A move by the Obama administration and key U.S. lawmakers to change the role of the CIA has produced an intelligence community turf battle, analysts say.

Efforts by Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair to assert control over the CIA and bring it into a post-Cold War realignment of U.S. intelligence services has encountered stiff resistance from CIA Director Leon Panetta, who says such moves jeopardize the agency's relationships with foreign spies, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

But Blair seems to be gaining the upper hand, the newspaper said, garnering the support of such key lawmakers as Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Intelligence Committee, who has said, "We need to move intelligence away from the cold war mind-set, and the CIA has a problem to some extent accepting that."

The Times said U.S. National Security Adviser James Jones has been trying to broker a peace between Blair and Panetta. Blair inherited an office created by the Bush administration in an effort to end intelligence turf battles that were partially blamed for failing to prevent the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but which analysts say has left roles ill-defined.