Posted on 05/20/2010 10:42:41 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
WASHINGTON — The nation's top intelligence officer, director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, announced his resignation Thursday after months of friction and repeated duels with White House officials.
The retired Navy admiral gave no reason for his departure in his public statement, nor did he express thanks to President Obama for the opportunity to serve in his administration.
A U.S. official indicated Obama had asked Blair to resign, saying a job search was well under way.
The administration has "been interviewing several strong candidates to be his (Blair's) replacement," said the U.S. official, who declined to elaborate. The official requested anonymity.
Blair's exit comes as the administration faces thorny decisions about Iran's nuclear program, the future of Afghanistan and the spread of militancy from Pakistan's tribal areas. It also fuels new doubts about the success, and wisdom, of the major intelligence overhaul in 2004 that created the spymaster position.
The departure of Blair, a retired admiral, had been rumored for months, but was made official when Obama called him Thursday and asked him to step down.
Later Thursday, Obama said, "Dennis Blair has a remarkable record of service to the United States, and I am grateful for his leadership as director of National Intelligence."
Among the possible candidates to succeed Blair are retired Air Force Gen. James Clapper, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence; former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Republican who co-chairs the president's Intelligence Advisory Board; and Marine Gen. James Cartwright, deputy chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Blair's resignation follows intelligence lapses over the failed Christmas bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner and .....
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
Very interesting ...
Betcha he names a progressive Marxist with no experience whatsoever to the post.
This is very bad. God knows who the evil bastard will replace him with.
No direction. No official strategy. No support.
I would get the hell out of Dodge as well.
He wasn’t political enough...Pionita and Brennababy took him out.
me too
Obama IS the HNIC. Get used to it you crackers.
If Obama replaces him with a Black, I’m screaming “RACISM”!!!
A Marxist who will progress at enabling the deconstruction of United States defenses.
= ?
lets play the media reaction of what if bush was still in office and he asked one of his top intelligence officers to resign
In May 2009, Director Blair attempted to exercise his authority to appoint an intelligence officer as his representative abroad, only to have CIA Director Leon Panetta counter his memo with a memo of his own.
U.S. Senator Susan Collins of Maine expressed concerns during hearings over the botched 2009 Christmas terrorist attack that the White House had undermined the power of ODNI by siding with the CIA in turf disputes, specifically citing this disagreement over intelligence community appointees. In a January 2010 statement to lawmakers by Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton who led the 9-11 Commission Report, Kean and Hamilton urged Obama to be clear who was in charge and urged a strong DNI. According to the Washington Post, a former Clinton administration official suggested scrapping the DNI position if Blair were removed.
Unfortunately for him, he discovered America’s worst-kept secret: there’s no intelligence in Washington.
Congress loved him. A Rhodes Scholar brain with military bearing. A fitness fanatic, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair presented well on Capitol Hill. Peter King, the New York Republican who has fought so hard to toughen homeland defenses, praised Blair’s dedication to the job. Pete Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House Intelligence committee, called him a “consumate public servant.”
But he was, as Peter King observed, the “odd man out,” or as another colleague called him, a good man in the wrong job. There were one too many turf fights. One too many bureaucratic battles lost for lack of White House support or just picked badly and lost.
John Brennan, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, increasingly made intelligence policy from the White House. CIA Director Leon Panetta sliced him up again and again. Attorney General Eric Holder, close to Obama, muzzled him, too. Even DHS chief Janet Napolitano testified on issues that Blair would normally have weighed in on. He was, as King called him, “not an insider. Not one of them.”
Early reports suggest that he may be replaced by James Clapper Jr., a retired Air Force lieutenant general and the Defense Department’s top intelligence officer, or possibly even by Brennan. Rep. King warns that Brennan would mean a tough confirmation battle.
I would like to see Obama try that one.
Hey Obangi- Napolitano has done such a bang-up job at Homeland Security, why not give her National Intelligence also? Or maybe Holder? He’s just as qualified for that as you are for President!
Yeah.....the Disaster King...and I don’t mean Rep. King.
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