this is a HUGE story
blair was fired
he was not allowed to do his job, he refused to submit to the white house, insisting on maintaining the independence his agency has enjoyed
he's the 4th dni in 5 years
aspects of intel are in open revolt vs the white house
blair's resignation letter was nakedly defiant
he praised as heroes his colleagues in intel
he refused to mention obama, napolitano, brennan...
he quit with "deep regret"
he "fought for his job"
he was once admiral of our pacific fleet
he didn't cavil the usual spend-time-with-family alibi, nor its like
he's clearing out his desk in a week, the white house wanted longer to transition
he clearly lost the president's confidence
he fought with the white house over "purse strings" and lost
he tried to override some of the cia's appt's of top intel reps in foreign countries, the agency being a part of his purview
but he was trumped by the top
difi's intel cmte put out its report documenting fourteen failures concerning the handling of mutallab
the white house had the review for a month but didn't act til 2 days after ms fi went public
but what really axed the admiral was his testimony in senate---mutallab was mirandized after 30 minutes, dni was not consulted about this shift to civil venue, the jingle bells jihadist (mutallab) was not hig'd (brennan swore in senate the hi value interrogators weren't yet operational)
and, probably the backbreaking straw---when mutallab was mirandized he hushed up for a month til his family flew in to talk to him and he began once more to blab, THE ADMIN THEN WENT POLITICAL AND STARTED TO LEAK TO THE WORLD THAT THE UNDERWEAR BOMBER WAS SINGING
our anti-terror techniques are tattered
we are leaderless
ksm to manhattan, miranda for yemenis, death by drones for citizens overseas, gitmo closed, gitmo not closed, fort hood whitewashed, cia prosecuted...
the white house "won" a ruling yesterday allowing them to detain at bagram without appeal
DETENTION
yet, the boss is unable to pronounce "radical islam," fundamentally
it is what it is
leaderlessness
a "policy" all over the place
and now, THE PREZ IS HAVING TROUBLE FINDING ANYONE WHO WILL TAKE THE JOB
surprised?
Intel post becomes 'wicked problem' for W.H. - Josh Gerstein - POLITICO.com
Blair exit revives concerns about DNI - Josh Gerstein - POLITICO.com
Intelligence director Dennis Blair is resigning - Security- msnbc.com
Airplane bomb suspect said cooperating with U.S. | Reuters
US Intelligence Officials Warn of Persistent Threat from al-Qaida | News | English
Appeals court rules against Bagram detainees | D.C. Now | Los Angeles Times
