WHO WILL WALK THE PLANK NOW THAT THE PREZ IN IN A SNIT ABOUT INTEL FAILURE?

Posted By on January 7th, 2010

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyharnden/100021540/just-who-will-barack-obama-fire-for-abdulmutallab-fiasco/
Toby Harnden
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyharnden/100021540/just-who-will-barack-obama-fire-for-abdulmutallab-fiasco/
Toby Harnden is the Daily Telegraph’s US Editor, based in Washington DC. Just who will Barack Obama fire for the Abdulmutallab fiasco?
Barack Obama is angry. Very angry, apparently. The intelligence agencies “screwed up” (White House aides were eager to quote him as saying this inside his big meeting). There was no “I screwed up” moment from the commander-in-chief but he has repeatedly mentioned the a-word recently – “accountable” for the Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab knicker bomber fiasco.

As in:

“we need our intelligence, homeland security and law enforcement systems – and the people in them – to be accountable” (Jan 5th)

and

“I will do everything in my power to make sure our hard-working men and women in our intelligence, law enforcement and homeland security communities have the tools and resources they need to keep America safe. This includes making sure these communities-and the people in them-are coordinating effectively and are held accountable at every level.” (Dec 29th)

and

“a full investigation has been launched into this attempted act of terrorism and we will not rest until we find all who were involved and hold them accountable” (Dec 28th)

Holding people “accountable” is normally political code for firings or forced resignations. So who might Obama give the boot? Here are 10 candidates:

1. Michael Leiter

The logic of Obama’s comments is that it was the National Counterterrorism Center, which was created after 9/11 with the sole function of “connecting the dots” that dropped the ball. As a Bush administration appointee, Leiter, a former US Navy jet pilot, would seem to be the ideal sacrificial lamb from a political point of view. Not that politics would play a role in any of this. Of course not.

2. Admiral Dennis Blair

As the Director of National Intelligence and Leiter’s boss, the failure to put all the pieces of the jigsaw together was Blair’s responsibility. White House briefings indicate that he could well be the fall guy. Forcing Leiter out while keeping Blair in place might seem to unfair and the Navy code of honour would probably dictate that the admiral would not feel comfortable with only the junior guy going.

3. Janet Napolitano

The knives are certainly out for “Big Sis” among conservatives amid all the justifiable mirth about “the system worked” and “man-made disasters”. But within the Obama administration Napolitano is regarded as a model bureaucrat and she has even won support from her predecessor Michael Chertoff. The political cost of firing her could be too high. Odds are she’ll stay, at least for now.

4. Leon Panetta

Morale is terrible at the CIA’s headquarters in Langley after the deaths of seven personnel in Khost, Afghanistan at the hands of a Jordanian triple agent and the news that Abdulmutallab’s father had personally told the CIA’s station chief in Abuja about his son’s extremist links in Yemen. CIA Director Panetta, a former California congressman and Bill Clinton chief of staff, is a well-respected Washington hand who has fought the CIA’s corner but he has little intelligence experience – and it’s no secret that Obama really wanted to give the job to John Brennan.

5. John Brennan

A career CIA officer, Brennan fell foul of the Bush administration and played a prominent advisory role in the Obama presidential camapaign. As this long NYT piece shows, Obama has relied heavily upon the man he wanted to head up the CIA. Although his performance on the talk shows was less than spectacular (he spoke of “no smoking gun”, plea deals with Abdulmutallab, said that Gitmo inmates would be returned to Yemen and urged people to reflect on how well the intel community had gone on every day apart from December 25th) he’s clearly a central player in the Obama team and very unlikely to be ordered to fall on his sword.

6. Hillary Clinton

It was the State Department that gave Abdulmutallab his visa to enter the US – in hindsight, a breathtaking failure. But Mrs Clinton seems to be the Teflon Girl on this one and is cleverly staying well out of things. She’s impressed people across the political spectrum as Secretary of State and is now much more popular than Obama. If for no other reason, Obama simply wouldn’t dare to fire her.

7. The head of the Transportation Security Agency

Would be a prime candidate for the boot. But, er, there isn’t one because the Senate hasn’t confirmed Obama’s nominee.

8. President George W. Bush

He’s the man Obama would like to blame most for this and everything else that goes wrong. But sorry Mr President, he’s already gone fishing.

9. President Barack Obama

Democratic strategist Paul Begala took Obama to task on CNN last night for not taking personal responsibility:

“He said our intelligence community failed to connect the dots. The next sentence should have been, which JFK said after the Bay of Pigs when the intelligence community failed him. He said but I am the responsible officer of this government. When Kennedy did that, by the way, his approval rating, the Gallup poll went up to 86 percent and his negative rating went down to 5. Moreover, if the president had done that, it would have bolstered those intelligence operatives and officials. We’ve got people in intelligence in this country and around the world who are risking their lives for us and they’re pretty demoralised right now. And I’m for finger pointing. I am. But I’m also for a leader who lifts them up and says look, ‘You men and women are risking your lives for us and I’m going to back you up. Even when you stumble I’m going to have your back’.

So you can fantasise all you like about this one but I wouldn’t hold your breath – and, let’s face it, while a little “the buck stops here” would be welcomed by many, no one expects a President to fire himself on something like this.

10. Mr Nobody

Given all that Obama’s said, he surely couldn’t not fire anyone. Could he?

Tags: burnt gonads, CIA, Dennis Blair, DNI, George W Bush, Hillary Clinton, Janet Napolitano, John Brennan, Knicker Bomber, Leon Panetta, Michael Leiter, Mr Nobody, NCTC, TSA, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

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