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| Loose Lips Sink Ships |
| 2012-05-11 |
| Max Boot Remember the World War II slogan, "Loose lips sink ships"? Perhaps those posters should be reprinted and spread around the most classified departments of the U.S. government because our soldiers and spooks just can't seem to keep their lips sealed--at least not when they have a triumph to brag about. The first case in point was of course Operation Neptune Spear, which killed Osama bin Laden. Details of how it was done, and of the resulting intelligence cache, were soon spread all over the news, notwithstanding an agreement among senior administration officials to keep the operation secret. More details have been gushing out in recent days--with still more to come--as President Obama uses this Special Operations Command triumph to bolster his reelection chances, never mind the palpable unease in Special Operations circles about the damage being done from the revelation of their "TTPs" (tactics, techniques, and procedures). Now something similar is occurring with all the publicity resulting from an Associated Press leak about the double-agent who blew up the al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula plot to blow up a U.S. airliner with a more sophisticated form of "underwear bomb." No doubt Saudi intelligence officials who ran the double agent and provided information to the CIA are aghast to see the details splashed across front pages. In fairness, there is a case to be made that having al-Qaeda fear penetration by double agents could actually be beneficial. It could lead to terrorist paranoia and fratricide that could prove harmful to its ability to carry out operations. But in general, secrecy is always to be preferred in the covert world of counter-terrorism. Without it, covert techniques are blown and foreign intelligence agencies, whose cooperation is vital to the U.S., become more reluctant to extend cooperation. Yet for some reason, those with top-level TS/SCI security clearances (top secret/sensitive compartmented information) can't resist bragging about their exploits to the news media. One hopes the administration will make every attempt to uncover and prosecute the leakers rather than looking the other way because these leaks are so politically convenient for the president. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #3 Someone(s) need to go to jail, that is for sure, because I'm sure MI6 and CIA didn't officially release this for public consumption. As far as actual damage is concerned, I don't think it's much. I'm sure Al-Qaeda figured out that they'd been had five minutes after the guy didn't show up for his martyr video. I doubt any TTP beyond what AlQ could figure out for themselves regarding the penetration have been revealed. The thing that bugs me the most is that they can't keep a secret. What if it were something bigger? Were any TTPs revealed that would be harmful to our side? Like how we observed them, held off on airstrikes, etc.? |
| Posted by: gorb 2012-05-11 11:49 |
| #2 as President Obama uses this Special Operations Command triumph to bolster his reelection chances Well, you know the saying - "All's fair in love and war and Obama's re-election." |
| Posted by: Bobby 2012-05-11 05:58 |
| #1 At the DoD level, you can appropriately pin the Operational Security (OPSEC) failure rose on SECDEF Leon Penetta and the fella who appointed him. OPSEC is not rocket science and numerous regulations at various levels across the intelligence community cover security procedures quite well. Problems arise when, like nearly everything else, you fail to enforce the standards. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-05-11 05:55 |