Posted on 06/17/2013 7:49:58 AM PDT by Bill Russell
Robert, I think we are more in agreement than your opening statement indicated. I agree with your points on Reagan how he shook the Soviet Union and Communist China to their cores. While I propose the wax ball analogy, I recognize the vulnerability was not simply created by one “whistle blower,” but the incredible impact of his timing indicates other controlling forces at work. The issues with the NSA overreach are self induced by our nation’s elected leader, and Obama should be held accountable for any violations of the Constitution. It was these violations by the Administration which made the situation so ripe for the picking. But the damage caused to the allied intelligence efforts by Mr Snowden, are solely his fault. Given where he chose to run to when he went public with his accusations, and their timing, I cannot help but question whether or not he was a spy employed by China.
I agree the federal agencies should be focused on the real threats. Unfortunately, their focus is driven by the focus of the elected and appointed political leaders. It is unfortunate that Obama and the likes of Holder and Napolitano see the TEA Party as a bigger threat than Islamic Jihadists and Communist China. But in spite of all the self-inflicted harm done by Obama to our great republic, there are still those foreign entities who would like to see our republic destroyed and will take actions designed to make it happen.
All countries spy. China has been the worst offender in the equation for the last 30 years with regard to military and industrial technology. Unfortunately, their biggest partners in said information and technology transfers have been the Clinton and Obama Administrations.
That is all true but the NSA, FBI, and other federal agencies aren’t working to protect us from outside threats the way they should be. They should not be entrusted with this level of power - the intent of the bills may not have been unconstitutional but the implementation of the programs and use of the data sure is.
Nicely stated. I think the difference between the Cold War and the situation today is the weakened state we find ourselves in against multiple enemies who are much more adept at the “soft touch” on developing our economic, political, and moral vulnerabilities. While I believe the Obama Administration is clearly headed towards the political socialist utopia and has made us incredibly vulnerable, there are also those enemies who wish to destroy us.
As for those of who took the oath and still seek to uphold it, you are dead on!
“The revelation of Britain’s most secret and diplomatically sensitive surveillance of the G20 Summit by a junior US contract analyst has shattered their trust in our organization.”
Well, the Brits will have to suck it up, just like we did when they leaked classified information that was damaging to us back in the Bush years.
“It will do untold harm to our security.”
Meh. “Security” can do untold harm to our freedom.
What exactly did they leak? I don’t recall any major leaks from the Brits at the time, and nothing on this level....I was deployed a good bit of the time between 2002 and 2005 and may have missed it.
The Downing Street memo?
Ref “The Downing Street memo?”
I see these as different issues.
With the Downing Street memo it was a political memo written by a political staffer giving his assessment of what was heard in particular conference calls with all the political “spin” embedded in the memo. While perhaps embarrassing, it really did not give away any operational secrets although it was spun in the press as if it were a smoking gun “proving” Bush “lied” to go to war in Iraq. The White House had the opportunity to put its own spin on the release.
The Snowden disclosures gave specific details of operational spy programs which have effectively destroyed or “burned” particular spy sources and techniques used by both us and the Brits. This may totally destroy the effective cross-intelligence agency working relationship between us and the Brits. As a result, our political leaders in both countries my end up flying blind as they deal with foreign governments. — Would anyone share national secrets with other organizations which are so incapable of keeping secrets?
True, the Downing memo didn’t reveal anything of an operational matter, but it still disclosed classified information.
I don’t think this is going to end our intelligence cooperation, simply because we’re too closely tied with the Brits in that department. We’ll surely get a stern talking to, though. Anyway, if it does impact that relationship, we really only have ourselves to blame for the lax security measures that led to things like this and the Manning leaks.
You are absolutely correct — As we focused on the NSA leaks I totally forgot about Manning.... His leaks were bad and harmful, but more in line with embarrassing Information Operation stuff which played against public opinion in general, and did not burn any specific programs. But I do truly believe the Snowden leaks would not have been nearly as effective against the American public had the Administration not engaged in such reprehensible behavior against its political adversaries.
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