President Obama will accept DNI Dennis Blair's resignation per Jake Tapper (Obama asked for it)

[jezebel]

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/05/exclusive-president-obama-to-replace-director-of-national-intelligence-dennis-blair.html


Exclusive: President Obama To Replace Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair
ABC News has learned that President Obama will replace the Director of National Intelligence, Admiral Dennis Blair (ret.) His resignation will come as soon as tomorrow, sources tell ABC News.

For several weeks President Obama has been holding serious conversations about whether to ask Blair to step down and has interviewed candidates to replace him. After a discussion this afternoon between the president and Blair in the Oval Office about the best way forward, Blair offered to resign and the president said he would accept, sources told ABC News.

Multiple administration sources tell ABC News that Blair’s tenure internally has been a rocky one.

On the heels of a number of intelligence failures involving the Fort Hood shooter, failed Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouq Abdulmuttalab, and questions about failed Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad, it was no longer clear that Blair -- tasked with coordinating the 16 intelligence agencies and ensuring that they cooperate and share information – still had the full and complete confidence of the president, sources say.

The news will not come as a surprise to those in the intelligence community. For months, Blair has turf battles while the White House made it clear that it had more confidence in others, such as counterterrorism and homeland security adviser John Brennan, taking the lead both publicly and privately.
More at link

[FrenchieCat]

1. Good.

[impik]

5. Yea. Sadly, it should happen.

[Cha]

6. Not everyone is perfect for the job

on first choice..I wish him well.

[Cant trust em]

2. Man. Obama has a lot on his plate.

The more I read and see, the more I think about how much there is to do. I would hate this job.

[secondwind]

3. Every time something new crap comes up, I say the same to my husband...

I agree with your comments, and our Prez looks a bit "grayer" today .... :-(

[Oedipus W. Bush]

7. The variety, magnitude and concurrency of the challenges Obama must deal with may be unprecedented.

Lincoln's challenge was more severe but it was singular. FDR's challenges were multiple, but they were more sequential. Washington's challenges were essentially of a single nature (would the Constitution work?).

Obama has massive problems to deal with concerning war, the economy and a crisis of confidence in government. Not to mention environmental and immigration disasters.

[IndianaGreen]

4. CNN is reporting that Blair resigned today

Tension with Panetta.

[jenmito]

8. Good! K&R. n/t

[Proud Liberal Dem]

9. Were all those things mentioned really "intelligence failures"?

In accepting Blair's resignation, is Obama acknowledging/implying that all of those aforementioned incidents are things that the NDI and, ultimately, himself, should've known about beforehand? Huh? :shrug: