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ing verified.
• "Sadly, we believe some people have lost their lives," he said. "At the moment we potentially know of four, but there may of course be more."
• ___
Obama's CIA pick Brennan, once stung by waterboarding, now opposes it
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- John Brennan, now President Barack Obama's nominee to be CIA director, sat quietly around a conference table at the agency's headquarters in Langley, Va., during briefings about the capture and waterboarding of key al-Qaida operative Abu Zubaydah.
• Former and current U.S. intelligence officials who were part of those briefings say Brennan, then deputy executive director of the CIA's administrative arm, did not raise objections to the interrogation practices in those forums. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the top-secret meetings publicly.
• Brennan's silence may have cost him his first chance to lead the spy agency. He withdrew his name from consideration in 2008 following a stream of complaints that he was tainted by his CIA service during the administration of President George W. Bush, when harsh interrogation techniques like waterboarding came under fire.
• But in his letter withdrawing his nomination, Brennan wrote that he'd been a "strong opponent" of the program. Throughout Obama's first term, Brennan added to the body of criticism of so-called enhanced interrogation techniques in his role as Obama's counterterrorism adviser.
• The same issue that caused him to withdraw from consideration to be the nation's spy chief is likely to come up again this week as Brennan faces his confirmation hearings in Congress to be director of the CIA.
• ___
Analysis: Obama and GOP want to replace across-the-board cuts, but with what?
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- After two tumultuous years of budget brinkmanship, President Barack Obama and Republicans in Congress finally agree on something -- namely, that a previous 10-year pact to cut $1 trillion across the board was such a bad idea it must be stopped before it starts.
• If consensus counts as good news in an era of divided government, consider this: They also disagree vehemently on a suitable replacement.
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