When it comes to national security secrets, the Obama administration is a sieve. That Obama is a narcissist has been well documented in this blog but Obama’s narcissism is endangering the national security of the United States. He just can’t shut up.
John McCain finally took notice of what many of us have been observing for some time- Obama leaking national security information:
Describing the string of recent intelligence leaks to news outlets as “disturbing” and “simply unacceptable,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., accused the White House of putting the president’s ambitions for another term in the Oval Office ahead of national security.
“A really disturbing aspect of this is that one could draw the conclusion from reading these articles that it is an attempt to further the president’s political ambitions for the sake of his re-election at the expense of our national security,” McCain said on the senate floor late today.
It’s gotten so bad that even democrats have had enough. Sen. Dianne Feinstein said it has to stop.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myjCSS2oUng[/youtube]
Obama’s ego bristled at the suggestion that he and his administration are leaking security information:
“The notion that my White House would purposefully release classified national security information is offensive. It’s wrong,” the president told reporters at the White House Friday. “People, I think, need to have a better sense of how I approach this office and how the people around me here approach this office.”
It’s pretty clear how he approaches that office- Wagyu beef, golf and super-rich Hollywood celebrities.
McCain’s criticism stems from the leak of the Obama kill list to the NY Times but that’s only one in a series of politically convenient leaks.
After the killing of Osama Bin Laden, Barack Obama and Joe Biden suffered from compulsive logorrhea. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was critical of the spectacle.
Robert Gates, the US defence secretary said that security will be increased around the elite military unit that killed Osama bin Laden, after warnings that government comments on the raid had made the troops vulnerable to retaliation.
Issuing a thinly veiled attack on White House officials, Robert Gates said that members of the Navy Seals team that carried out the raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan, had expressed fears for their safety.
“We are very concerned about the security of our troops, and also these elite units that are engaged in things like that,” Mr Gates told an audience of US marines.
“We are looking at what measures can be taken to pump up the security,” he said.
“As a result, there has been a consistent and effective effort to protect the identities of those who participated in the raid. I think that has to continue.”
Mr Gates revealed said senior officials watching the successful raid in the Situation Room on May 2 had agreed to keep “operational details” to a minimum.
“That all fell apart on Monday – the next day,” he said.
Then Obama and Biden went on a spree.
The Pentagon was evidently shocked when John Brennan, counter-terrorism adviser to President Barack Obama, held a press conference which provided various details of the raid, some of which turned out to be wrong.
A few days later Vice President Joe Biden, at a black tie dinner, was the first to confirm that Navy Seals had conducted the operation.
Various anonymous officials from different departments have since provided American journalists with details about the plot, including the number of the Navy Seals unit involved, the stealth technology used on the missions’ helicopters and the fact that the CIA had operated a safe house near to bin Laden’s compound.
Among the details spilled:
…the name of the courier who was followed to the compound in Pakistan, that retired Pakistani military officers were recruited by the CIA to man an observation post near the compound, where the FBI got a DNA sample from a bin Laden family member, the capabilities of our satellites, the base the helicopters used in Afghanistan and how they evaded Pakistani radar, the names, bases and training sites used by units on the mission, the number of SEALs involved, the weapons and equipment they carried, which Al Qaeda plots we learned of from data seized in the compound, which may tell Al Qaeda which plots we do not know about.
The Pakistani doctor who aided the US was outed and is now spending the next 30 years in jail.
The Obama administration then handed the AP every single detail of the raid, including the name of the dog.
A year later Obama arranged an “interview” with Brian Williams in the Situation Room– historically off limits to cameras- so Obama could allow America to bask in his glory.
A movie about the Bin Laden raid was commissioned by the White House to be released just prior to the coming election, and it’s suggested that Barack Obama is the real director. A SEAL Team 6 leader was made available for the movie.
In a statement, Judicial Watch said, “These documents, which took nine months and a federal lawsuit to disgorge from the Obama administration, show that politically-connected filmmakers were giving extraordinary and secret access to bin Laden raid information, including the identity of a Seal Team Six leader.” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton added, “It is both ironic and hypocritical that the Obama administration stonewalled Judicial Watch’s pursuit of the bin Laden death photos, citing national security concerns, yet seemed willing to share intimate details regarding the raid to help Hollywood filmmakers release a movie ‘perfectly timed to give a home-stretch boost’ to the Obama campaign.”
As tide of public opinion began to shift against him, Barack Obama released more national security information as a means of buttressing his support. First came the Obama-Personally-Selects-You-For-The-Kill-List leak to the NY Times, followed quickly by the news of the StuxNet cyberattack on Iran. The Obama administration leaked the fact that the US and Israel were behind the StuxNet worm.
Denials of leaking from Obama are mendacious at best, as Alexander Kazam points out:
Of course, we don’t know who exactly was in the room, but this a high-level national security meeting. The culprit may not be a “White House official,” but the leaks came out of a White House meeting — directly from the president’s top national-security advisers. This is not some guy in the bowels of the State Department passing e-mails to Julian Assange; it is one degree removed from the president.
This disclosure carries with it a very significant risk- by Pentagon definitions it’s an act of war.
Last weeks New York Times bombshell article by David Sanger claimed that President Obama secretly ordered the cyber-attacks on the computer systems that run Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities. The story tells of a significantly expanding American involvement in the sustained use of so called cyber-weapons against other nations using the “Stuxnet“ software. The story has caused quite the uproar. But what was missing from the story is something far more interesting, according to both The White House and Pentagon’s own definitions, a cyber-attack is to be considered “An act of war.” So by it’s own definition, are we at war?
Steve Rendall wrote a brief post at fair.org on the topic saying, “It would have been much more interesting had reporter David Sanger cited independent legal experts on whether such cyberattacks constitute acts of war. If they do, the White House program could have far more profound consequences than merely disrupting Iran’s nuclear program.”
The Pentagon clearly says it’s an act of war.
WASHINGTON—The Pentagon has concluded that computer sabotage coming from another country can constitute an act of war, a finding that for the first time opens the door for the U.S. to respond using traditional military force.
The Pentagon’s first formal cyber strategy, unclassified portions of which are expected to become public next month, represents an early attempt to grapple with a changing world in which a hacker could pose as significant a threat to U.S. nuclear reactors, subways or pipelines as a hostile country’s military.
And that makes this leak profoundly stupid.
The reasons for leaking this intel are obvious. Obama wanted Bin Laden’s head as a trophy for his re-election. He wanted everyone to know he was tough on terror, so he leaked the Kill List story. He wanted everyone to know he is tough on Iran so he leaked the StuxNet intel.
The denials are a painful reminder of the contempt Barack Obama has for the intelligence of Americans and on the part of his unthinking supporters, that contempt is well founded.
One is left with the distinct impression that Barack Obama believes nothing is more important that Barack Obama- not even the country under his stewardship. He’s played fast and loose with national security and now that it’s blown up in his face it’s denials all around. The problem is that anyone with a brain knows better. Given Obama’s cavalier approach to national security secrets now it’s frightening to think what he might do in a second term when he has more “flexibility.”
He just can’t shut up.
DrJohn has been a health care professional for more than 30 years. In addition to clinical practice he has done extensive research and has published widely with over 70 original articles and abstracts in the peer-reviewed literature. DrJohn is well known in his field and has lectured on every continent except for Antarctica. He has been married to the same wonderful lady for over 30 years and has three kids- two sons, both of whom are attorneys and one daughter on her way into the field of education.
DrJohn was brought up with the concept that one can do well if one is prepared to work hard but nothing in life is guaranteed.
Except for liberals being foolish.
On Stuxnet.
Israeli officials who were placed at risk by the Obama administration’s leaks about the Stuxnet virus are disputing American claims that the cyber-weapon was jointly developed by the U.S. and Israel. Rather, they say, Israeli intelligence first started developing cyberspace warfare against Iran, only convincing the U.S.–with some difficulty–to join in.
See:
http://israelmatzav.blogspot.com/2012/06/mossad-stuxnet-is-our-baby-obama.html
And also:
http://israelspy.com/the-spin-about-centrifuges-let-america-take-credit-for-delaying-irans-nuclear-ambitions/
So, not only was Obama willing to leak to build himself up at the expense of the LIVES of others, he is also willing to embellish what he leaks.
This fits perfectly with his warped personality that demands others be lowered so he looks better.
As I’ve noted elsewhere, the fact that Obama is making the kill decisions doesn’t bother me. On the contrary, I’d rather have them made by the guy at the top than by some bureaucrat in the bowels of DoD or CIA. What does bother me is that there is no independent check. Are the people Obama is passing a death sentence on really the right people? In capital punishment cases, the governor makes the final decision (execute or commute the sentence). However, the governor doesn’t select the victim. That’s done by an independent judiciary, along with a jury selected from the public. Where is the independent review in the case of drone strikes? so far as I can tell, there isn’t one. That bothers me, and it should bother you.
So Barokeydoke wants to take credit for the deeds of both Mossad and the USN Seals…..well,those who bask in reflected glory usually get burned…so let it be with Barokeydoke
I keep hearing echoes. Like “We will hang them with rope they sell us.”
Where are the Obama apologists?
Valerie Jarrett was excluded from the final plans and deliberations killing IBL and she has been venge filled ever since. She sees herself as the true First Woman and that that Panetta and Bill Dalay ran a kill-op underneath her nose has her infuriated. In revenge she pulled the BarryWood card wanting the film project, with bells whistles and she running the operation, ready as an October surprise.
There’s no doubt in my mind that reporters were handed transcripts for the meetings as these quotes are so detailed and complete. One cannot help but notice that Obama was not bothered by the leaks until John McCain’s castigation. Obama is the leaker.
Case closed.
What did you’all think when Bush leaked sensitive material? (please search ‘Bush Military Leaks’)
@DrJohn:
I did notice that Obama only claimed that the question ”offended” him, but he didn’t answer the question or deny its truthfulness.
Shades of Islam where an ”infidel,” disparaging a Muslim is a death offense EVEN when the disparagement is based on TRUTH!
Liberal1 how about you show the proof you are talking about, its not our job to look up your accusations based on BDS.
Pat Coddell says he knows who the leaker is.
National Security Advisor Tom Donilon
Caddell names Tom Donilon at the 8:40 mark.
Pat’s explanation of why is interesting.
Donilon was a political operative who came into the job.
AND Donilon has been a leaker in the past.
He came into this job under Obama but has ties to Biden, Clinton and lobbied for Fannie Mae.
Accusations without evidence, all coming from an opportunistic, morally bankrupt political party that after seven long years of war, a trillion borrowed dollars spent, over 4,000 American soldiers killed, and another 181,000 American soldiers disabled, had left al Qaeda’s top leadership cadre from Osama bin Laden down almost entirely intact . . .
That’s certainly not the case now, is it?
@Aleric, #10:
National security adviser Stephen Hadley’s assessment of Nouri al-Malaki?
Donald Rumsfeld’s leaked Iraq strategy memo?
The deliberate Valerie Plame leak?
GREG
THAT’S THE WAY IT GOES IN YOUR MIND?
THEY LEAKED SO YOU CAN LEAK TOO,
@ilovebeeswarzone, #14:
How do you know that all the leaked information came from the White House? Stuxnet development apparently began during the Bush Administration. Republicans were aware of the program and what it was intended for. They knew it had been used by the Obama administration. They’ve got a proven history of leaking classified information for their own political advantage. With the elections coming, they’ve got a strong motive for doing so again.
The right is furiously rolling out misinformation and outright lies on each and every politicized topic. They’ll allege anything to discredit democrats before the November elections. The closer it gets, the quicker the lies will come. They don’t even care if they’re eventually discredited, so long as it’s after the election.
GREG
YES, LIKE I SAID BEFORE,
THEY LEAKED SO IT’S OKAY FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO LEAK,
ANY ONE ELSE CAN LEAK, IT’S SOMEBODY ELSE FAULT, NOT BUSH FAULT AGAIN?
WELL IT IS SAID FROM THE WHITE HOUSE, OBAMA’S WHITE HOUSE ALONE,
WELL IT GIVE ME A THOUGHT, YOU KNOW THE PAINTING OF PRESIDENT BUSH,
COULD THE LEAK BE COMING FROM THAT PAINTING?
When you average Bush’s military deaths it comes out to 606/year while we were fighting two big wars at the same time with plenty of resistance.
Obama dithered for weeks (months?) before he even allowed a surge.
He has tied the hands of our troops to the point where a man can be shooting at our men then drop his weapon and our men would be tried for murder if they shot him at that point.
A man can be burying an IED and he cannot be shot.
On top of that our Green Zone has even been attacked.
Obama telegraphed our movements more than once, giving our enemy a head’s up as to when they can get back to their real work, Islamizing one country after another until they conquer the world.
Even so, 460 military deaths on average over Obama’s years and months in office.
I am not sure if that even includes our nearly one-a-day suicides among our military under Obama.
It figures the Obama supporters would blame Bush. What Valerie Plame has do with this is beyond me. It’s real simple- either the authors of these articles lied and somehow bugged the WH etc. to get the information or someone leaked the intelligence. In other words, someone is lying. The successes our military has had in ridding AQ of its leadership may be more difficult now because of these leaks. And before we get all giddy, just remember last month we lost 36 service members in Afghanistan, the highest this year. To them, their fellow warriors, and their families this war is not over with. Add in Islamic fundamentalist gains in Egypt and Libya as well as AQ establishing a foothold in Syria, and we may end up in position where we are worse off strategically than we were a year ago despite the killing of AQ’s leadership.
Yep. After 7 long years of Bush-managed warfare, a trillion dollars spent, etc etc, nearly all of the top al Qaeda leadership cadre were still alive and planning trouble–except for bin Laden, who had apparently gone into semi-retirement to cheer from the sidelines and watch taped reruns of his past accomplishments.
So which of them are left, 3 1/2 years after the new management showed up?
You’ve gotta love it, really: After a pretend carrier landing, Bush struts up to a podium beneath a conveniently positioned Mission Accomplished sign and expounds to much acclaim, with two wars still very much in progress. The video and photos are picked up by media around the world, and the right sucks it up with patriotic fervor. Obama mentions that Osama bin Laden was taken out, and he’s shamefully spiking the ball.
Whatever the casualties-per-year averaging is supposed to demonstrate is beyond me.
@another vet, #18:
What Valerie Plame has to do with is the comment in #8, and the response in #10. The point being that there were multiple proven leaks traced directly to the Bush White House. Whereas what republicans are throwing around are unproven allegations. For all I know, the leaks came from republican sources. They knew about the program. They knew what it was intended for. They could easily guess that the Obama administration had pursued and utilized it. They also had a clear motive: It allowed them to make their current allegations, which would be very difficult to disprove.
@Greg:
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Report: Mossad agent claims Israel developed Stuxnet, Obama taking credit to boost re-election
http://www.bluegrasspundit.com/2012/06/report-mossad-agent-claims-israel.html
Is anyone surprised?
Israel Matzav reported:
A group of Mossad agents speaking with Haaretz’s Yossi Melman on condition of anonymity have said that the Mossad – and not the Bush administration – developed Stuxnet, and that President Obama is now trying to take credit for it in a bid to help his reelection campaign (Hat Tip: MFS – The Other News via Atlantic Wire). Please recall the David Sanger piece in the New York Times about Stuxnet, which I blogged last week, which claimed that the Bush administration had begun developing Stuxnet, that President Obama had ordered it accelerated, and that Israel had only joined in later. Now, look at what Melman has to say about it.
The Israeli officials actually told me a different version. They said that it was Israeli intelligence that began, a few years earlier, a cyberspace campaign to damage and slow down Iran’s nuclear intentions. And only later they managed to convince the USA to consider a joint operation — which, at the time, was unheard of. Even friendly nations are hesitant to share their technological and intelligence resources against a common enemy.
Posted by Bluegrass Pundit at 5:32 PM ShareThis
And why exactly should anyone believe what some anonymous Mossad agent reportedly said? Everybody seems to have a story and everybody seems to have an ulterior motive for spinning one. Without evidence, they’re all just stories.
@Greg: Leaks in the Bush administration were generally meant to harm Bush. Leaks in this administration are meant to burnish Obama’s image as a tough guy.
@Nan G: Even if it proves to Donilon, there’s no way he does it without a wink from the boss.
@drjohn:
Image as a tough guy?
Obama?
Listen.
When my brother was a catcher on his varsity baseball team he got his nose broken by a batter.
He was taken out by the coach.
Next game he was right back catching.
Obama got a little split lip playing half-court bucketball.
I never heard that he played since then.
Tough guy? Obama?
I don’t think so.
@Greg:
Sometimes, Greg, you really are a twit. You know damned well what the “Mission Accomplished” banner was for and who put it up. It wasn’t Bush or his people. Yet you still insist on making yourself look like a dope when you repeat this crap.
Mentioned Osama? AYFKM? Mentioned??
Obama’s commissioned a damn movie with the intent of deifying Obama. Obama handed every operational detail of the raid to Hollywood and the press- the next freaking day.
@Nan G: I am not disagreeing, Nan. Obama rides girls’ bicycles. As young men Bush flew jets and Obama was “flying” on drugs. Obama is a weenie.
@Greg: When the leakers are identified and brought to court, let them use the same excuses. We’ll see how well that goes over.
Valerie Plame (1) had not worked as a covert operative for years at the time she was ‘outed,’ and (2) was not outed by the White House but by Richard Armitage, who worked in the U.S. State Department, was against the Iraq war, and was no friend of the Bush administration.
Scooter Libby was convicted of perjury because he had a faulty memory, not because of intentional falsehood. He described a sequence of events differently on two different occasions. He was not convicted of leaking any secrets. Nobody was.
@drjohn, #27:
The Bush Administration was an unmitigated disaster. Somebody really should prepare a series of BEFORE and AFTER illustrations, for use with the comprehension and memory impaired.
The fact that republicans are trying to rehabilitate his image rather than leaving the final judgement to future historians should be a clear danger signal concerning their current intentions.
@Greg: Actually, for someone who was dealt an extraordinarily rotten set of events, he did pretty well. He inherited Clinton’s recession, then 9-11, and then the Clinton/Rubin/Cuomo financial crisis in 2007. And he had the deficit down to $160 billion at that time. Then the democrats took over in January 2007 and things went entirely to hell.
Keyser Soze
I wish I could put the 2 dots over the o, I don’t know how, sorry about that.
about STUXNET, YES I have read I think last year that ISRAEL HAD CREATED A GADGET SUXNET, IT COME FROM THEM YES,
They used it already before at that same time I heard of it,
smart people in there and they don’t brag about it, that’s why they survived all theses years
from their enemies surrounding them,
can you tell me if it is the truth about what I heard that it’s the MUSLIMS WHO INFLUENCE HITLER TO KILL THE JEWS IN WW ll, I always knew that HITLER was hating them but if he was influence by MUSLIMS
IS NEW TO ME.
BYE
@ilovebeeswarzone: “I wish I could put the 2 dots over the o”
Several firing neurons are required. Here, stash these away in case you need them,
ö ö ö ö ö ö
The can also be used for depicting yourself.
Larry SHELDON
THANK YOU for the info. and those o-s with the hat,
tell me why should I use them to depict my ignorance?
@ilovebeeswarzone:
If you have supervised access to a small child, get the child to show you how to enter ALT-0-2-4-6 or how to use
“copy-and-paste”.
Larry Sheldon
WOW, I admire your intelligence and knowledge,
and I feel your arrogance again, why is that?
what’s behind this attitude,
LARRY Sheldon
lets clear that right now.
come on what’s your point?
{^_^}
another vet
I am sorry to hear that, it look to me as an escalation of the war and they target the MILITARY,
BECAUSE OF THE DRONES ATTACKS IN PAKISTAN,
BYE
Larry Sheldon
show off
@ilovebeeswarzone:
Hey Bees,
Here is some reading for you, as per your request.
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/auschwitz-blueprints/
@drjohn:
greg is not intersted in honest debate. I have seen him post things even he doesn’t believe. He is here to defend the left at all costs and spread propaganda. He wants to disrupt and antagonize. He is “polite” because he knows it significantly raises the odds of someone reading and buying into his bullsh*t.
When he can’t fight against the facts, he launches attack after off tangent attack hoping to derail the thread. His “mission accomplished ” attack is a prime example. He knows it’s not true and has been debunked many times over by several people here. Yet he keeps repeating it as if it were a fact. greg isn’t here to discuss, he’s here to harrass and obfusicate.
The sooner people learn this the better.
Keyser Soze
thank you, I appreciate, this is so very important to know,
especially at this time where they are most in danger again,
bye
@ilovebeeswarzone:
You are most welcome…
I have to laugh at the hypocrisy shown by San Fran Senator Diane Fineswine. There isn’t a microphone she doesn’t like. When she was mayor of Frisco, she got on the news spilling pertinent information on the “nightstalker” case and almost single handedly ruined that investigation. As a big shot in “intelligence” she leaked drone information about classified locations and modus operendi. Now she’s all upset about leaks to national security. This is another lying cow that should be put out to pasture. California, you are so screwed!
@Reverend Oil Guy from Alberta:
She’s running for re-election at 76.
What do you expect?
She needs to grab headlines somehow.
Breaking News!!!!!
National Security Advisor Tom Donilon was the source of the White House security leaks
So…how long until Obama retracts his outrage at our outrage for outrageously spilling the national security beans for political gain???
Note to moderate and independent voters, whenever Obama protests and claims it isn’t him and how dare we point the finger at him…he is admitting his guilt. If you will remember Obama claimed he wasn’t an ideologue, yet for some strange reason acts like one.
http://lonelyconservative.com/2010/01/obama-i-am-not-an-ideologue/
dscott
thank you, for that, it did come out finally
so the REPUBLICANS WHERE RIGHT AFTER ALL
THEY ALWAYS ARE ONE FOOT AHEAD OF THEM DEMS,
BYE
@Liberal1 (objectivity):
Still empty I see…..Let me guess, Plame?….Resulted in the comprimise of what, how many staplers she had on the desk she was piloting….Please….Thanks for playing.
Saying something doesn’t make it so. Especially when republicans are saying it right before an election.