Counter-terror adviser: U.S. should 'never' profile

"Speaking at a question-and-answer session for Muslim law students last week at New York University, Brennan declared himself a 'citizen of the world.'

'We need to be looking at ourselves as individuals. Not the way we look or the creed we have or our ethnic background. I consider myself a citizen of the world,' he said.

Brennan told the audience the Obama administration is trying to 'make sure that we as Americans can interact in a safe way, balance policies in a way that optimizes national security but also optimizes the opportunity in this country never to be profiled, never to be discriminated against.'

Profiling has long been a controversial issue. Many counter-terrorism officials believe profiling is necessary to ensure U.S. security, but liberal and human rights groups largely oppose the practice."

"Nor does President Obama see this challenge as a fight against 'jihadists,'" said Brennan.

"Describing terrorists in this way – using a legitimate term, 'jihad,' meaning to purify oneself or to wage a holy struggle for a moral goal – risks giving these murderers the religious legitimacy they desperately seek but in no way deserve. Worse, it risks reinforcing the idea that the United States is somehow at war with Islam itself. And this is why President Obama has confronted this perception directly and forcefully in his speeches to Muslim audiences, declaring that America is not and never will be at war with Islam."