Some Republicans have already voiced doubts about retired air force general and veteran intelligence official James Clapper, who President Barack Obama nominated on Saturday to serve as the new director of national intelligence (DNI).

But Gates, a former CIA director, defended Clapper against criticism that he had undermined the authority of the post or that he had failed to keep members of Congress informed on intelligence matters in current job at the Pentagon.

"Jim has a strong, long record of not only adherence to congressional oversight but support of it, and enthusiastic cooperation," Gates told reporters on his plane.

Gates, replying to concerns in Congress that the post should not be filled by a former general, described Clapper as "independent-minded" and noted that he had been out of uniform for a decade.

The director post has faced trouble since it was created five years ago amid hopes that it would force spy services to share information.

The Central Intelligence Agency and other spy services have engaged in turf battles with the new office, which is supposed to lead the government's 16 intelligence agencies.

Gates, who himself turned down the job before he took over as Pentagon chief in 2006, said the post was widely misunderstood and that the director did not have the legal or budgetary authority to issue orders to other intelligence leaders.

"I know that some are looking for a strong executive, a big boss that tells everybody what to do," he said.

"But structurally, that's almost impossible with this job because virtually none of the heads of the 16 intelligence agencies actually work for the DNI," said Gates.

"The analogy that I've used is the DNI is more comparable to a powerful congressional committee chair than it is to a CEO."

The defense secretary, en route to Azerbaijan after a visit to Singapore, said that "at the end of the day he has to bring people along through leadership, through accommodating their interests."

Clapper was nominated to replace retired navy admiral Dennis Blair as intelligence director.

Blair quit last month after a string of security lapses including the failure to detect the Christmas Day airline bomb plot. He also clashed with CIA director Leon Panetta, a former lawmaker who enjoys strong ties with the White House.

In praising his "friend" Clapper, Gates seemed to suggest that Blair had failed to forge a rapport or win the confidence of senior intelligence officials.

"I think the president could not have found a better person, a more experienced person, with a better temperament to actually make it (the office) work," Gates said.

He added that Clapper had worked to "empower" the director's authority by working out arrangements that better linked the office with the Pentagon.

Clapper is currently undersecretary of defense for intelligence -- the top intelligence post at the Pentagon -- as well as the director of defense intelligence, which reports directly to the DNI.

On Friday, as news of the decision leaked in advance, Senator Kit Bond, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he could not support Clapper.

"He lacks the necessary clout with the president, has proven to be less than forthcoming with Congress, and has recently blocked our efforts to empower the DNI, which is why at this time I'm not inclined to support him," he said in a statement.

House intelligence committee ranking minority member Pete Hoekstra also said he would oppose the nomination, in part because Clapper "does not have the clout or independence to be the voice that provides an alternative to the Obama administration's prosecute after-the-fact approach to terror."

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News