WHAT DID OBAMA SAY AT AIPAC ABOUT IRAN? On Friday, Obama named former CIA operative John Brennan to be . In effect, he will serve as counterterrorism czar--Obama's Richard Clarke, if you will. With the title of assistant to the president, Brennan will have the right to schedule face to face meetings with Obama. Brennan's appointment is a somewhat hopeful sign for conservatives because he hasn't always toed the liberal line. In 2005, Brennan called rendition "absolutely vital tool." In 2007, he defended "enhanced interrogation tactics"--but not waterboarding, even though he LINK oversaw the creation of the CIA program in 2002. In 2008, he was LINK quoted favorably in the pages of THE WEEKLY STANDARD for saying that FISA immunity was "..." Brennan was LINK NPR reportedly instrumental in bringing Obama to that position on FISA. On Iran, he appears to be to the left of Obama. The Washington Post article LINK noted that Brennan has called for the United States to tone down its rhetoric and TEXT "(1) tone down rhetoric; (2) establish a direct dialogue with Tehran, including comprehensive, private discussions and deployment of a special envoy; (3) encourage greater assimilation of Hezbollah into Lebanon's political system; and (4) offer carrots in addition to sticks, including consideration of legitimate Iranian concerns on regional security issues." 1. Moral equivalence 2. Most troubling is that in the summer of 2008 he viewed the the 2007 NIE Obama cited the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate on the Iranian nuclear program as evidence that "if we are meeting with them, talking to them, and offering them both carrots and sticks, they are more likely to change their behavior." TEXT TEXT