Bush Administration

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's nominee to head the CIA, Leon E. Panetta, said yesterday that he intends to test the claims by current agency officials that coercive interrogation methods were effective in getting terrorism suspects to talk. Panetta's comments were the latest indication that the administration might restore some of the CIA's authority to use interrogation techniques that go beyond those allowed for the U.S. military. But Panetta stressed that he would also examine the "downside" of using coercive methods and that the agency would operate within the law. Last month, Obama signed executive orders to abolish harsh interrogation methods and close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

CORNELIUS, N.C. - In the waning days of the Bush administration, the Food and Drug Administration completed new guidelines to make it easier for drug manufacturers to promote "off-label" prescription drug uses, which can be deadly for patients. The move came despite criticism from Bush's own Department of Veterans Affairs, which said the change "favors business interests over public safety" and could lead to a "decline in drug safety." It was also crafted despite efforts by state and federal law enforcement experts to clamp down on off-label drug marketing.

Symantec chief could head Commerce WASHINGTON: John W. Thompson, the outgoing chief executive of Symantec Corp., a network security company, has emerged as a leading contender to be secretary of the Department of Commerce, a move that would give the high-tech industry a major voice in the Obama administration. Over the past decade, Thompson led the Cupertino, Calif.-based company from a small software maker to the top provider of antivirus and security programs, known for its Norton brand of products.

Thank you, Matt Patterson, for the column "Bush: The Great Liberator" (Commentary, Jan. 25). In this time when the flavor of the day is Bush-bashing, it is refreshing for someone to recognize that former President George W. Bush did his job of keeping America safe. There are a great many people who do not agree with his tactics, but no one can doubt the bottom line - no attacks have occurred on American soil since 9/11. Derrick Lowe, Elkton I find it astonishing that the author of "Bush: The Great Liberator" ignored the fact that Saddam Hussein was not involved in the 9/11 attacks and that former President George W. Bush's inhumane attack on Iraq has led to the loss of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives and the lives of more than 4,000 American soldiers and cost us hundreds of billions of dollars.

WASHINGTON - Soon after the November election, al-Qaida's No. 2 leader took stock of America's new president-elect and dismissed him with an insulting epithet. "A house Negro," Ayman al-Zawahiri said. That was just a warm-up. In the weeks since, the terrorist group has unleashed a stream of verbal tirades against Barack Obama, each more venomous than the last. Obama has been called a "hypocrite," a "killer" of innocents, an "enemy of Muslims." He was even blamed for the Israeli military assault on Gaza, which began and ended before he took office.

For most of the last eight years, the Bush administration worked hard to keep the business of government behind closed doors and off limits to the public. Now, President Barack Obama has wasted little time in rejecting this sinister passion for secrecy, ordering staff and agencies to consider government documents open and available to citizens. It's a bias toward openness that every American favoring greater government accountability should cheer. The Obama administration has a lot of work ahead, implementing policies to end the Bush era of secrecy.

President-elect Barack Obama had hoped an economic stimulus package would be the first piece of legislation he would sign upon moving into the Oval Office. But endorsing a resolution to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay more than qualifies as a significant first for the incoming 44th president. The symbolism of that action will reverberate across oceans and in foreign capitals, where America's image and reputation as a nation of laws have suffered egregious harm from the continued existence of this unjust prison.

WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama's nominee for attorney general said unequivocally yesterday that waterboarding is torture, and he vowed to initiate an extensive and immediate "damage assessment" to fix fundamental problems within the Justice Department that he said were caused by the outgoing Bush administration. Eric H. Holder Jr. told the Senate Judiciary Committee during a marathon hearing that the incoming Obama administration is making major course corrections on the interrogations of terror suspects and many other issues that will represent a significant break from the current policies and programs.

'Smarter Growth' already state policy In response to "Smarter Smart Growth" (Commentary, Jan. 1), I would argue that the O'Malley administration is working very hard to do just that - make Smart Growth smarter. Maryland is rich with Smart Growth successes at the state and local levels and in the private and nonprofit sectors as well. Yet we still face challenges on both sides of the Smart Growth coin: protecting areas we don't want to grow from sprawl development and creating compact, attractive development in areas we do want to grow.

WASHINGTON - With the introduction of President-elect Barack Obama's intelligence team yesterday, the United States is poised to enter what might be considered the second phase in the counterterrorism campaign launched after the Sept. 11 attacks. Obama and his spy chief nominees have promised a break with the policies of the Bush administration largely by focusing attention on what they intend to undo - including shutting down the Guantanamo Bay prison facility and ending the CIA's use of so-called "enhanced" interrogation techniques.