Why, after the ABLE DANGER snafu, did Obama retain NSA director?

[grasswire]

According to what I read on various reports, Gen. Alexander aligned with Cheney and Rumsfeld to shut down Able Danger.

Why do you suppose that Obama didn't replace Emperor Alexander?

[Autumn]

1. I would think Obama liked him and his work. I doubt anyone twisted his arm

to force Obama to keep him.

[annabanana]

2. maybe he can't

Maybe "Commander in Chief" is an honorary title.

[Laelth]

3. I wouldn't say that "Commander in Chief" is only honorary.

But I do think it would have been impossible for Obama to replace Alexander.

Inside the government, the general is regarded with a mixture of respect and fear, not unlike J. Edgar Hoover, another security figure whose tenure spanned multiple presidencies. “We jokingly referred to him as Emperor Alexander—with good cause, because whatever Keith wants, Keith gets,” says one former senior CIA official who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity. “We would sit back literally in awe of what he was able to get from Congress, from the White House, and at the expense of everybody else.”

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/06/general-keith-alexander-cyberwar/all/

He's just too powerful.

-Laelth

[Autumn]

4. So I take it, that man is the one in charge and above the President?

Because that's what that reads to me. I guess I missed him in the debates and on the campaign trail.

[Laelth]

5. Alexander has declared that he's retiring next year.

I worry about who might step into the vacuum created by his departure.

I also wonder whether the Snowden leaks are connected to Alexander's impending departure. Things are still very murky.

-Laelth

[grasswire]

6. the more we learn about Alexander, the more plausible this seems.

The most powerful man in the world is this Emporer, apparently.