Like all things born of men that have been bought off by others... truth burns their souls and wallets.

We should never have allowed ourselves to become dependent upon any other nations. When that occurred, which was rather rapid instead of gradual, it finally sealed our power over into the hands of others. If China decided to become our enemy they now have extensive controls over their influence upon our economy and thus our politics. Luckily we did not allow Russia to gain such control.

However we fail to recognize that China and Russia are two countries which are eyeing the title of super power, Russia wanting to reclaim what was theirs, and China wanting to claw their way to the top. It would be foolish of us to assume any other super power is our friend, ally, or neutral towards us. They have their own national interests which they are seeking while at the same time we foolishly dismantled every type of check-and-balance which allows us to keep our national interest since we are now so unnecessarily dependent upon others for our survival.

I would actually argue that Russia and China are severe threats to our national security far more than any terrorists. The only way to protect ourselves from this growing threat is to return our industries, agriculture, manufacturing, production, and purchases to the US.

This argument could be what made Sen. Graham freak out and call for his replacement. When Clapper said that for the public to hear they might rise up and demand to know why we would continue to rely on China for our goods and continue to ship our jobs over there if they are a mortal threat to us. Then action would be required of Congress to please a disgruntled public. So now this must become hush-hush so that no action is required, just a bump in the road.

Do not be surprised if he is replaced in the shadows of the night with little to no MSM reporting of the event.

how is one country n.korea, with one possibly two primitive nuclear devices that are so underdeveloped that they are 25 years away from figuring out how to put them on missile, and another country, iran, that has no nuclear weapons the biggest threat to america.

is that a joke. it's like 2 guppies trying to take on a shark.

on the other hand one nation, china, has launched all out economic warfare on america and are single-handedly destroying the very thing the united states spends trillions on defending; it's wealth and the mechanism which accumulates it, the free market economy.

on top of that, bringing america to it's knees without even firing a single shot.

and russia still thinks the cold war is on, no-one told them it ended 20 years ago, but they haven't admitted defeat and are still doing everything possible to undermine america. and their nuclear arsenal rivals that of the u.s.

It looks like the Intel Chief might be right. The rebels in Libya were forced to retreat from Ras Lanuf, a major oil port, by pro Gaddafi forces. These rebels don't have enough military know how to fight an actual military force. In order for them to win, I think there will need to be some intervention by special forces. The SF could arm and train them in a very short amount of time, though they wouldn't be fully trained, at least they would know how to use the weapons they get their hands on.

I wonder if Clapper is thinking also in terms of resources. Technological advances increasingly need rare earth metals and China controls most of it. Russia's control of natural gas supply to Europe, along with Russia and United States competing interests in Central Asian, could put extreme pressure on US for diplomacy to avoid military action/investment.