Dinner with former DNI Director James Klapper

Enjoyed having dinner with James Klapper at Brennan's, after learning more about his life, his work as the Director of National Intelligence, and his new book "Facts and Fears". I remember the first time I met him was when he opened a multi-agency meeting on rolling out a secure cloud pilot for FBI analytical platforms. Thanks to Ronan O'Malley and the World Affairs Council for hosting him in Houston. Here are some of my takeaways: 1. James Klapper has had an extensive career in the military and government. His father was an intelligence officer in World War II and they both served overlapping tours in Vietnam over the course of seven months. It was clear he was a natural intelligence officer when he was a child staying with his grandparents between military transfers. While watching TV, he noticed if he placed the dial on the old TV set between channels 4 and 5, he could receive radio transmissions from the local Police Department. Pretty soon Klapper had the entire order of battle of the police department, the meaning of their communications codes and call signs, and types of operations mapped out over the three week period he was at his grandparents.  2. One of Klapper's most challenging moments was when he was the intelligence briefer for General Westmoreland, the Commander of US Forces in Vietnam. When he began the job, he was under the impression that Westmoreland had an overall strategy for the war, but in fact Klapper was disillusioned to find out that Westmoreland was mainly concerned about numbers, body counts, and infrastructure annihilated [clearly McNamara's influence coming through]. 3. One of the most emotionally moving moments for Klapper was returning to Vietnam many years later to a hotel balcony in Ho Chi Minh City (then Saigon) where he would share a drink with his dad while surrealistically watching South Vietnamese Airforce A-1 Skyraiders strafe enemy positions on the other side of the river. He also went to a monument next to a lake where John McCain was shot down. The Vietnamese have erected a statue in McCain's memory. Despite being put under pressure from McCain during a variety of congressional hearings, Klapper respects McCain and says his departure will be a great loss to our country. 4. One of the greatest highlights of his career was being part of the intelligence community/situation room during the UBL raid. He advocated for the use of a Seal Team versus other options (cruise missiles or airstrikes) to reduce collateral damage and to have thinking human beings on the ground making calls and adjustments to the plan as necessary.  5. Klapper felt the call to write a book to defend the professionals in the intelligence field who are diligently working to provide insights for our political leadership to make the best decisions for the security of our country. 6. Klapper said one of the biggest failures was the invasion of Iraq in 2003. While directing the National Geospatial Agency (NGA), he conceded that the "group think" in the Bush '43 administration regarding the National Intelligence Estimate regarding weapons of mass destruction was skewed heavily by "Curve Ball" an intelligence source run by the Germans that reported falsely on chemical weapons sites in Iraq. Of the 193 reported sites containing chemical weapons, in the end, there were none. He later implemented changes at the DNI where every agency in the USIC must be willing to stand up and discuss the veracity of their sourcing before the information gets placed into any reporting at that level. He regretted that his agency provided the imagery analysis for Colin Powell's compelling speech before the UN, justifying the American invasion. 7. Klapper told a story when he was flying in a South Korean Helicopter to detect tunneling systems beneath the DMZ, one of the pilots got disoriented and wandered off to North Korea. When the bullets started flying, the pilot froze, and the female co-pilot took command and brought the helicopter safely back to the South. The female co-pilot was the first South Korean helicopter pilot to graduate from Fort Rucker's helicopter school in Alabama. Since then, he often brings this experience up to ensure that people understand women are valued and essential in the armed forces. 8. Regarding current North Korea issues, he was supportive of any measures involving engagement. Of the current effort for a summit, he says it is important not to set expectations too high and to look for common ground. The easiest form of common ground is to establish better communications, just as we've maintained a US Interest Section through the Swiss in Iran and Cuba. Having an office or just a "hotline" between the two countries could have averted deaths of Americans in North Korea and build trust so that there are other options in the future, especially given the current nuclear developments. A physical presence also provides a platform to collect information of what is happening inside North Korea. North Korea currently has a presence in New York at the UN, so it would be advantageous to the US to have a presence in Pyongyang. A nuclear free North Korea is not a realistic option given that North Korea now feels it is an equal in any negotiations with the US. The Chinese are only likely to influence North Korea to a degree, but not influence them in any way to destabilize the North Korean regime as they would not give up their "strategic buffer" for having the Korean Army backed by the Americans directly on the Chinese border. [Note: I have also heard of lecturers (including Tat Yan Kong, PhD, the Co-Director of the London Asia-Pacific Center of Social Studies at Oxford) on North Korea when I was at the University of Hong Kong, discussing how America's erroneous perception that the Chinese can influence North Korea just as the Americans believe in their influence South Korea. This is according to some, the equivalent of comparing apples to oranges. For example, the integration of US and South Korean military structures are streamlined and coordinated. China in no way has a similar integration of military structures with North Korea. In addition, with the paranoia of outsiders in North Korea, it had long ago purged itself of both Russian and Chinese sympathizers weeding out potential rivals to the regime, giving Chinese less leverage than is often believed]. 9. I was appreciative to sit next to Klapper and take in his understanding of influence campaigns and the full thrust of the Russian effort to turn factions of the United States against one another. I also appreciated his lifelong perspective as an intelligence officer, a three-star Airforce General, as the Director of the NGA, and as the Director of National Intelligence. He retired three times from government and was called back to service and served under presidents from both parties. James Klapper has the ability to put into perspective very complex issues and was approachable, yet authoritative in delivering his message.