US / Dennis Blair Next al-Qaeda Attempt 'Certain' Within 6 Months US remains focus for bin Laden, top deputy, intelligence chief says By Will McCahill, Newser Staff Posted Feb 2, 2010 8:55 PM CST Copied Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, left, and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, testify on Capitol Hill, Jan. 20, 2010. (AP Photo) An attempt by al-Qaeda or one of its affiliates to attack the US is “certain” within the next six months, the director of national intelligence told a Senate committee today. As long as Osama bin Laden and his top deputy are on the loose, Dennis Blair says, US targets will be the terror group’s top objective—and al-Qaeda’s ties to Pakistani groups are worrisome, as are its ever-more-active affiliates in Yemen and elsewhere. (More Dennis Blair stories.) Report an error