Brennan defends drone attacks - FT.com John Brennan, the Obama administration's nominee to head the Central Intelligence Agency, gave a vigorous defence of the policy of killing suspected terrorists with drone strikes but suggested that the agency might conduct fewer such operations. Mr Brennan insisted that the US government had "rigorous standards" for considering targeted killings and that its military operations against al-Qaeda were welcomed in many of the countries in which they have taken place. The Senate intelligence committee hearing came at a time of mounting unease among some politicians in Washington about the expansion in the use of drones to attack alleged terrorists during the Obama administration. While about 50 drone strikes were conducted during the George W. Bush administration, there have been more than 350 under Barack Obama's presidency. At one stage the hearing was suspended because of protests against the drone programme. As the White House counter-terrorism adviser for the past four years, Mr Brennan has been the driving force behind the expansion in operations to kill suspected terrorists, including several American citizens. The drone strikes, which have taken place in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, are conducted by the US military and by the CIA. Mr Brennan, who was a career CIA official for more than two decades, said that the agency needed to be able to conduct covert operations, but he hinted that it might scale back its use of drone strikes. Some of the CIA's activities since 9/11 had been "a bit of an aberration," he said, adding that the agency "should not be doing traditional military activities and operations." This week, Leon Panetta, a former CIA director and currently secretary of defence, said that drone strikes should largely be conducted by the military. Critics of the drone attacks in Yemen say that they have caused a backlash that increased the membership of the local al-Qaeda affiliate, while they have become extremely unpopular in Pakistan. Sherry Rehman, Pakistan's ambassador to the US, said on Tuesday that targeted killings were a "direct violation of our sovereignty." However, Mr Brennan insisted that drone strikes were widely supported in both countries. The people are being held hostage to al-Qaeda in these areas . . . and have welcomed the work to rid them of the al-Qaeda cancer in their midst. Mr Brennan said that he would consider a proposal to set up some form of judicial review of any operations that might involve US citizens. He claimed that targeted killings were only used "as a last resort" and that people should understand "the agony we go through" and "the care we take" over authorising drone strikes. Although there were some pointed questions during the hearing, Mr Brennan is expected to be comfortably approved by the Senate, with several members of the committee offering him strong praise. The committee will hold a closed hearing next Tuesday before voting on his nomination. Senators from both parties questioned Mr Brennan on his views of the torture programme run by the CIA during the Bush administration, when he was a senior official at the agency. Mr Brennan admitted that in 2007 he had said that interrogations using torture had "saved lives," but he said that after reading a classified report by the Senate intelligence committee on the CIA's activities during the period, he was now not sure. "I do not know what the truth is," he said. Mr Brennan said he was not involved in organising the interrogations, but that he was aware of the techniques used.