DefDog: Jim Clapper On Way Out? + RECAP – Public Intelligence Blog

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Surprise, surprise…..such a disaster it could be a blessing in disguise…his replacement? General Flynn, the individual who said intel
in Afghanistan was a failure…..and it is.

DNI Jim Clapper Out in Fall? Rumor Mill Says Maybe

Colin Clark

WASHINGTON: Jim Clapper, the first Director of National Intelligence to order budget cuts across the intelligence community, may be leaving his post this fall.

Or, then again, he may not. At this stage, all is rumor. So far, we've got three people with good intelligence connections saying Clapper is likely on the way out. We've got one former senior intelligence saying it is not likely.

But as so often with the intelligence community, rumors possess value because they indicate perception as much as fact. There may be senior Obama administration officials who would like to see Clapper gone. He is a career military man heading a “civilian” intelligence community and there's another such fish over at CIA named Petraeus. And we all know how they treated retired Adm. Dennis Blair.

Also, two of the sources for the rumor may have a strong institutional interest in Clapper's departure. But we can't say more for fear of blowing their cover.

A source with excellent intelligence community access had a specific piece of information. “Clapper was told he is no longer valued….back in October. General Cartwright was offered the job but declined,” this source said in an email.

A former senior Pentagon intelligence official told us that Clapper has said “how much he values working for this President and this administration” and tells him that the administration has demonstrated “their respect for and understanding of the business of intelligence. I¹d be quite surprised to see Jim step down if either a re-elected Obama or newly elected successor asked him to stay on.”

This source also made a key point. The DNI job carries so few benefits and so many responsibilities and is so disliked or distrusted by so many in the intelligence community that, “few qualified people” would “even remotely yearn for the DNI position.” Given all that, this source said, “I think we should all hope that Jim hangs in there.”

Will he? Let us know what you're hearing. — // —

Robert Steele Comments and Links Below the Line.

steele formal high res — Robert David STEELE Vivas

Jim Clapper has always meant well and he has always been head and shoulders above other flags in terms of intellectual acuity and big picture thinking. He lost his way as Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and has never been effective as DNI — he drank the kool-aid and hunkered down in his box.

One of the sources of the above story is almost certainly General Keith Alexander, whose political and financial ambitions far exceed his capacity as a “manager” of anything. The US Intelligence Community is “out of control” because the DNI has no authority and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has not been capable of “managing” anything since the 1970's if not before. Spending $80 billion a year for what General Tony Zinni, USMC (Ret) has said provides “at best” 4% of what any senior commander needs, is in my judgment criminally insane and an outrageous betrayal of the public trust.

General Mike Flynn, the reputed successor (if Alexander is not angling for the job so as to feather his retirement nest–it's not about new contracts anymore, it's about protecting option years) will fail. Flynn has the right instincts, but he does not know what he does not know. With the exception of myself and a tiny handful of others, there is no one now serving that has both the intelligence and the integrity to reconstitute our national intelligence capability, beginning with the creation of the Open Source Agency on the South-Central Campus, under diplomatic auspices; with the complete make-over of human intelligence, all fifteen slices of which are out of control and largely inept; and the deep slashing of all technical programs that cannot demonstrate 50% or better processing and 25% or better return on investment.

The White House–from the President and Vice President to the Goldman Sachs lobbyist pretending to be the National Security Advisor while actually keeping an eye on the President and John Brennan, who has never really understood anything beyond his narrow circle of relationships–is completely out of touch with how urgently useful a properly managed US Intelligence Community could be — it would within 90-180 days, working with both OMB and the General Accounting Office (GAO) begin justifying a 30% cut across Whole of Government (50% of DHS, 50% across military procurement and construction, 50% across secret technical programs), while providing decision-support, including deep counterintelligence against our many white collar criminals, half of them on Capitol Hill, so as to create a Smart Nation. Sadly, the White House and Congress appear to want a very expensive largely worthless secret intelligence community and have no interest in effective counterintelligence against those who violate their Oaths to defend and protect the Constitution.

The Republic is on the rocks and shoals. Intelligence with integrity is the one thing that could pull us out of this mess–and most of that intelligence would be public intelligence. We are long overdue for integrating education, intelligence, and research. We are long overdue for flushing traitors, agents of influence, and corrupt public servants down the toilet. I actually know how to do that. I do not expect to have a chance to fix this. St.

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