Lankan Ranger
ELITE MEMBER
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2009
- Messages
- 12,550
- Reaction score
- 0
US spy chief nominee James Clapper warns of North Korean attacks
James Clapper, the man nominated to head the US spy community, told US senators Tuesday that he fears a period of "direct attacks" by North Korea on its southern neighbor.
Clapper testified Tuesday before senators who must confirm his nomination as director of national intelligence -- a post intended to coordinate the sprawling and often inefficient US intelligence bureaucracy.
In a written response to questions from members of the senate intelligence committee, Clapper said he fears new violence on the Korean peninsula.
South Korea, the United States and other nations accuse the North of sending a submarine to torpedo a South Korean navy corvette near the tense Yellow Sea border in March.
The North denies involvement in the sinking, which claimed 46 lives, and says any retaliation could spark war.
"The most important lesson for all of us in the intelligence community from this year's provocations by Pyongyang is to realize that we may be entering a dangerous new period when North Korea will once again attempt to advance its internal and external political goals through direct attacks on our allies in the Republic of Korea," Clapper wrote.
"Coupled with this is a renewed realization that North Korea's military forces pose a threat that cannot be taken lightly," he added.
Clapper, who currently serves as defense secretary Robert Gates's top intelligence adviser and as the Pentagon's liaison to the director of national intelligence, knows the region well -- he was posted in South Korea in the 1980s.
Gates -- currently in South Korea -- and the South's defense minister Kim Tae-Young announced a major military exercise on Sunday in the Sea of Japan as a warning to North Korea.
The drill will involve some 20 ships including the 97,000-ton aircraft carrier USS George Washington and some 200 fixed-wing aircraft, US military officials said.
Clapper faced members of the intelligence committee Tuesday for a public hearing in which he pledged to wield strong leadership over the 16 agencies that fall under the DNI's purview.
He is the fourth nominee in five years to the post, which has been criticized as an ineffectual office lacking either the mandate or the will to corral a bureaucracy that plays a crucial role in keeping Americans safe.
"I would not have agreed to take this position on if I were to be a titular figurehead or a hood ornament," Clapper said.
He told lawmakers the DNI's office already has "the explicit or implicit authority" to oversee the agencies that fall under its purview.
"There needs to be a clear, defined and identifiable leader of the intelligence community," Clapper said, adding that he would seek to "push the envelope" in terms of the DNI's authority.
Committee chair Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, emphasized that the post requires a strong leader who "must assure coordination between intelligence agencies to eliminate duplication and improve information sharing."
Obama tapped Clapper, a retired air force general and veteran of US spy efforts, to replace retired US Navy Admiral Dennis Blair, who left after 16 months on the job.
Blair quit after a string of high-profile security lapses including the failure to detect a Christmas Day airline bomb plot.
If confirmed Clapper would be the latest in a string of officials who have attempted to improve coordination between 16 US intelligence agencies, which employ an estimated 200,000 people and have a combined budget of around 75 billion dollars.
"We've had far too many DNI confirmation hearings," complained Senator Kit Bond, the senior Republican on the panel.
The DNI post was introduced in 2004, amid deep concern over systemic intelligence lapses ahead of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the scandal over mistaken information about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
US spy chief nominee James Clapper warns of North Korean attacks - US - World - The Times of India
James Clapper, the man nominated to head the US spy community, told US senators Tuesday that he fears a period of "direct attacks" by North Korea on its southern neighbor.
Clapper testified Tuesday before senators who must confirm his nomination as director of national intelligence -- a post intended to coordinate the sprawling and often inefficient US intelligence bureaucracy.
In a written response to questions from members of the senate intelligence committee, Clapper said he fears new violence on the Korean peninsula.
South Korea, the United States and other nations accuse the North of sending a submarine to torpedo a South Korean navy corvette near the tense Yellow Sea border in March.
The North denies involvement in the sinking, which claimed 46 lives, and says any retaliation could spark war.
"The most important lesson for all of us in the intelligence community from this year's provocations by Pyongyang is to realize that we may be entering a dangerous new period when North Korea will once again attempt to advance its internal and external political goals through direct attacks on our allies in the Republic of Korea," Clapper wrote.
"Coupled with this is a renewed realization that North Korea's military forces pose a threat that cannot be taken lightly," he added.
Clapper, who currently serves as defense secretary Robert Gates's top intelligence adviser and as the Pentagon's liaison to the director of national intelligence, knows the region well -- he was posted in South Korea in the 1980s.
Gates -- currently in South Korea -- and the South's defense minister Kim Tae-Young announced a major military exercise on Sunday in the Sea of Japan as a warning to North Korea.
The drill will involve some 20 ships including the 97,000-ton aircraft carrier USS George Washington and some 200 fixed-wing aircraft, US military officials said.
Clapper faced members of the intelligence committee Tuesday for a public hearing in which he pledged to wield strong leadership over the 16 agencies that fall under the DNI's purview.
He is the fourth nominee in five years to the post, which has been criticized as an ineffectual office lacking either the mandate or the will to corral a bureaucracy that plays a crucial role in keeping Americans safe.
"I would not have agreed to take this position on if I were to be a titular figurehead or a hood ornament," Clapper said.
He told lawmakers the DNI's office already has "the explicit or implicit authority" to oversee the agencies that fall under its purview.
"There needs to be a clear, defined and identifiable leader of the intelligence community," Clapper said, adding that he would seek to "push the envelope" in terms of the DNI's authority.
Committee chair Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, emphasized that the post requires a strong leader who "must assure coordination between intelligence agencies to eliminate duplication and improve information sharing."
Obama tapped Clapper, a retired air force general and veteran of US spy efforts, to replace retired US Navy Admiral Dennis Blair, who left after 16 months on the job.
Blair quit after a string of high-profile security lapses including the failure to detect a Christmas Day airline bomb plot.
If confirmed Clapper would be the latest in a string of officials who have attempted to improve coordination between 16 US intelligence agencies, which employ an estimated 200,000 people and have a combined budget of around 75 billion dollars.
"We've had far too many DNI confirmation hearings," complained Senator Kit Bond, the senior Republican on the panel.
The DNI post was introduced in 2004, amid deep concern over systemic intelligence lapses ahead of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the scandal over mistaken information about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
US spy chief nominee James Clapper warns of North Korean attacks - US - World - The Times of India
