Obama names Clapper as spy chief
Source: Agencies |
June 7, 2010, Monday
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US President Barack Obama shrugged off warnings of a fight with Congress and chose a blunt-spoken retired Air Force lieutenant general as his new intelligence chief, with a difficult assignment: complete the job of meshing the nation's 16 spy agencies.
Obama praised James Clapper, the Pentagon's head of intelligence, as an espionage veteran who doesn't mince words.
"Jim is one of our nation's most experienced and most respected intelligence professionals," Obama said in a White House Rose Garden appearance on Saturday. "He possesses a quality that I value in all my advisers: a willingness to tell leaders what we need to know even if it's not what we want to hear."
If confirmed by the Senate, Clapper, 69, would replace retired Admiral Dennis Blair, Obama's first director of national intelligence, who resigned last month after frequent clashes with the White House and other intelligence officials. Clapper has held the Pentagon intelligence job longer than expected, at the request of Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
Clapper told Obama he was "humbled, honored and daunted" by the nomination, and pledged to earn the support of lawmakers and the public. But he spoke for under a minute, insisting nominee spymasters are "better seen than heard."
Obama said he wants senators to act quickly to confirm Clapper, saying the nomination "can't fall victim to the usual Washington politics."
But lawmakers from both parties have voiced objections to Clapper, and his confirmation is far from certain.
"He's a good guy, but the wrong guy," said the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Kit Bond of Missouri.
Congress created the director of national intelligence post in 2004 as part of a revamp of intelligence agencies after the failure to connect the dots before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Yet Blair and his two predecessors had a tough time fusing agencies with big budgets, big egos and traditions of independence.
A Vietnam veteran, Clapper once directed the Defense Intelligence Agency, which often works closely with the CIA. He was the first civilian director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which analyzes imagery such as satellite pictures or video taken from aircraft. In between, there were a few years in the private sector focusing on intelligence issues.
Gates likes Clapper, defense officials say, because he's known as always respectful, but always direct.
In private, Clapper has faced off with lawmakers, sometimes resorting to colorful language to make a point. Those prickly relations may come back to haunt him as he awaits confirmation.
Obama praised James Clapper, the Pentagon's head of intelligence, as an espionage veteran who doesn't mince words.
"Jim is one of our nation's most experienced and most respected intelligence professionals," Obama said in a White House Rose Garden appearance on Saturday. "He possesses a quality that I value in all my advisers: a willingness to tell leaders what we need to know even if it's not what we want to hear."
If confirmed by the Senate, Clapper, 69, would replace retired Admiral Dennis Blair, Obama's first director of national intelligence, who resigned last month after frequent clashes with the White House and other intelligence officials. Clapper has held the Pentagon intelligence job longer than expected, at the request of Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
Clapper told Obama he was "humbled, honored and daunted" by the nomination, and pledged to earn the support of lawmakers and the public. But he spoke for under a minute, insisting nominee spymasters are "better seen than heard."
Obama said he wants senators to act quickly to confirm Clapper, saying the nomination "can't fall victim to the usual Washington politics."
But lawmakers from both parties have voiced objections to Clapper, and his confirmation is far from certain.
"He's a good guy, but the wrong guy," said the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Kit Bond of Missouri.
Congress created the director of national intelligence post in 2004 as part of a revamp of intelligence agencies after the failure to connect the dots before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Yet Blair and his two predecessors had a tough time fusing agencies with big budgets, big egos and traditions of independence.
A Vietnam veteran, Clapper once directed the Defense Intelligence Agency, which often works closely with the CIA. He was the first civilian director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which analyzes imagery such as satellite pictures or video taken from aircraft. In between, there were a few years in the private sector focusing on intelligence issues.
Gates likes Clapper, defense officials say, because he's known as always respectful, but always direct.
In private, Clapper has faced off with lawmakers, sometimes resorting to colorful language to make a point. Those prickly relations may come back to haunt him as he awaits confirmation.
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