Ukraine: A damaging intelligence leak
Who leaked U.S. intelligence about the war in Ukraine and “what was the motive?” asked Morgan Chalfant in Semafor. These are questions officials in Washington are trying to answer, after The New York Times reported that a trove of more than 100 Pentagon documents had surfaced in an obscure corner of social media. The stolen documents include maps of Ukrainian air defenses and detailed targeting information, as well as the alarming news Ukraine is running out of air-defense missiles to repel Russian air attacks. This security breach is the most damaging in decades, and “could have serious implications for U.S. intelligence efforts.”
The documents “took a circuitous route to the public’s eyes,” said Jim Geraghty in National Review. They were printed out, folded, photographed, and posted on the social media platform Discord over a month ago, then reposted on Twitter, 4chan, and Telegram. Hundreds of intelligence and Pentagon employees could have accessed these papers; whoever took the photos of them left a visible “bottle of Gorilla Glue on their desk.” It’s the “freshness” of these documents that distinguishes this leak from previous ones, said David E. Sanger in The New York Times.
Some of the documents are barely a month old. “The hints they hold for operations to come make these disclosures particularly damaging.” The intelligence includes conversations among South Korean leaders about pressure from the U.S. to provide 330,000 rounds of ammunition to Ukraine—an indication the U.S. is spying on allies. With Ukraine’s spring offensive looming, the most troubling information in the leak is that U.S. military officials believe the war is “likely heading toward a stalemate” that will leave both Vladimir Putin and Ukraine frustrated.
“But more than the juicy tidbits contained in the material, the most damaging aspect of the story might be the fact of the leak itself,” said The Washington Post in an editorial. The real benefit to Russia will be learning “the range of U.S. intelligence capabilities that enabled the collection of such information, and to garner hints about how Washington gathered it in the first place.” The leak is unlikely to alter the course of the war— Putin remains committed to dragging this out as long as possible, hoping that Western allies will pressure Ukraine to sacrifice territory for peace. “No leaks are likely to change that calculus.”
“Nothing endures, but nothing is meaningless either.” Salman Rushdie, quoted in National Review
“We are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not.” Joan Didion, quoted in
The Daily Beast
“Don’t count the days. Make the days count.” Muhammad Ali, quoted in WLKY.com
“There is almost no human situation that cannot be explained with the hermeneutical tools of Winnie the Pooh.” Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, quoted in The Guardian
“It ain’t no sin to be glad you’re alive.”
Bruce Springsteen, quoted in Billboard
“Read widely of others’ experiences in thought and action—stretch to others even though it hurts and strains and would be more comfortable to snuggle back in the comforting cotton-wool of blissful ignorance!”
Sylvia Plath, quoted in Los Angeles Review of Books
“A good police force is one that catches more crooks than it employs.” British police chief Robert Mark, quoted in The Telegraph