National Journal, which purports to be a non-partisan publication, headlines a piece decrying national security leaks by the Obama Administration this way: “Insiders Say Leaks Will Affect U.S. Foreign Policy–But Only a Little.”
It’s not surprising the Journal downplays the damage the Obama Administration has done. To understand where National Journal really stands, consider how they ranked the most conservative members of Congress this year: Orrin Hatch was rated more conservative than Mike Lee, and Mitch McConnell was rated 11.4 points more conservative than Rand Paul and also 2.4 points more conservative than Marco Rubio.
Right.
Actually, Left.
But even with their left-leaning sentiment, the National Journal couldn’t completely hide the outrage that some of its members displayed over the leaks. Here is a sample of some of the comments:
“Will impede our ability to work with the security services of other countries (especially if we can’t keep a secret, which has significant long-term implications) more than straight-up foreign policy per se.”
“Every leak entails at least some damage, to security discipline and to the ability of government officials to function without fear of further leaks, and often more than that.”
“Confirmation that Stuxnet was a U.S/Israeli concoction has brought cyberwarfare out of the shadows and legitimized it as an element of statecraft. Expect that other countries which may have resisted the urge will now begin to bolster both their offensive and defensive capabilities, perhaps to target/resist the United States, perhaps to target their traditional enemies/our allies. And unlike a nuclear program, which is expensive, technically ambitious, and difficult to hide, these activities can be conducted by a few gen-X types working on their laptops. The genie is out of the bottle, and the world is now a much more dangerous place.”
“The Stuxnet story threatens discreet cooperation with allies and could well motivate/legitimate Iranian actions against a much more vulnerable American infrastructure.”
“Not only will the leaks damage U.S. foreign policy, they will also make it harder to gather both human and technical intelligence. These revelations make it harder for our diplomatic and intelligence partners to trust us–and we may never know what information is being withheld from us as a result.”
Whether National Journal wants to admit it or not (and they don’t), the national security leaks under the present Administration are a danger to the republic, and this administration must be held accountable.