Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

2017 American Political Scene

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Originally posted by citanon View Post
    POTUS has perogative to discuss intelligence matters because he's POTUS.
    Legally speaking that may be the case but in telling anyone classified information protocols have to be observed. If you wish to tell the Muscovites classified information that came from Israel (as this did) you had better make sure you have checked that's ok with them first because otherwise... guess what? They ain't going to trust you anymore. As it is he almost certainly compromised an Israeli asset in the field... and this is the guy who claimed Hilary couldn't be trusted with classified information? Frankly I don't even know why he met with the Muscovites in the damn White House (!); didn't they attack your election?

    Comment


    • Trump allegedly tells Russia of ISIS laptop terror threat, deep state leaks it to Wapo including the source of the info, Trump is now at fault for the entire world being told by Wapo/NYT through secret sources the info may have come from Israel. The heavily politicized "intelligence" apparatus need to be streamlined and cleaned out.

      http://thehill.com/policy/national-s...-sinks-further
      Trump relationship with intelligence community sinks further

      By Katie Bo Williams - 05/17/17 09:56 AM EDT 213comments

      48shares

      AddThis Sharing Buttons
      Share to Facebook(62)shareShare to TwittertweetShare to Google+plus one



      President Trump’s disclosure of highly sensitive intelligence to Russian officials has threatened to fracture his already-delicate relationship with the intelligence community.

      Former officials expressed horror at the move, warning that it could seriously damage important partnerships that the U.S. relies on for information — including the U.S. relationship with the reported source, Israel.

      The disclosures were sufficiently sensitive to cause unnamed officials to leak the details of the meeting to The Washington Post, suggesting a deep discomfort with Trump’s actions from within the administration.



      ADVERTISEMENT

      The president has had a tense relationship with the intelligence community since December, when he attacked the CIA over its assessment that Russian hacks on Democratic political targets were intended to help him win the White House.
      A week before his inauguration, he blamed the intelligence community for the leak of an unconfirmed dossier of sensitive information regarding himself compiled by a private investigator, calling it “something Nazi Germany would have done.”

      On Tuesday, Trump tossed accelerant on that simmering feud.

      “I have been asking Director Comey & others, from the beginning of my administration, to find the LEAKERS in the intelligence community,” he tweeted.

      National security adviser H.R. McMaster has described Trump’s disclosure as “wholly appropriate,” characterizing the sharing of intelligence as spur of the moment and adding that the president didn’t even know the sources and methods underpinning the intelligence he shared.

      But McMaster did not deny that Trump had discussed highly classified information during a May 10 meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Moscow's U.S. ambassador, Sergey Kislyak. Senior White House officials reportedly placed calls to the CIA and the National Security Agency (NSA) after the meeting to contain the damage, suggesting a more serious internal reaction.

      By Tuesday morning, disturbed rumblings from overseas allies had already emerged in the press.

      A senior European intelligence official told The Associated Press that his country might stop sharing information with the U.S. if it confirms Trump’s disclosure because it “could be a risk for our sources.”

      In Germany, a senior lawmaker told the AP that if the president “passes [exclusive and highly sensitive] information to other governments at will, then Trump becomes a security risk for the entire Western world.”

      “The damage will not be seen today or last night,” said Todd Weiler, a former assistant secretary of Defense under former President Barack Obama


      . “It’s going to be seen in the weeks and months to come as allied countries and cooperating countries hold back on information.”

      Trump’s apparent disregard for those relationships puts tremendous strain on the intelligence professionals who depend on them in a day-to-day capacity to do their jobs, former officials say.

      Fear that the president might burn carefully cultivated sources or closely held capabilities could create an extreme situation in which intelligence professionals withhold information from the White House.

      “It has to make you think about what you tell and to whom,” said one former CIA officer. It might be difficult to keep information from the White House once it’s been reported, he said, but “I guess they can withhold from everyone — don’t collect it, or don’t report it.


      (R-Ariz.) warned in a statement that the disclosure “sends a troubling signal to America’s allies and partners around the world and may impair their willingness to share intelligence with us in the future.”

      “I know firsthand the life and death implications of safeguarding classified information,” tweeted freshman Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher (Wis.), a former Marine intelligence officer. “Our allies and partners must have the utmost confidence that sensitive information they share with us will not be disclosed.”

      The New York Times reported Tuesday that Israel was the source behind Trump’s disclosure, raising concerns that Russia could pass along the information to Iran, Israel’s main adversary in the Middle East.

      Israel is one of the U.S.’s most valuable intelligence partners in the region. Ron Dermer, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, told the Times in a statement that the country “has full confidence in our intelligence-sharing relationship with the United States and looks forward to deepening that relationship in the years ahead under President Trump.”

      International concern about the president’s handling of sensitive information has simmered quietly for months.

      That Trump shared the information with Russia — even amid the ongoing scrutiny of his relationship with Moscow — offered little in the way of reassurance.

      “During the transition, many allies voiced concern Trump team might share intel with Moscow. Today’s news will compound that concern,” tweeted Colin Kahl, a senior official on Obama’s National Security Council.

      In January, Israeli press reported that U.S. intelligence officials implied Israel should “be careful” when sharing intelligence with the Trump White House until it was clear that Trump does not have any inappropriate ties to the Kremlin.

      For almost anyone else in government, the disclosure Trump made would be considered illegal.

      But the president has the broad authority to declassify government secrets. For Trump, the question is whether the disclosure was a prudent execution of a pre-planned strategy — or a moment of braggadocio, as the Post reported.

      If the latter, critics say, it represents either a total lack of understanding of the life-or-death nature of intelligence gathering or an appalling recklessness.

      “Often a revelation of information reveals the source of the information by inference,” the former CIA official said, who emphasized he had no knowledge beyond the public reporting.

      “There could be somebody who’s dead now.”
      Last edited by troung; 17 May 17,, 18:06.
      To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

      Comment


      • pari,

        What is patently false and is propagated by you is that the discussion was in any way improper.
        yes, yes, the McMaster defense. silently acknowledge that the President shared classified info but that it was proper and within his prerogative.

        like i said: i agree that it is within his prerogative. proper? if it were so proper, don't think WH staff would need to hurriedly do clean-up duty by warning our intel agencies that there was a breach in the intel-sharing arrangements with an ally.

        As I say, the matrix has you.
        mhm. i merely pointed out that my own personal everyday experience with working within the US national security bureaucracy and with our foreign partners/allies...and not-partners/allies...do not support your claim. i'm sure your own deep understanding and experience working with the US national security/foreign policy bureaucracy, along with reams of evidence to the contrary, will show me the self-delusional error of my ways.

        but hey, what do i know? i'm chomping up them blue pills.
        There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

        Comment


        • Asty,

          Got any pills to share?
          “Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.”
          Mark Twain

          Comment


          • "I've known Lavrov for 30 years&he's an old KGB stooge&Putin is a murderer. To have the guy in the Oval Office...it's unacceptable " -McCain

            Comment


            • Originally posted by astralis View Post
              pari,



              yes, yes, the McMaster defense. silently acknowledge that the President shared classified info but that it was proper and within his prerogative.

              like i said: i agree that it is within his prerogative. proper? if it were so proper, don't think WH staff would need to hurriedly do clean-up duty by warning our intel agencies that there was a breach in the intel-sharing arrangements with an ally.
              Of course. McMaster, Tillerson, Lavrov and Powell are all liars and you and WAPO are the sole purveyors of truth.


              Originally posted by astralis View Post

              mhm. i merely pointed out that my own personal everyday experience with working within the US national security bureaucracy and with our foreign partners/allies...and not-partners/allies...do not support your claim. i'm sure your own deep understanding and experience working with the US national security/foreign policy bureaucracy, along with reams of evidence to the contrary, will show me the self-delusional error of my ways.

              but hey, what do i know? i'm chomping up them blue pills.
              The way you've been reassuring me for the past year and a half that the polls were right, that Clinton will win in a landslide and that all conservatives are racist? Methinks you've long overstretched your credibility and status.
              In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

              Leibniz

              Comment


              • Originally posted by Parihaka View Post
                Of course. McMaster, Tillerson, Lavrov and Powell are all liars and you and WAPO are the sole purveyors of truth.
                Not sure anyone is saying McMaster is a liar; he did deny things that weren't claimed is all. Tillerson did lie at his confirmation hearing and then had to 'recuse' himself - a position he appears to gone back on to some extent. Dunno who Powell is but if any sane person wants to tell that Lavrov is not an out and out liar they are deeply wrong.

                Comment


                • Originally posted by snapper View Post
                  Not sure anyone is saying McMaster is a liar; he did deny things that weren't claimed is all. Tillerson did lie at his confirmation hearing and then had to 'recuse' himself - a position he appears to gone back on to some extent. Dunno who Powell is but if any sane person wants to tell that Lavrov is not an out and out liar they are deeply wrong.
                  It's all a grand conspiracy isn't it? Rather than being a bit of a numpty, Trump is in fact a master of deceit as the Manchurian Candidate and Putin, rather than being a run-of-the-mill autocrat is in fact an evil genius who's deceived the entire world except you and diverse globalists.

                  Or........
                  Last edited by Parihaka; 17 May 17,, 20:37.
                  In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

                  Leibniz

                  Comment


                  • pari,

                    Of course. McMaster, Tillerson, Lavrov and Powell are all liars and you and WAPO are the sole purveyors of truth.
                    your strawman, not mine.

                    McMaster, Tillerson, or Powell did not explicitly deny that classified info was released; McMaster's and Tillerson's words are that Trump didn't mention "sources or methods" (because he wasn't aware of them).

                    they're treading the legalistic line to avoid lying. after Trump came out and said he released the info, the defense then became that Trump was within his legal rights to do so.

                    funny how you included Lavrov in that mix. :)

                    The way you've been reassuring me for the past year and a half that the polls were right, that Clinton will win in a landslide and that all conservatives are racist?
                    lol, pretty sure i didn't say "from my personal experiences at work, the polls are right, Clinton will win in a landslide and that all conservatives are racist", but hey, enjoy hitting that strawman.
                    There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

                    Comment


                    • Originally posted by Parihaka View Post



                      I'll let the Federalist continue for the smackdown of the latest fake news.
                      Tips For Reading Washington Post Stories About Trump Based On Anonymous Leaks
                      The shame of it is that the Post knows full well how Washington works. For example, the so-called mass resignation of State Dept appointees was part of a ritual that takes place at the end of every administration. I know because I was asked to submit my resignation twice when I served as an appointee, along with all my fellow appointees. I willing to stay on and kept in place by the next administration (as the same party retained the White House). To suddenly fashion this ritual into a story about mass rejection of Trump was disingenuous at best, and the Post knew it.

                      On a side note, news organizations are seeing a rise in readership and profits thanks to intense controversy over Trump.
                      To be Truly ignorant, Man requires an Education - Plato

                      Comment


                      • Originally posted by Parihaka View Post
                        It's all a grand conspiracy isn't it? Rather than being a bit of a numpty, Trump is in fact a master of deceit as the Manchurian Candidate and Putin, rather than being a run-of-the-mill autocrat is in fact an evil genius who's deceived the entire world except you and diverse globalists.

                        Or........

                        All US intelligence and security agencies agree that Moscow tried to interfere in the election in Trumps favour. Why have they consistently lied about all their Muscovite contacts? This is NOT a conspiracy these are facts from Manafort to Flynn to Tillerson. What was Lavrov even doing in the Oval Office? Why has Trump compromised an Israeli asset in the field? Stop squealing "Globalist conspiracy" and answer the damn questions - because the Trump administration cannot except to say it all 'fake news'. And by the way if you think being a 'globalist' is an insult the first globalists were the British who advocated free trade against the continental Europeans - most notably Napoleon and his 'Continental System'. I am not afraid of free trade and a global market - it enriches all.

                        Comment


                        • Deputy AG Rosenstein has just appointed a special counsel for the Russia probe.
                          There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

                          Comment


                          • snapper,

                            i think you'll be interested in this.

                            http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/doc...437/?tid=sm_fb
                            There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

                            Comment


                            • I never took Ryan or the GOP in general for being as stupid as he/they perhaps appear. This does not surprise me in the least but I did hope they had patriotism than party political considerations. If I were a US Conservative elected representative or potential candidate I would start a new Party because these guys have disgraced their Party and potentially been party to collaboration.

                              Comment


                              • Originally posted by snapper View Post
                                All US intelligence and security agencies agree that Moscow tried to interfere in the election in Trumps favour.
                                All US and intelligence agencies agreed Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction.
                                All US and intelligence agencies agreed that the Gulf of Tonkin incident was an attack by Vietnam on US forces.
                                Brennan's CIA didn't hack Senate computers.

                                Etcetera etcetera.
                                In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

                                Leibniz

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X