WASHINGTON – US intelligence chief Dennis Blair has announced that he is stepping down in the first major shake-up of US president Barack Obama’s national security team.
Mr Blair’s 16-month tenure as director of national intelligence (DNI) has been marked by infighting with the CIA and sharp criticism over the intelligence community’s failure to prevent a botched Christmas Day attempt to blow up a US aircraft.
US under secretary of defence for intelligence James Clapper was expected to step into Mr Blair’s role at least on an interim basis, according to a source close to the White House deliberations.
“It is with deep regret that I informed the president today that I will step down as director of national intelligence,” Mr Blair said in a statement on Thursday.
He said his resignation would become effective on May 28th.
Mr Obama praised Mr Blair’s “remarkable record of service to the United States”.
“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.
The president is unlikely to leave the job vacant for long at a time of heightened domestic security concerns following the Christmas Day plot and a botched May 1st car bombing in New York’s Time Square. US officials said the White House had already started interviewing “several strong candidates”.
In addition to Mr Clapper, Mr Blair’s possible successors include John Hamre, US secretary of defence from 1993 to 1997; Chuck Hagel, a former senator who co-chairs Mr Obama’s intelligence advisory board; National Counterterrorism Centre director Michael Leiter; and Lee Hamilton, co-chair of the September 11th commission.
The director of national intelligence is the head of the intelligence community but has limited control over the CIA. – (Reuters)