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Election Central Morning Roundup
TPM Election Central — ... The Washington Post points out that while Barack Obama has filled out most of his national-security team, he still faces tough choices in selecting his appointees to the intelligence posts. After John Brennan withdrew his name in the face of liberal opposition, current top names floating around are retired Navy Adm. Dennis Blair, Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), and former Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre. ...

Who has the President-elect's foreign policy ear?
The Reaction — ... this morning. "In Transition" regarding Intel -- CQ Homeland Security(12/4/08). To quote: Obama’s foreign policy brain trust needs “a coherent intellectual framework - and a winning battle plan - for the globe-spanning asymmetrical conflict that George W. Bush calls the ‘war on terror,’” the Post’s Eugene Robinson rumbles. Having lambasted its terror-war tactics on the hustings, taking control of the CIA is one of “the more treacherous patches” of Obama’s transition to ...

Any sign that demilitarization is coming?
The Reaction — ... positions. The CIA was blamed for the intelligence failures before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, as the bad prewar intelligence about Iraq's weapons programs. The CIA was also involved in the rendition of captured terrorism suspects to countries known to use torture, secret prisons all over the world for high-level captives, as well as the use of torture in interrogations. According to a recent (12/3/08) Washington Post analysis by by Joby Warrick and Walter Pincus, "Experience will be prime asset for Obama's Spy Chiefs." To quote: ...