Dennis C Blair

Early years

Blair was born in Kittery, Maine, the son of Abbie Dora (née Ansel) and Captain Carvel Hall Blair. He is a sixth-generation naval officer and the great-great-great-grandson of Confederate Chief Engineer William Price Williamson of North Carolina, credited with first suggesting that the hull of the USS Merrimack be used to build the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia. He also counts portrait painter Charles Willson Peale and U.S. Attorney General William Wirt among his ancestors.

Blair attended St. Andrew's School (1964), and, as a classmate of Oliver North and James H. Webb, graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1968. The class of 1968 at the academy also included retired Admiral Michael Mullen, the 17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, former Senator James H. Webb, and retired General Michael Hagee, former Commandant of the Marine Corps, and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.

Naval career

Following his graduation from the Naval Academy, he was assigned to the guided missile destroyer USS Barney (DDG-6). He then received a Rhodes Scholarship, reading Russian studies at Oxford University, attending during the same time future president Bill Clinton studied there (President Clinton did not complete the program). He served as a White House Fellow from 1975-76 with Wesley Clark and Marshall Carter, who later became chairman of the New York Stock Exchange.

Blair spent over 34 years in the United States Navy. He served on guided missile destroyers in both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets and commanded the Kitty Hawk Battle Group between 1994 and 1995. Blair commanded the USS Cochrane from 1984 to 1986 and the Pearl Harbor Naval Station from 1988 to 1989. Blair was known as thoughtful commander, but is also remembered for moments of levity during his leadership in the best-known example during a day off at sea, Blair is believed to be the first naval officer to ever attempt to water-ski behind his modern destroyer when he was the skipper.

His last job in the military was as Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Command, the highest-ranking officer over most of the U.S. forces in the Asia-Pacific region. During his tenure, he developed a series of programs and joint exercises with militaries in the region and broadened the relationships between the U.S. military and partner nations.

Blair was in command at USPACOM when a United States Navy EP-3E ARIES II signals intelligence aircraft and a People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) J-8II interceptor fighter jet collided in mid-air, resulting in the death of a Chinese crewmember and the emergency landing of the EP-3. Following the landing, the 24 U.S. crewmen aboard were detained in China for 10 days. The so-called Hainan Island incident threatened to escalate already tense relations between the United States and China but Blair played in a key role in managing the crisis.

Previously, he was Director of the Joint Staff in the Office of the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, and served in budget and policy positions on several major Navy staffs and the National Security Council staff. He was also the first Associate Director of Central Intelligence for Military Support. He retired from the Navy in 2002.

Reports of disobeying orders

According to journalist Alan Nairn, Blair disobeyed orders from civilians in the Clinton administration during the 1999 East Timorese crisis during his tenure as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Command. Amid growing international concern over violence against the independence movement in Indonesian-occupied East Timor, Blair was ordered to meet with General Wiranto, the commander of the Indonesian military, and to tell him to shut down the pro-Indonesia militia. According to Nairn, two days after the Liquiçá Church Massacre, Blair failed to deliver this message; instead he presented Wiranto with an offer of military assistance and a personal invitation to be Blair's guest in Hawaii. Consequently, Wiranto’s "forces increased the Timor killings". During his confirmation hearing as Director of National Intelligence, Blair responded to the accusations: "In our conversations with leaders of Indonesia, both military and civilian, we decried and said that the torture and killing that was being conducted by paramilitary groups and some military groups in East Timor had to stop"; "those who say that I was somehow carrying out my own policy or saying things that were not in accordance with American policy are just flat wrong".

Blair denied these allegations at his confirmation hearing for the post of Director of National Intelligence in January 2009, after which he was unanimously approved by the Senate Intelligence Committee, though his tenure lasted only fifteen months, at which point Blair was fired, reportedly for disobeying orders of President Obama.

Conflict of interest

His membership on the board of directors of EDO Corporation, a subcontractor for the F-22 Raptor fighter program, and ownership of its stock was raised as a potential conflict of interest after the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) issued a study that endorsed a three-year contract for the program. In a 2006 report, Project on Government Oversight publicized the results of this study and exposed Blair's conflict of interest. Blair told the Washington Post, "My review was not affected at all by my association with EDO Corp., and the report was a good one". He originally chose not to recuse himself because he claimed his link to EDO was not of sufficient "scale" to require it, but subsequently resigned from the EDO board to avoid any misperceptions.

However, on December 20, 2006, the Washington Post reported that the U.S. Department of Defense Inspector General's investigation into the affair found Blair had violated IDA's Conflict of Interest rules but did not influence the result of IDA's study. Blair observed, "with all due respect to the Inspector General, I find it hard to understand how I could be criticized for violating conflict of interest standards when I didn't have any influence on the study".

Decorations and notability

His decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters (4 awards), Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit (4 awards), Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, and the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal with one star (2 awards), as well as numerous other campaign and service awards. He has been decorated by the governments of Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, Thailand and Taiwan.

Blair is somewhat renowned in U.S. Naval circles for attempting to water ski behind his destroyer the USS Cochrane (DDG-21) when he was the ship's commanding officer.

Retirement

After retiring from the Navy, Blair held the John M. Shalikashvili Chair in National Security Studies at The National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) and the General of the Army Omar N. Bradley Chair of Strategic Leadership at Dickinson College and the U.S. Army War College. He was also the President of the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), a U.S. government think tank in the Washington, D.C. area focused on national security. He also served as Deputy Executive Director of the Project on National Security Reform.

Additionally, Blair was selected as the Bradley Chair of Strategic Leadership at Dickinson College and was President of the Institute for Defense Analysis, a U.S. government-backed think tank from 2003 to 2007.

Blair is now serving as the Chairman of the Board at Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA, a U.S.-Japan relations think tank in Washington, DC. He also serves as co-chair of the Pacific Energy Summit, an annual forum that brings together key energy and environmental stakeholders from across the Asia-Pacific to discuss policies and practices needed to promote energy and environmental security.

Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property

Blair is the co-head of the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property along with former governor of Utah and Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman.

Nomination

Dennis C. Blair became the third Director of National Intelligence (DNI) on January 29, 2009, after being nominated by newly inaugurated President Barack Obama.

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network opposed Blair's nomination for Director of National Intelligence, saying "His actions demonstrate the failure of engagement to temper the Indonesian military’s behavior and his actions helped to reinforce impunity for senior Indonesian officials that continues to this day".

During his confirmation, Director Blair indicated he did not support a domestic intelligence agency separate from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He has also promised to end special interrogation regimes and believes the Intelligence Community must conduct analysis on opportunities as well as threats.

Appointment of Intelligence Community representatives

In May 2009, Blair attempted to assert the DNI's role as the head of the intelligence community with a memo claiming authority to appoint CIA chiefs of station abroad. This was vehemently opposed by CIA Director Leon Panetta, who issued a memo of his own.

Former DNI Mike McConnell and the first DNI, John Negroponte, were both unable to bring this role under the auspices of the DNI, it having been the province of the CIA since 1947. According to news reports, President Bush had to issue an executive order to give the DNI his congressionally-mandated powers to force the CIA and other intelligence agencies to cooperate with the ODNI. A number of government executives agree that the DNI should not have to go to the President each time the DNI wants to implement guidance. Late July 2009, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence backed the DNI, asking the CIA to give "prompt adherence" to the DNI's decision.

However, on November 10, 2009, the White House decided in the CIA's favor, agreeing that the authority to appoint station chiefs overseas should remain with the CIA. Some intelligence experts believe this significantly weakens the DNI's authority, comparing the DNI to a DCI without an agency. Senator Susan Collins of Maine expressed concerns during hearings over the botched 2009 Christmas terrorist attack that the White House had undermined the power of ODNI by siding with the CIA in turf disputes, specifically citing this disagreement over intelligence community appointees. In a January 2010 statement to lawmakers by Thomas Kean and Lee H. Hamilton who led the 9-11 Commission Report, Kean and Hamilton urged Obama to be clear who was in charge and urged a strong DNI. According to the Washington Post, a former Clinton administration official suggested scrapping the DNI position if Blair were removed.

Testimony on use of assassination on United States citizens

On February 3, 2010, as Director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair testified before Congress, "If that direct action--we think that direct action will involve killing an American, we get specific permission to do that...I would rather go into details in closed session, Mr. Chairman, but we don't target people for free speech. We target them for taking action that threatens Americans or has resulted in it." Blair also said: "Being a U.S. citizen will not spare an American from getting assassinated by military or intelligence operatives overseas if the individual is working with terrorists and planning to attack fellow Americans."

Dismissal

On May 20, 2010, President Obama asked for Blair's resignation, from his role as Director of National Intelligence which was tendered that day effective May 28. There are conflicting reports as to why Blair was asked to resign.

U.S.-France Intelligence project linked to Blair's dismissal

On May 22, 2010, two days after the resignation was announced, U.S. officials leaked to the New York Times that Blair's dismissal had been related to his continual pushing of a U.S.–French intelligence-sharing project "with other countries". Blair and Bernard Bajolet, intelligence advisor to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, had commenced negotiations on the pact between October and December 2009; the treaty was to have been a legally binding reciprocal no-spying arrangement between France and the United States, whereby each country would take over operations for the other in each's home-territory. Under the proposed treaty, U.S. operations in France would therefore be run by French intelligence. This was to be a signed treaty arrangement, a more formal version than the UK–USA Security Agreement. The month before the treaty failure, President Sarkozy made a number of U.S. visits; the first visit of the French President was on March 31, 2010. During the visit, Sarkozy was the first head of state invited by Obama to dine in the White House's private dining quarters. Press releases from both governments made mention of the close relationship between the two heads of state. Mr. Sarkozy was also in Washington for the 2010 Nuclear Security Summit from April 12–14, immediately prior to President Obama's rejection of the treaty produced by eight months of negotiations by Blair.

US officials claimed that the U.S.–France intelligence-sharing treaty had been rejected by President Obama, adding that DNI Blair's "continued pushing" for the pact after presidential rejection were grounds for his dismissal; it was further claimed that President Sarkozy had been upset at the late-stage U.S. drawback in the deal. U.S. sources claimed that the treaty had been signed, despite U.S. claims that the treaty had been rejected by President Obama.

In an unusual response, the Palais de l'Elysee confirmed that such a treaty had been negotiated, adding that "we weren't the askers" in the deal, denying any French disappointment. French officials further specified that part of the U.S. offer to France comprised access to a "secure intelligence data and retrieval exchange system", this being an in-progress U.S. acquisition under ODNI aegis. French officials characterized the treaty as minor, stating "nothing has changed in our relationship" in relation to the treaty failure and Blair's dismissal. Officially, France denies conducting operations on U.S. soil.

Possible DNI-CIA political issues related to dismissal

Matthew Aid, an espionage historian, has offered a different rationale for Blair's dismissal.

According to Aid, the White House's rejection of Blair's attempt to bring the appointment of station chiefs under the DNI's authority soured Blair's relationships with Panetta, despite a long personal friendship between the two, and Obama's Homeland Security Advisor, John Brennan, who had sided with Panetta in the dispute (Brennan later succeeded Panetta as Director of the CIA). When it was discovered that the November 2009 Fort Hood shooting and the attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 a month later could have been prevented with better interagency intelligence sharing, Brennan and Panetta allegedly blamed Blair (which, according to Aid, was not justified), resulting in Obama's decision to replace him.