Name:   Talullahhound - Subject:   Ukraine Date:   4/19/2023 6:35:48 PM

The reason that the young man had a high level clearance was because his billet required it.  There was likely nothing in his 10-year background that would have raised flags to keep him from being granted a clearance.  As I understand it, he worked on computer system. Back before 9/11 people were more restictive in the access they had to special compartmentalized data; after 9/11, it got less restrictive was because one of the lessons learned was that not enough people had access to the information that might have linked and prevented 9/11.  

I do not believe that we have troops on the ground in Ukraine - however, having said that, I think it is possible that we have used special forces teams for specific objectives to help the Ukrainians and not a large contingent.  I don't know that as a fact, but I do know that the 101st airborne (which includes special forces) component is in Poland at the border with Ukraine.  I'm sure there are components of their mission that are covered under black programs, but the public is not given access to that information. 

People love to say that government is lying to us and withholding information from us.  As someoene that worked in national security for many, many years, I will say thing. Intelligence has a lot of components.  Do we collect on our allies?  Yes, but they also collect on us.  Most of the tie there is nothing sinister about this, because it gives us insight into their actions and thinking and we use that information for making decisions.  Inteligence information floats in every day - in bits and pieces from a variety of methods and sources.  Not all of it is earthshattering and most likely if you read it, you'd ask yourself why it was even important.  And it may not be.  But intelligence analysts take that bit and then another bit from somewhere else, and it begins to create a picture or a trend.  There is "analyzed intelligence" that is information drawn over a period of time and goes into a report, that goes to decision makers and helps them make policies.

There is "actionable Intelligence" which is something that needs immediate attention to keep something from happening  - like perhaps the sale of nuclear components or misuse of technology that was provided for one reason, but it being diverted to another purpose or even to a third party.  

This stuff is not hocus pocus.  It is both an art and a science.    And if the general public knew what was really going on the world on any given day, people would be scard to death.  Yes, there are bad guys doing and planning bad things, but will either be stopped or may never come to fruition.  And we also want to protect our methods for obtaining information and sources who may be reporting.  It doesn't have to be a "spy", but just a random person who is talking. 

I don't know why this young man decided to do what he did, but he is not a hero in any definition of the word.  When he was givien a high clearnace, he signed a piece of paper that contatined an oath that he would not divulge any classified information.  All the documents in the system are plainly marked with the overall classification of the document and each paragraph is individually marked with it's classification.  So there is "I didn't know".  He is a traitor to his country.  Because he knew or should have known when he put that information out there on an unclassified computer system, that he had no control over where it would end up.  He shared it to people without a clearance, without a need to know.  One other tidbit, even with a clearance, if you are given access to information that you don't have a need to know, you are obligated to avoid it.  

So I don't know who this woman is or what her axe to grind, she's wrong on every point.