(04-13-2023, 07:53 AM)Goose Wrote: I am going to wait until arrests are made to be totally sure it was a "20 something" person who is actually behind all this, but in any case the broad scope of the documents indicates a serious breach of "need to know". We don't know all the details. We do know some of the documents were "altered" to make Russia look better. Non-US intelligence agencies have confirmed this. These documents unfortunately may not all come from a single source.
There is obviously no question that the custody chain for classified documents in the US is seriously broken, and has been for quite a while. That must change, and that change can only come "from the top". There are lots of "20 somethings" in the military that have access to classified materials. However, these materials are oriented to their job and and are not intelligence regarding foreign nations. The number of people who had access to Ukrainian war plans should be minuscule and the number of copies should be even smaller. Obviously, that isn't the case or we would already know the source of those leaked documents.
Absolutely! Unfortunately I am tempted to say far too much and run afoul of the "no politics" rule. "Can only come from the Top" says it all. The big issue here is Clearance versus Need to Know. As I see it today, Need to Know is a badge of power and Influence, it no longer really means Need to Know. Clearance is sort of like getting a driver's license, but that license doesn't allow you to drive a long haul truck. Need to Know gives you the right to drive the truck. If you aren't a truck driver, you don't need the special license.