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Aspen Security Forum kicks off Wednesday

Staff report

Aspen security forum

A look at the evening speakers each night for the security forum:

Wednesday: John Kelly, Homeland Security Secretary, 5 p.m.

Thursday: Mike Pompeo, CIA Director, 5:15 p.m.

Friday: Daniel Coats, National Intelligence Director, 5:30 p.m.

Saturday: Joseph Dunford, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, 5:15 p.m.

The events will be livestreamed on aspensecurityforum.org; a full list of the sessions is available on the website.

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly will kick off the Aspen Security Forum with an interview with NBC justice correspondent Pete Williams at 5 p.m. today at the Greenwald Pavilion on the Aspen Meadows campus.

In a session titled “Securing the Homeland in the Post-Post 9/11 Era,” Kelly will explain “how he is grappling with the challenge and the Trump administration’s plans for meeting it,” according to an event brochure.

An opening reception, set for 6:15 to 7:30 p.m. at Doerr-Hosier Center, will follow Kelly’s talk.



This is the eighth Aspen Security Forum, which concludes Saturday and includes some of the world’s top security experts and officials. The forum’s discussions will place an emphasis on homeland security, national security, counterterrorism, intelligence, cyber-security and local law enforcement.

Other panelists include Thomas Bossert, the assistant to President Donald Trump for Homeland Security and Terrorism. Bossert will discuss with interviewer David Sanger, the chief Washington correspondent for The New York Times, a topic titled “No Room for Error: Advising the President on Homeland Security and Counterterrorism.” That session is scheduled at 9 a.m. Thursday.




The forum’s conclusion Saturday, from 5 to 6 p.m. at the Greenwald Pavilion, will feature Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in an interview with NBC News correspondent Andrew Mitchell.

Other panelists include Stuart Jones, acting assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs; Dina Kawar, ambassador of Jordan to the United States; Fareed Yasseen, ambassador of Iraq to the U.S.; Michael Chertoff, former secretary of Homeland Security; Michael Hayden, former director of both the National Security Agency and CIA; Nick Rasmussen, director of the National Counterterrorism Center; Aizaz Chaudhry, ambassador of Pakistan to the U.S.; Hamdullah Mobib, ambassador of Afghanistan to the U.S.; Raymond “Tony” Thomas, commander of U.S. Special Operations; U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, who is the chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security; Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee; former National Intelligence director James Clapper; former CIA director John Brennan; and Mike Rogers, director of the National Security Agency, among others.

Registration for the forum is closed and individual tickets are not available. However, the sessions will be livestreamed on the forum’s website at aspensecurityforum.org.