DNI Clapper on the hot seat for US intelligence failures in Ukraine.
The Director of National Security made comment regarding the situation in Ukraine during an exclusive interview with WTOP radio today:
“I have lived through some genuine intelligence failures in my career and this was not a failure by any stretch,” Clapper said.
“We tracked (the situation in Ukraine) pretty carefully and portrayed what the possibilities were and certainly portrayed the difficulties we’d have, because of the movements of Russian troops and provided anticipatory warning of their incursion into Crimea,” Clapper added.
During an expansive interview in his office, Clapper pointed out that, “We were following closely the political and economic developments in Ukraine. We spoke to it in our statement for the record at the time and as the situation unfolded with the Russians” (source: DNI Clapper: Ukraine intelligence ‘not a failure by any stretch’. Read more here: http://www.wtop.com/215/3577171/Clapper-Ukraine-intelligence-not-a-failure).
See related report: McCain Assails Hagel on Alleged Intelligence Failure on Ukrainehttp://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ukraine-crisis/mccain-assails-hagel-alleged-intelligence-failure-ukraine-n44976
DNI website: http://www.dni.gov/index.php