the CIA in 2006 and entered into the private sector intelligence community — serving as CEO of The Analysis Corporation.

Brennan was also instrumental in the planning of the Osama Bin Laden raid that took place on May 1, 2011.

In addition to Brennan's lengthy resume, he has been known to attract disparaging attention from both sides of the aisle concerning some controversial stances and practices.

Originally considered for the CIA director's position in 2008, Brennan withdrew his name after controversy arose over his possible participation in "enhanced interrogation practices" under the Bush administration — claims that he vigorously denies.

In 2010, Brennan drew criticism after he referred to Jerusalem by its Arabic name, Al-Qubs and then described "jihad" as a "legitimate tenet of Islam," just a few months later.

Brennan has also received backlash over his support of the administration's drone strikes — a tactic that uses un-manned aircrafts to conduct military strikes on terrorist cells and outposts.

Brennan, however, will most likely be seen as a less controversial figure than his predecessor David Petraeus — who resigned back in the fall after a scandal concerning his extramarital affairs swept the nation.

Brennan cannot officially become the director of the CIA until the Senate approves the nomination, which is expected to be an expedited and easily obtained process.

So now that you know who John Brennan is, do you think that he is the right choice for America or not?