http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/world/obamas-leadership-in-war-on-al-qaeda. html Some critics of the drone strategy still vilify Mr. Brennan, suggesting that he is the C.I.A.s agent in the White House, steering Mr. Obama to a targeted killing strategy. But in office, Mr. Brennan has surprised many former detractors by speaking forcefully for closing Guantanamo and respecting civil liberties. Harold H. Koh, for instance, as dean of Yale Law School was a leading liberal critic of the Bush administrations counterterrorism policies. But since becoming the State Departments top lawyer, Mr. Koh said, he has found in Mr. Brennan a principled ally. "If John Brennan is the last guy in the room with the president, Im comfortable, because Brennan is a person of genuine moral rectitude," Mr. Koh said. "Its as though you had a priest with extremely strong moral values who was suddenly charged with leading a war."