With the race on to replace Dennis Blair as Director of National Intelligence (DNI), President Obama is expect to nominate retired Gen. James Clapper, the Pentagon’s current intelligence chief and a favorite of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, to the position.
Gen. Clapper spent his career in the Air Force working in intelligence, and after his 2005 retirement he briefly served as Chief Operating Officer of military consultancy contrator DFI International, before his appointment as Under Secretary of Defense by President Bush in early 2007.
Sen. Bond (R – MO) criticized his appointment to the DNI position, saying that Clapper had fought previously to undermine Congressional efforts to give the position actual authority, and has approved of the job in only a vague manner, with very limited oversight over the defense intelligence agencies.
Though Gen. Clapper’s nearly half century career in intelligence gives him considerable background in the field, there is concern that his position as the decided insider in the Pentagon will make him biased against the civilian intelligence agencies he is charged with overseeing.
Morerecent photograph here:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9c/Jam…
CLAPPER: 1. that which claps: hence applied to the tongue of a bell, the hopper of a mill, the tongue of a scold, etc.
2.A kind of handbell which lepers carried and rattle as they moved about in public. It was used by the night-watch also, and in earlier times by the town-crier, who was therefore called "the clapman"….
3. A noisy talkative person, a scold.
[Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language]
So the first thing we know about him is that he is deep in the military industrial complex. The second thing we know is that he will deepen the militarization of 'intelligence'. Thirdly, if I recall what Ray McGovern said about Clapper, he's more malleable than even Blair (who was pretty malleable) and is likely to help manipulate the 'facts around the (Iran war) policy'. And then there's his being Air Force in background. Air Force seems to be the military wing most fascinated by agressive action, most eager to expand America's Wars (of Empire).
Looks a bit like Mr. Bluster.
It must be getting rather crowded in that bed with the banksters, insurers, oil companies and now a nice coverlet in the form of a fly over through the most secret documents.
Why not put McChrystal at state and to top it off put the President in a military uniform with lots of rows of medals.
Why on earth did Thomas and his buddies go to all the trouble to draw up a Constitution that put the military under civilian control?
Better watch out or they will send a drone to get you!
Hmm–come to look closely–in the photo of Clapper in his high school band uniform above, he also looks a little like the younger Andropov:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/library/repor…
"put the President in a military uniform with lots of rows of medals."
Like Brezhnev–which,given the circumstances, might be altogether appropriate.
One doubts "Leonid Obama" lasts as long, however, or that the US has an Andropov or Gorbachev or anyone else in the inner circles who realizes that it has already gone on at least forty seriously absurd and incompetent years too long.