Washington DC, June 5, 2010 – President Obama is today set to nominate a former military spy chief to take on the troubled role of Director of National Intelligence, aiming to draw a line under a series of terror near-misses against the US.

But his nominee may face a struggle for the Senate confirmation he needs to take up the role.

Lieutenant General James R Clapper Jr., 69, is a military intelligence veteran who spent 32 years in the Air Force, rising from signals intelligence officer to Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, overseeing all military spying.

General Clapper is popular within the military, but the choice has raised hackles among some senators and Congressmen from both main parties, who would prefer a civilian and say that General Clapper has failed to form close ties on Capitol Hill.

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If approved by the Senate, General Clapper will become the fourth person to hold the role since it was formed in 2005 with the aim of overseeing all 16 US intelligence agencies to prevent future attacks.

His predecessor, retired Admiral Dennis Blair, resigned last month under pressure from Mr Obama after a string of new security breaches, among them the failure to prevent an al-Qaeda-trained would-be bomber from boarding a US airliner on Christmas Day.

The role entails coordinating powerful intelligence heads including Leon Panetta, director of the CIA, a body said to be unwilling to submit to oversight. Much of the US’s $50 billion annual intelligence budget does not fall under the direct control of the DNI, and there are questions as to whether the director should attempt hands-on co-ordination of the agencies or focus on advising the president.

General Clapper, who is known as blunt and forthright, retired in 1995 from the Air Force, then ran the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency — dealing with maps and secret satellite images — from 2001 to 2006. He was forced out by the then defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, but was brought back after Mr Rumsfeld’s replacement by Robert M. Gates.

In 2007 General Clapper took over the top intelligence job at the Pentagon and in 2008 he oversaw the dismantling of a controversial military intelligence office, the Counterintelligence Field Activity Office, which had been spying on anti-war protesters.

Peter Hoekstra, ranking Republican on the House of Representatives intelligence committee, recently described General Clapper as “exactly the wrong person” for the DNI’s role because he had “disregard and disdain for Congress”.

However the chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, welcomed the forthcoming nomination.

“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,” he said. “I look forward to working with him to determine whether the DNI needs additional authorities in order to lead and integrate the intelligence community.”

Pressure on intelligence agencies heightened after a passer-by spotted a bomb planted in a car near Times Square in Manhattan on May 1. The bomb failed to explode but the man suspected of planting it, Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani immigrant, was allowed to board a flight to Dubai despite being on a no-fly list. He was removed from the plane and arrested.

President Obama is set to formally announce General Clapper’s nomination, which was leaked by several high-ranking officials, in the White House rose garden later today.

Source: Times Online

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