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05-20-2010, 08:56 PM
Dennis Blair resigns as US intelligence chief
Page last updated at 0:20 GMT, Friday, 21 May 2010 1:20 UK
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http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/47890000/jpg/_47890862_009342060-1.jpg Adm Blair was tasked with co-ordinating 16 US intelligence agencies US President Barack Obama's national intelligence director has resigned after a 16-month tenure marked by a series of security failures.
Adm Dennis Blair said he had informed the president of his resignation, which goes into effect on Friday.
His term of office saw the Fort Hood shooting, the Christmas Day bomb plot and the Times Square car bomb plot.
President Obama said on Thursday he was grateful for Adm Blair's leadership and his "remarkable record of service".
"During his time as DNI, our intelligence community has performed admirably and effectively at a time of great challenges to our security, and I have valued his sense of purpose and patriotism," Mr Obama said in a statement.
'Systemic failures' Adm Blair had drawn fire for the Christmas Day plot when he said the special interrogation teams that had been promised were not yet formed.
This was despite a decision to form the teams months earlier.
ANALYSIS
Continue reading the main story (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/us_and_canada/10134992.stm#skip_feature_02) http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/47890000/jpg/_47890916_000118471-1.jpg Adam Brookes BBC News, Washington
It had been whispered around Washington for a while that the relationship between President Obama and his head of intelligence was not all it might be.
There have been bureaucratic spats, too, between Adm Blair and the top brass at the CIA.
A succession of violent incidents - apparently conducted by extremists with the aim of spreading terror - has shaken the intelligence community.
The cases have made Americans ask once again, are the intelligence agencies with their vast resources and manpower working properly?
The final straw may have been the report from the Senate Intelligence Committee, which came out this week, citing "systemic failures" across US intelligence.
"It is with deep regret that I informed the president today that I will step down as director of national intelligence effective Friday," a statement issued by his office said.
"Several strong candidates" were already being interviewed to replace him, officials told the BBC.
Adm Blair is a retired US Navy admiral who took over as the third director of national intelligence in January 2009.
The position was created after the 11 September 2001 attacks to try to unify and strengthen America's many intelligence agencies, and to force them to share information.
But Adm Blair's resignation suggests those intelligence reforms have yet to fully succeed, says the BBC's Adam Brookes in Washington.
Some Republicans defended Adm Blair's record.
"It must have been challenging to be forced on the sidelines... but sill catch all the blame for failings," Senator Kit Bond was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse.
There is no word yet as to who might replace Mr Blair, our correspondent says.
Global slump 'US security threat'
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45473000/jpg/_45473084_006765971-1.jpg Dennis Blair is a retired admiral
The top US intelligence official, Dennis Blair, has said that the global economic crisis is the main security concern facing America.
The director of national intelligence said at least a quarter of countries had experienced some instability because of the worldwide downturn.
Giving evidence to senators, he also said he believed al-Qaeda's leadership had been weakened over the past year.
But he pointed to Afghanistan and Pakistan as areas of concern.
Afghan security had deteriorated and Pakistan had to gain control of its border region before the situation would improve, Mr Blair said in an annual assessment of national threats.
Iran, he added, was at the very least keeping open the option of developing nuclear weapons but North Korea was unlikely to use nuclear weapons unless its government felt its survival was at stake.
Risk of instability
"The primary near-term security concern of the United States is the global economic crisis and its geopolitical implications," Mr Blair told a senate panel.
"Economic crises increase the risk of regime-threatening instability if they persist over a one- to two-year period."
Warning of the dangers of protectionism, he said that perceptions that the global crisis had originated in the US could make it difficult for America to maintain its lead in promoting free trade. The intelligence chief warned that al-Qaeda, the militant network which claimed the 9/11 attacks, was still planning attacks on the West, and appeared to view Europe as a "viable launching-point". But blows to the militants in Pakistan and Iraq meant they were "less capable and effective" than a year ago.
There has to be a lot NOT being said ?
Page last updated at 0:20 GMT, Friday, 21 May 2010 1:20 UK
E-mail this to a friend (http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/email/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/us_and_canada/10134992.stm)
Printable version (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/us_and_canada/10134992.stm#)
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/47890000/jpg/_47890862_009342060-1.jpg Adm Blair was tasked with co-ordinating 16 US intelligence agencies US President Barack Obama's national intelligence director has resigned after a 16-month tenure marked by a series of security failures.
Adm Dennis Blair said he had informed the president of his resignation, which goes into effect on Friday.
His term of office saw the Fort Hood shooting, the Christmas Day bomb plot and the Times Square car bomb plot.
President Obama said on Thursday he was grateful for Adm Blair's leadership and his "remarkable record of service".
"During his time as DNI, our intelligence community has performed admirably and effectively at a time of great challenges to our security, and I have valued his sense of purpose and patriotism," Mr Obama said in a statement.
'Systemic failures' Adm Blair had drawn fire for the Christmas Day plot when he said the special interrogation teams that had been promised were not yet formed.
This was despite a decision to form the teams months earlier.
ANALYSIS
Continue reading the main story (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/us_and_canada/10134992.stm#skip_feature_02) http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/47890000/jpg/_47890916_000118471-1.jpg Adam Brookes BBC News, Washington
It had been whispered around Washington for a while that the relationship between President Obama and his head of intelligence was not all it might be.
There have been bureaucratic spats, too, between Adm Blair and the top brass at the CIA.
A succession of violent incidents - apparently conducted by extremists with the aim of spreading terror - has shaken the intelligence community.
The cases have made Americans ask once again, are the intelligence agencies with their vast resources and manpower working properly?
The final straw may have been the report from the Senate Intelligence Committee, which came out this week, citing "systemic failures" across US intelligence.
"It is with deep regret that I informed the president today that I will step down as director of national intelligence effective Friday," a statement issued by his office said.
"Several strong candidates" were already being interviewed to replace him, officials told the BBC.
Adm Blair is a retired US Navy admiral who took over as the third director of national intelligence in January 2009.
The position was created after the 11 September 2001 attacks to try to unify and strengthen America's many intelligence agencies, and to force them to share information.
But Adm Blair's resignation suggests those intelligence reforms have yet to fully succeed, says the BBC's Adam Brookes in Washington.
Some Republicans defended Adm Blair's record.
"It must have been challenging to be forced on the sidelines... but sill catch all the blame for failings," Senator Kit Bond was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse.
There is no word yet as to who might replace Mr Blair, our correspondent says.
Global slump 'US security threat'
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45473000/jpg/_45473084_006765971-1.jpg Dennis Blair is a retired admiral
The top US intelligence official, Dennis Blair, has said that the global economic crisis is the main security concern facing America.
The director of national intelligence said at least a quarter of countries had experienced some instability because of the worldwide downturn.
Giving evidence to senators, he also said he believed al-Qaeda's leadership had been weakened over the past year.
But he pointed to Afghanistan and Pakistan as areas of concern.
Afghan security had deteriorated and Pakistan had to gain control of its border region before the situation would improve, Mr Blair said in an annual assessment of national threats.
Iran, he added, was at the very least keeping open the option of developing nuclear weapons but North Korea was unlikely to use nuclear weapons unless its government felt its survival was at stake.
Risk of instability
"The primary near-term security concern of the United States is the global economic crisis and its geopolitical implications," Mr Blair told a senate panel.
"Economic crises increase the risk of regime-threatening instability if they persist over a one- to two-year period."
Warning of the dangers of protectionism, he said that perceptions that the global crisis had originated in the US could make it difficult for America to maintain its lead in promoting free trade. The intelligence chief warned that al-Qaeda, the militant network which claimed the 9/11 attacks, was still planning attacks on the West, and appeared to view Europe as a "viable launching-point". But blows to the militants in Pakistan and Iraq meant they were "less capable and effective" than a year ago.
There has to be a lot NOT being said ?