My PC suffered a massive failure last week keeping me from the blogging scene. Currently traveling but wanted to pass on some thoughts on President Obama’s nomination of retired Air Force General James Clapper as the new Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and the latest round on UN sanctions against Iran.
I first became aware of General Clapper shortly after I started a new assignment on the staff at United States Forces Korea in the late 1980’s. General Clapper had been the senior intelligence officer for the command but had moved on to a new assignment just before I arrived. Even though he was no longer there, officer, enlisted and civilian members of the staff could not stop raving about his talent as an intelligence analyst, his strong work ethic, and his skills as a leader. It jumped out at me because in my experience it was rare for so many people to say good things about “The Boss”. As the years passed, I continued to hear similiar praise for his abilities though out the intelligence community. He has had a multitude of assignments that give him the solid background needed for the DNI position. I don’t believe it’s possible to succeed in that job if you don’t have extensive experience as an intelligence professional.
The intelligence community is complex and full of bureaucratic mine fields and organizational politics. It takes an experienced and talented individual to successfully navigate in that frequently hostile environment. The successful intelligence leader needs to get everyone on board and focused on the primary task at hand; providing the decision maker with the information they require in the time and format needed. General Colin Powell said it best. He said what he needed from the intelligence community was tell me what you know, tell me what you don’t know, then tell me the significance of the information gap. Directing the 16 various intelligence organizations is the ultimate team building challenge. Many think in its current form, the DNI position is a lost cause.
Critics are saying he’s a poor choice because he’s to close to the military. That makes no sense to me. there have been previous DNI’s who had military careers and I heard no complaints about them. 85% of the intelligence community resides within the Department of Defense. I think a military intelligence background is a plus. Critics are also pointing to an April memo he wrote at the request of the House Armed Services Committee critical of proposed new authorities for the DNI. First off whenever changes are proposed within the intelligence community, they are circulated to various intelligence commands and agencies for feedback.
I’ve read the memo and essentially it questions 17 provisions that would grant the DNI authority to make unilateral decisions without a requirement for concurrence by the Secretary of Defense. The provisions in question mainly covered management issues regarding personnel, information technology acquisition and accounting. As stated in an earlier blog, I believe the DNI needs more authority but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t consult with the IC as he decides the best direction to go on various issues. I saw the objections listed in the memo in that light.
On to a new topic, here are my initial thoughts on the latest round of Iranian sanctions. I think its a diplomatic coup for the United States because they managed to get Russia and China on board. Granted there is not as much teeth to the sanctions as many would like but this was big on the diplomatic front. Will this latest round prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons if they want to? No, but it does signal if they continue on this path they have two fewer major allies. As expected Turkey and Brazil voted against the sanctions apparently feeliing their negotiated solution with Iran was a potential breakthrough in the crisis. The trump card for the other side was Iran’s refusal to quit enriching uranium. It is expected that the U.S. and the EU will enact separate additional sanctions against Iran. It’s going to be an interesting few months.
That about does it for me. Since I’m traveling, I’m using my net notebook and I have not figured out how to use the spell check. Oh well….
