National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien is outraged at the leak that brought the news – or at least rumors – that Russia’s intelligence service had placed bounties on allied troops in Afghanistan:
“To those government officials who betray the trust of the people of the United States by leaking classified information, your actions endanger our national security. No matter the motivation, there is never a justification for such conduct.” [The Hill – I’ve not been able to actually find a written statement from whitehouse.gov, but a number of reputable sources are reporting it.]
Of course there are valid excuses, Mr. O’Brien, and they fall into two categories:
- Normal lines of communications have been corrupted. If communications are blocked or subverted, any good
spyoperative (nudge nudge) knows that extraordinary means must then be taken to communicate with those who need to know the information the operative has ferreted out. - The people responsible have been corrupted or are fatally incompetent. In the case of corruption at the highest levels, extraordinary means must be sought and found by the personnel in order to replace those who are damaging the country’s future prospects.
I suspect that Mr. O’Brien is sweating as former federal prosecutor Daniel Goldman’s return volley puts President Trump, and perhaps the National Security Advisor himself, squarely in, well, both categories:
The consequences of attacking the Ukraine whistleblower: concerned officials go to the media instead of proper channels. When you take away the proper route through vindictive retribution, you cannot then complain about leaks. https://t.co/gIj5sWTfPq
— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) June 30, 2020
I know that I can be a little obsessive about precision, but often precision matters. Just ask anyone associated with detonating a nuclear bomb. In this case, O’Brien, by glossing over key details, is attempting to obscure the fact that the government has become increasingly dysfunctional. He’s attempting to cast those doing the leaking as irresponsibly putting the nation’s future at risk, when it’s rather clear that without those leaks, the future is deeply at risk. Indeed, it appears the future of several of our troops, our fellow citizens, has been snuffed out.
I wouldn’t pay any attention to this dude, if I had only this behavior to go on. However, he does have a career in the government in the Bush and Obama Administrations, although not in an intelligence capacity, as well as working on the Romney campaign.
