Security & Intelligence

(Newser) - Barack Obama will name Leon Panetta, a former congressman and chief of staff to Bill Clinton, director of the CIA, the New York Times reports. Observers were split on the choice of Panetta, who is well-respected for his Beltway savvy but has no specific intelligence experience. Panetta will report to Dennis Blair, the new head of national intelligence, though neither nomination has been officially announced. More »

(Newser) - The number of homegrown Islamic militants in the US is expected to increase sharply over the next 5 years, according to a Homeland Security assessment obtained by AP.  A pool of "terrorist wannabes" will be recruited online and used to carry out attacks, including sophisticated cyberattacks for which al-Qaeda currently lacks the expertise, experts believe. More »

(Newser) - Barack Obama will stick with the front-runner and name retired Admiral Dennis Blair to be his go-to guy on spying as director of national intelligence, reports the Washington Post . Blair, the former commander of naval forces in the Pacific, is generally well-regarded. Some in the civilian intelligence community grumbled about a second consecutive Navy boss, but Blair has shown knowledge and innovative ideas about intelligence issues. More »

(Newser) - The White House has drawn up more than a dozen contingency plans to help Barack Obama if a crisis erupts early in his presidency, the New York