By SIOBHAN GORMAN and EVAN PEREZ, The Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration's counterterrorism chief appeared to provide the first indication the administration may not make its January deadline for closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay in remarks Thursday that aimed to outline a new path for combating terrorism.

The administration is folding measures to combat terrorists into its broader effort to engage other countries and improve social conditions overseas, said John Brennan, the president's senior counterterrorism adviser who also served as a senior intelligence official during the Bush administration.

In defense of the Obama administration's national-security policies, which have come under fire from the left and right, Mr. Brennan said the Obama administration is neither totally discarding nor fully embracing the policies of Mr. Bush.

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