The director of national intelligence must be able to foster the cooperation and collaboration of the various US intelligence organizations in order to provide the national leadership with the best-possible intelligence, James Clapper said Tuesday. “Given the complexity and diversity of the intelligence community, we must view it as an enterprise of complementary capabilities that must be synchronized,” Clapper told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Tuesday during his nomination hearing to be the next DNI, the nation’s intelligence czar. He said he thinks the DNI position already has the authority to serve in this role, but, if confirmed, he would be open to exploring areas where its authority might be extended, such as broader oversight of intelligence spending. President Obama nominated Clapper in June for this post. Clapper is currently undersecretary of defense for intelligence. (AFPS report by Lisa Daniel) (Clapper’s prepared remarks) (For more hearing documents, go to this SCCI Web page.)
Just days after a Defense Intelligence Agency report predicted new ballistic missile testing by North Korea, the Pyongyang regime fired a a submarine-launched ballistic missile which landed in the Sea of Japan. While U.S. Indo-Pacific Command downplayed the test as representing no new threat to the U.S. or regional allies,…