Pentagon shaken by document leaks
America’s nationalsecurity bureaucracy was left “shaken” last week when a 21-yearold military reservist,
Jack Teixeira, uploaded hundreds of classified files to an internet forum “to show off to friends”, says The Economist. The files included “detailed assessments of Ukraine’s armed forces, the course of the war and the effectiveness of particular American weapons there”. They also included “a variety of CIA reports on world events, including private conversations inside allied governments, among them Israel, South Korea and Hungary”. The US has acknowledged that the materials “are highly classified and contain sensitive information”.
The leaks contain “few startling revelations”, says the Financial Times. But the news nevertheless “deals a new blow to US prestige and security”. The information could be of use in Russia’s military operations and jeopardise the intelligencegathering capabilities of the US.
As with previous leaks, it’s not obvious any real harm has been done, says Frank Ledwidge in The Guardian. But the fact that they took place at all is worrying for they suggest that rather more serious leaks have happened. And while Russia’s intelligence agencies may sometimes give the impression of being “inspired by Inspector Clouseau”, they have a long history of highly effective work.
China’s capabilities dwarf those of Russia. “Rather than fulminating about the latest embarrassment and casting about for people to blame, US intelligence needs to get busy sorting out the systemic vulnerabilities it has created for itself. It can be sure that Russia, China and others are working very hard to exploit them.”