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Dennis Blair Resigns : The Future Belongs to the Spies

Dennis Blair, the Director of National Intelligence, is resigning at the request of President Obama.

Among the agencies Blair has supervisory authority over is the National Counterterrorism Center. Analysts at the NCTC have been blamed for failing to connect intelligence dots and for not sharing information about Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who planned to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day.

Blair took a big hit from the Senate Intelligence Committee this week when it released a declassified report on the failed attack. (More from the report here.)

While Blair, as Director of National Intelligence, is responsible for supervising the NCTC and 15 other intelligence-related agencies, the actual Director of the NCTC is Michael E. Leiter. Will he keep his job? The FBI and State Department were also found to have contributed to the intelligence lapses that failed to prevent Abdulmutallab from boarding the plane. Is anyone being canned from those agencies? Or is Blair just expendable and a convenient fall guy? [More...]

Blair is responsible for briefing the President. ABC News reports officials say Blair's reports weren't "crisp or well-presented." I'm not buying it. When you're reporting to the President directly, that kind of performance flaw -- incompetence -- would have been nipped in the bud by termination or replacement very quickly, It certainly wouldn't be allowed to go on for months.

So what's the Administration's real problem with Blair? That unlike Obama, he has been critical of the CIA's expansive covert ops? That he's been at odds with Counterterrorism and homeland security adviser John Brennan, who has usurped some of his duties and is preferred by Obama? That CIA Chief Leon Panetta has had big problems with Blair?

The bigger question is how will intelligence policy change going forward? It seems like the focus will soon be primarily on threats within the U.S. Blair recently has warned of increased cyberthreats and homegrown terrorism. The Intelligence Committee report placed heavy blame on the NCTC for focusing on intelligence about AQAP attacks in Yemen rather than in the U.S. The Senate committee wants even more information sharing among various agencies, even if it results in someone being nominated to be on a watchlist based on incomplete information.

Here's one likely consequence of Blair's departure: The CIA and Pentagon will have a freer reign (less oversight by others) in spying activities. Via the Times:

Mr. Blair’s departure could strengthen the hand of the C.I.A operatives, who have bristled at directives from Mr. Blair’s office. In recent months, Mr. Blair has been outspoken about reining in the C.I.A.’s covert activities, citing their propensity to backfire and tarnish America’s image.

The administration has largely embraced the C.I.A. operations, especially the agency’s campaign to kill militants in Pakistan’s tribal areas with drone aircraft.

...The vast majority of America’s annual intelligence budget, nearly $50 billion, is spent on spy satellites and high-tech listening devices under Pentagon control.

What do you get when you connect these dots? The guy who criticized excessive CIA spying is canned; the Senate wants more attention paid to possible attacks within the U.S.; and most of the intelligence budget is spent on spy satellites and electronic surveillance controlled by the Pentagon.

It seems to me we're going to get more secret spying with less judicial or other meaningful oversight right here at home, all with the blessing of the President.

They're even prepping us for it. Via CNN today, officials say the Pakistani Taliban is planning a U.S. attack and they have no idea where. Translation: we need more listening bugs to determine the location and prevent it.

CNN also reports a military official says the insurgents who attacked Bagram AFB in Afghanistan this week were wearing stolen U.S. military-style uniforms which are available on the internet for purchase. Translation: We need more spying on internet activities.

There's more: An auto parts dealer in Missouri pleaded guilty this week to money laundering and bank fraud -- he sent money to al Qaeda and had taken an oath to help them. Translation: More spying on domestic bank accounts, please.

A man in New York is charged with using his special computer skills to help al Qaeda. Translation: It's time to do more checks on those using encrypted software and those who wire money from the U.S. to other countries.

What's next? And if you think increased surveillance at home is just a temporary measure aimed at terrorists, ask yourself when it will end, considering the Government says the war on terror has no end. Most likely, it will end at the same time those deemed so dangerous they must be detained in the U.S. indefinitely (even if no charges are filed against them or in the unlikely event they are tried and acquitted) are released -- Never.

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  • Display: Sort:
    O/T. Jeralyn, do you or BTD, (5.00 / 1) (#1)
    by FoxholeAtheist on Fri May 21, 2010 at 01:39:01 AM EST
    plan to write something about the BP Gulf of Mexico spill. [Burn this after reading.] Sorry, I know you're already plenty busy.

    just put a thread up on it (5.00 / 1) (#2)
    by Jeralyn on Fri May 21, 2010 at 02:18:25 AM EST
    here. I haven't been following it so I have no insight, but I did put up a thread so you can discuss it.

    Parent
    Thanks a million, J. Have a good nite. (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by FoxholeAtheist on Fri May 21, 2010 at 02:32:30 AM EST
    You weren't at the Eagles... (none / 0) (#5)
    by MileHi Hawkeye on Fri May 21, 2010 at 08:22:23 AM EST
    ...show last night?

    Parent
    So what's the answer? (none / 0) (#4)
    by jbindc on Fri May 21, 2010 at 06:40:48 AM EST
    I don't like this anymore than anyone else, but if, as you say:

    They're even prepping us for it. Via CNN today, officials say the Pakistani Taliban is planning a U.S. attack and they have no idea where. Translation: we need more listening bugs to determine the location and prevent it.

    CNN also reports a military official says the insurgents who attacked Bagram AFB in Afghanistan this week were wearing stolen U.S. military-style uniforms which are available on the internet for purchase. Translation: We need more spying on internet activities.

    There's more: An auto parts dealer in Missouri pleaded guilty this week to money laundering and bank fraud -- he sent money to al Qaeda and had taken an oath to help them. Translation: More spying on domestic bank accounts, please.

    A man in New York is charged with using his special computer skills to help al Qaeda. Translation: It's time to do more checks on those using encrypted software and those who wire money from the U.S. to other countries.

    Then is the answer to just wait and and see what happens and then react after it does?

    What is the answer?

    There is no "answer" jb... (5.00 / 1) (#6)
    by kdog on Fri May 21, 2010 at 08:35:44 AM EST
    would be sure be nice, but there isn't....world events & foreign policy 100 years in the making brought us here...there is no super-spy switch we can hit to keep us "safe" in a dangerous violent globalized world.

    What do we do?  The best we can do with a healthy dose of respect for civil liberty in the face of current threats...basically read and react as you said...along with a long term strategy to disengage from foreign entanglements that put the bulls-eye on our back.

    We can let the tyranny apparatus spy on us all, all day long, with an interrogation on Sunday and we won't stop the next whackjob...I for one do not expect the government to police every airline traveler or every human being on American soil who could possibly rig a car bomb...and I sure don't want them to kill what's left of freedom around here trying in a futile  attempt.

    I'm seriously disheartened to see that Obama fired this guy for not being big brother enough...can't imagine what's next.

    Parent

    Make it all public information (none / 0) (#8)
    by BobTinKY on Fri May 21, 2010 at 08:45:00 AM EST
    would be a good start. I think everyday folks can ascertain for themselves what is a serious threat and what is not.  I don't think we need to have this information filtered and disseminated peicemeal by paranoid national security types whose very livelihood depends on continued threats and classificaiotn of information.  

    Parent
    I dunno (5.00 / 1) (#9)
    by jbindc on Fri May 21, 2010 at 10:30:39 AM EST
    While I respect most people's opinions on this board, even if I don't agree with them, I don't think anyone here is necessarily qualified to make a judgment about what really is a threat and what isn't. I can't imagine most people in this country are qualified to make that judgment - Maybe I'm wrong.  

    Of course, spying on everyone isn't the answer (besides civil liberty violations, there's also the huge dollar and resource cost of looking in places that are a waste of time).  Kdog's approach of "hands off" is not an answer either - it will certainly lead to intelligence being missed and devastation to follow.

    This is one of those topics that has a theoretical component, based on principle ("This is what we stand for and what we should do") vs. the sometimes actual reality.  Unfortunately, everything has become too politicized to have a rational debate - one that really has no answer.  Instead, we are left with what will sound good in ads and for the 12 people who watch Maddow or Beck.

    Parent

    We make those judgments all the time (5.00 / 1) (#11)
    by BobTinKY on Fri May 21, 2010 at 11:02:27 AM EST
    do I live here or there, what about safety?

    do I walk around in this city or take a cab?

    HOw many/what type of locks should I have in my house?

    Let's keep in mind prior to the Iraq War our security "experts' were claming Iraq would fly unmanned aircraft across the Gulf, the Mediterranean, the Atlantic to our "homeland" and strike us dead.  In light of that and numerous other ludicrous output from our "Intelligence" agencies I feel pretty qualified to ignore them and assess my own safety and that of my family.  But I need the information and for that I would trust a working, competitive press if it existed more than the government.

    What if all that "chatter" and "blinking red lights" had been made known to the public in the Summer of 2001 instead of our experts and the boob at his ranch in Texas?  Had they been clued in to that extent I am near certain citizens and local law enforcement could have prevented so much of what has since transpired.

    Parent

    Great points... (none / 0) (#12)
    by kdog on Fri May 21, 2010 at 11:10:33 AM EST
    I'd sure as hell feel safer if any and all info was declassified...besides, we paid to gather the info...it's our info.

    Parent
    Devastation... (none / 0) (#10)
    by kdog on Fri May 21, 2010 at 10:59:33 AM EST
    is a fact of life, if not a car bomb or hijacking maybe the crosstown bus runs you over, or cancer gets ya...to me it boils down to how you wanna be living when disaster strikes....the disaster is inevitable.

    But of course reasonable precautions can and should be made to thwart what we can thwart...as long as our cherished way of life is not sacrificed...it's a hard line to draw with millions of people who all value different things...obviously my line is on a different page than yours jb, a different chapter...sh*t a different book:)

    Parent

    Maybe a different book (none / 0) (#14)
    by jbindc on Fri May 21, 2010 at 03:07:09 PM EST
    But I like to think we're in the same library at least!  :)

    Parent
    Who cares about Blair or any of them (none / 0) (#7)
    by BobTinKY on Fri May 21, 2010 at 08:41:50 AM EST
    spy v. spy, blind leading the blind.

    What could provide a better defense against terrorist CRIME than an informed citzenry edcuated about the real threats?  Nothing, but instead we have self proclaimed patriots of the first order overseeing all information they in their great wisdom deem sensitive, and who use that information to scare the Hell out of the population.  And that is so we won't question their misplaced priorities and profligate spending on all things national security related.

    Oh, and they and their friends enjoy lucrative careers in the process.  Just a coincidence that.

    Disband the whole intelligance process and the let the press do that which was all along suppose to have been their job, inform citzens.

    the reorganization of the intel community (none / 0) (#13)
    by pitachips on Fri May 21, 2010 at 01:08:48 PM EST
    after 9/11 was never going to work the way its proponents claimed. it's the culture, stupid!