US President Barack Obama was to name retired lieutenant general and veteran intelligence expert James Clapper yesterday as his new spy chief, officials said, in a bid to improve troubled US intelligence gathering.
Clapper would replace Dennis Blair, who stepped down last month amid heavy criticism after a string of security shortcomings, among them failure to thwart planned attacks including one by an al-Qaeda-linked group to bring down a US airliner on Dec. 25 last year. Several intelligence and administration officials confirmed to reporters that Clapper would be nominated yesterday as the director of national intelligence (DNI), including one defense official who said he enjoys strong backing from US Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
The post was introduced after Sept. 11, 2001, amid deep congressional concern over the systemic lapses which led to the terrorist attacks on the US and then the botched intelligence over Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction which helped prod the US invasion of Iraq but which were never found.
The DNI oversees the 16 agencies that make up the US intelligence community, including the CIA and the National Security Agency. Clapper is currently undersecretary of defense for intelligence, the top intelligence post at the Pentagon, as well as the director of defense intelligence, which reports directly to the DNI and therefore gives him comprehensive knowledge of the post for which he is being nominated.
If confirmed, Clapper would become the fourth DNI since the cabinet-level position’s creation five years ago. The defense official said the administration encountered some resistance initially in the US Congress over the nomination but he believes key lawmakers have come around in support. Clapper has already ruffled some feathers on Capitol Hill, with key lawmakers warning he is not transparent in his dealings with Congress.
US Senator Kit Bond, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement: “He lacks the necessary clout with the president, has proven to be less than forthcoming with Congress, and has recently blocked our efforts to empower the DNI, which is why at this time I’m not inclined to support him.”
US House intelligence committee ranking minority member Pete Hoekstra told Newsweek that Clapper would be “exactly the wrong person” for Obama to name as spy czar, because “the guy doesn’t believe there is a role for Congress” in the intelligence process.
However, US Senator Joe Lieberman, an independent who co-authored legislation in 2004 to create the position, quickly applauded Obama’s choice.
“General Clapper has vast experience in the intelligence community, has a proven record as an administrator and has always been a proponent of a strong DNI,” Lieberman said.
Democratic Senator Jay Rockefeller said he believed Clapper would be “up to the task,” but strongly hinted at the scrutiny that lawmakers will pay to the nomination. Clapper retired from the US Air Force in 1995 after a 32-year career and spent much of the following years working for private defense contractors and teaching.
He has also held key intelligence positions, including serving from September 2001 to 2006 as the first civilian head of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which collects and analyzes data from commercial and government satellites or aircraft, among other sources.
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