Obama Pushing For More Aggressive Operations Aimed At Al-Qaida, Aide Says

President Barack Obama has approved "a number of actions and initiatives against al-Qaida and other terrorist groups" and then gone on to push his team to be "even more aggressive, even more proactive and even more innovative" in "taking down terrorists," the president's point man on counterterrorism said today.

Here's a short clip from John Brennan's address at the Center for Strategic and International Studies:

Brennan also argued that focusing on the phrase "war on terrorism" confuses "ends and means":

He said much of the debate over the president's anti-terrorism policies has been "inflammatory" and intellectually narrow:

And, Brennan said the nation strayed "from our ideals" when water-boarding and other tactics were used against suspected terrorists. "They are a recruitment bonanza for terrorists," he said: