国际英语新闻：Obama to name retired general as national intelligence director

WASHINGTON, June 4 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama will name retired Air Force Lieutenant General James Clapper, who serves as under secretary of defense for intelligence, to be his national intelligence director, media reports said on Friday.

Clapper is to take the post left by Dennis Blair, who announced his resignation last month. As the president's top intelligence adviser, the director of national intelligence is responsible for coordinating the 16 intelligence agencies of the United States.

Before resigning, Blair had held the job for 16 months. His tenure was marred by a series of failures of the intelligence community, which included the Fort Hood shooting in November 2009, a failed 2009 Christmas plane bombing attempt, and the New York City Times Square car bomb plot in May.

Blair also made some controversial remarks, and fought a turf war with CIA chief Leon Panetta, as he tried to appoint representatives at U.S. embassies, instead of relying on CIA station chiefs.

As his replacement, Clapper has held several key positions within the intelligence community, including those in the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and Defense Intelligence Agency. Apart from under secretary of defense for intelligence, he is also dual-hatted as the first director of defense intelligence with the office of the director of national intelligence.

Clapper's nomination is likely to be announced on Saturday.