Sen. Graham Wants Intel Chief Gone After He Claims Russia, China Pose 'Mortal' Threat

Clapper, who just last month startled lawmakers when he claimed during a hearing that the Muslim Brotherhood is "secular," made the comments about Russia and China during an exchange with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. He was in the midst of testifying about global security threats when Manchin asked which country represents the biggest "mortal threat" to the United States.

Russia and China, Clapper answered.

At that point, Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., broke in to say he was "really kind of taken aback" by the answer. Levin said North Korea and Iran are the first nations that come to his mind, not Russia and China.

Russia, China pose "Mortal Threat"

I gonna have to agree with the Intel Chief on this one. I understand that the governments of N. Korea and Iran want the U.S. to burn, but they don't have the capabilities to do it yet. China and Russia on the other hand, do have the capabilties to take over. I can't believe that Sen. Graham actually wants Clapper to resign over his opinion! I was under the impression that this was America and people were allowed to have their own opinion.

I don't want this to turn into a "which country would win" argument thread. I just wanted to point out that one of the Senators is essentially denying an member of the Govt. from having his own opinion. This is from the "Fixed News Network" so maybe I'm missing some important fact that they left out, but I'll keep searching for more info.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a prominent Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Thursday that President Obama should replace General James Clapper, director of National Intelligence (DNI), after Clapper said that Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi "will prevail" eventually over the armed rebellion in his nation

Remarks about Libya should be last straw for Clapper - Sen. Graham

Wow, I guess General Clapper has more than one of his own opinions! He must resign! What a load of BULL$HIT!!!

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

reply to post by SUICIDEHK45


Heh - interesting how even Graham will admit that Clapper may be right... (From the article in your OP)

With respect to Clapper's comments regarding Qaddafi, Graham said, "Some of his analysis could prove to be accurate, but it should not have been made in such a public forum. If he felt the need to say what he did, then they should have moved into closed session." He added that these comments should be the "final straw" for Clapper.

So he may be right, and he could say it behind closed doors but just not in public?

Hmmm.. I wonder if its because he's saying things they don't really want the public to hear?

For what its worth, my two cents is I agree with him on Libya. If Qaddafi can keep support enough to keep the tanks rolling and planes flying the rebels don't have enough muscle to force him out. It could eventually be a long, drawn out thing as to which side starves out first. .and nobody wants that. My personal guess is unless the rebels get some help Qaddafi is staying.

On Russia and China - sure its not politically correct to say such a thing about your biggest creditor - but its true. Basically I agree with what you posted in your OP on this one. Iran and NK are certainly a threat but at this time neither has the muscle to potentially take out the US.

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.