Posted on 11/19/2022 7:40:30 AM PST by Eleutheria5
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency on Friday formally declassified an image then-US President Donald Trump tweeted in 2019 of a highly classified satellite photograph depicting the site of a failed Iranian rocket launch.
NPR reported that the NGA declassified the image after a “grueling Pentagon-wide review to determine whether the briefing slide it came from could be shared with the public” in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from the radio network.
Many details on the original image remain redacted – a clear sign that Trump was sharing some of the US government's most prized intelligence on social media, said Steven Aftergood, specialist in secrecy and classification at the Federation of American Scientists.
"He was getting literally a bird's eye view of some of the most sensitive US intelligence on Iran," he told NPR. "And the first thing he seemed to want to do was to blurt it out over Twitter."
In August of 2019, Iran attempted to fire a rocket which exploded on its launch pad at a space center in northern Iran.
A day later, Trump wrote on Twitter that the United States was not involved with the failed rocket launch.
“The United States of America was not involved in the catastrophic accident during final launch preparations for the Safir SLV Launch at Semnan Launch Site One in Iran,” he wrote, adding, “I wish Iran best wishes and good luck in determining what happened at Site One.”
The tweet included a satellite image...
(Excerpt) Read more at israelnationalnews.com ...
The President has sole classification authority, which is narrowly delegated, generally at the Cabinet secretary level. The individuals creating security classification guides are not the secretaries, but without their signatures, they are a legal nullity, and derive their authority directly from the President.
Reagan released photos of a Soviet carrier against the wishes of the intel community. Showing the capability of keyhole satellites. Trump had the right a and did the right thing.
“At this point any satellite image of anyplace in the world can easily be purchased online. It’s silly to think of these images as a ‘secret’. It’s not 1965 anymore.”
The military photos are higher resolution. It is not what is shown here but how good/bad our technology is.
If it was classified before he tweeted it, it became unclassified the second he hit “send.”
I mean, he was the President (for most of us anyway) after all . . .
Exactly.
But our populace is too dumbed down in bulk to understand this.
Did releasing them photo cause agents to get assassinated like the recent spy? Did the photo weaken our defense capabilities? Did it give clues to our military secrets?
If no then where is the crime? Just a letter of the law thing then why didn’t we go back and look for similar actions of Obama, Clinton, Bush, Carter….
yup....
This is a BS piece from the word go. The NGA does not declassify documents, they do not have the authority. They can recommend, but that decision is not in their hands.
The article says:
“The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency on Friday formally declassified an image then-US President Donald Trump tweeted in 2019 of a highly classified satellite photograph depicting the site of a failed Iranian rocket launch.”
It was not highly classified. I can imagine the amount of reporters there at the time. And even NPR did an article on the explosion August 29, 2019 10:57 AM ET, with picture.
https://www.npr.org/2019/08/29/755406765/iranian-rocket-launch-ends-in-failure-images-show
NPR reported that the NGA declassified the image after a “grueling Pentagon-wide review to determine whether the briefing slide it came from could be shared with the public” in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from the radio network.
Pentagon wide review? If the thing was that sensitive, then why did people who did not have the rating or the need to know get access to it?
And why did the picture for the article use a photo of Trump in front of a 2024 campaign commercial? Do the lies never end?
Wy69
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency on Friday formally declassified an image then-US President Donald Trump tweeted in 2019 of a highly classified satellite photograph depicting the site of a failed Iranian rocket launch
—
If someone in the Intelligence Agency gave these photo to the New York Times to publish it would be all okay with the media.
However if the President of the US does then it is “treason”.
The greatest strength of the left is first they have no standards and second they change the rules as it suits them.
Classified Military Surveillance Project Called ARGUS Unveiled
Autonomous Real-Time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance Imaging System (ARGUS-IS)
Which, of course, is not the point.
Declassifying something doesn't make it less sensitive.
The story about Trump being in possession of nuclear secrets at Mar-A-Lago, and potentially selling them, has fallen through with even WaPo admitting there was nothing to it.
So, the media is moving on to the next smear story. Same M.O. as we’ve seen for the past 6-7 years.
Jimmy Carter leaked the existence of the Stealth Bomber to counter his “weak-on-defense” image during his re-election campaign. The Dems defended it by saying that it had already been disclosed, but Carter’s leak pissed off a lot of DOD people who wanted to keep it under wraps.
How about why this photo was classified in the first place. Did it expose US technology, troops, or such? No. Were we trying to hide what was going on? I sure hope not.
The Israel National News is concerned about US imaging capabilities being broadcast?
Two words: Jonathan Pollard
Many people misunderstand the terms Original Classification Authority, Classified By, etc. that are supposed to appear on every piece of classified information in existence. (There is more information but the main two are the gist of it.)
What does that mean? There is ONE ultimate classification authority and ultimate RESPONSIBILITY, and that is the President of the United States, period. There are a few other to whom whose offices/positions are granted the authority to actually be the end classification authority for all of our classified information via regulations, directives, security classification guides, etc. But in the end, the ULTIMATE decider is the President. Like it or not, that’s how it is.
In addition to using GEOINT for U.S. military and intelligence efforts, NGA provides assistance during natural and man-made disasters, aids in security planning for major events such as the Olympic Games,[9] disseminates maritime safety information,[10] and gathers data on climate change.[11]They need to give authority to the users of the material instead of keeping this third man clearing house of political Pull.
“most prized intelligence”
ROFLMAO
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.