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Today: 57 articles and 175 comments as of 10:01.
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Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Non-WoT        Politix   
United Arab Emirates oil tanker vanishes after drifting into Iranian waters
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Page 6: Politix
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Britain
Ousted UK ambassador leaked US intelligence
[WashingtonExaminer] Leaked U.K. diplomatic cables critical of President Trump have led Britain’s ambassador, Sir Kim Darroch, to announce his departure from Washington earlier than expected. But the story is not yet concluded.

According to one current and one former U.S. government official speaking on the condition of anonymity, Darroch repeatedly leaked classified U.S. intelligence information, including highly classified information, to a journalist for a U.S.-based media outlet. The sources are consolidated by the reaction my related inquiries have received from other government officials.

These leaks are unrelated to the diplomatic cables which sparked Trump's anger and Darroch's departure.

Still, one source says that the U.S. government was so alarmed by Darroch's leaks that it launched an official investigation to find the source of the information. That source described the leaked intelligence as "very sensitive," and suggested that exigent U.S. security concerns motivated the investigation. That source says that non-U.S. government derived records showed the ambassador and journalist exchanging messages on a continuing basis. The source emphasized that these communications were not derived from U.S. government actions.

A second source, a career government official, described the leaks as "unprecedented."

The Washington Examiner has been unable to confirm how long any investigation continued or whether it has since been suspended. But concern inside the U.S. government over the leaks was significant.

One of the sources said that the ambassador repeatedly transmitted highly classified U.S. originator-control intelligence information to the journalist. ORCON intelligence, as it's called in the intelligence world, is closely held and carefully distributed. At least some of this information was classified at the "Five Eyes" alliance classification level, meaning it was distributed by the U.S. only to Australia, Britain, Canada, and New Zealand. Some intelligence may also have been classified at the U.S.-U.K. only level. Such intelligence is transmitted only on the condition of established protocols and the assumption it will be closely held.

The implications here are thus significant for two reasons.

While there is no indication that Ambassador Darroch was targeted as an investigative subject, even if incidental to Darroch, any investigative attention towards a British ambassador will raise eyebrows. Five Eyes protocols prohibit intelligence monitoring of allies. While this rule is occasionally bent, its malleability is tempered by the need to sustain shared trust.

Conversely, were the ambassador of America’s closest ally found to have leaked highly classified U.S. intelligence, it would undercut the trusting relationship of the two closest allies.

Yet it must be said that this risk is not new.

While U.S. and Britain retain the closest and most successful intelligence relationship of any two nations (near-symbiotic between the U.S. National Security Agency and its British counterpart, Government Communications Headquarters), sensitive leaks in media have occurred repeatedly in both directions across the Atlantic.

Following the May 2017 suicide bombing of a concert in Manchester, England, U.S. media leaks of British intelligence led Britain to temporarily suspend the sharing of certain intelligence material with the U.S. government. At the time, Trump described those leaks as "deeply troubling" and said that Prime Minister Theresa May was "very angry." In 2006, British intelligence officials were similarly enraged by U.S. action against al Qaeda operations officer, Rashid Rauf, at the culmination of an investigation into a plot against transatlantic passenger aircraft departing Britain.

Still, for both nations there is perhaps some solace here. Darroch has announced he will leave his post once a successor is appointed.

The White House and Justice Department declined to comment. As of publication the British Embassy did not respond to a request for comment.
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If he was Secret Squirrel, who was Morocco Mole?
Posted by: Lex || 07/16/2019 0:51 Comments || Top||

#2  One of the sources said that the ambassador repeatedly transmitted highly classified U.S. originator-control intelligence information to the journalist.

Yet another "beam in thyne own eye" moment.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/16/2019 2:53 Comments || Top||

#3  Five eyes looking more and more like a non-beneficial arrangement at this point.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 07/16/2019 7:16 Comments || Top||

#4  High level, likely Brennan again.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 07/16/2019 7:38 Comments || Top||

#5  High level, likely Brennan again.
Posted by Herb McCoy


We've not heard from John Brennan, Clapper, Comey or any of their ilk in weeks now. Nothing much from Soetoro either. Strange, very strange.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/16/2019 7:59 Comments || Top||

#6  Laying low til the IG Report drops
Posted by: Frank G || 07/16/2019 8:29 Comments || Top||

#7  Making travel plans, perhaps.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 07/16/2019 13:36 Comments || Top||

#8  Remember, he was permanent CivServ.

One of our betters.

The smart people.

And as Troo Conservatives, it is our duty to say "Thank you, Sir Kim, may I have another?" as he passes by and lets out a fart.
Posted by: charger || 07/16/2019 14:46 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Dems Change Mind On Border Wall After Realizing It Will Keep People From Leaving When We Switch To Socialism
[Babylon Bee] U.S.‐The nation's Democratic leaders announced Tuesday they are reversing course on Trump's proposed border wall, since "it will keep people in once we switch to socialism."

"We thought the border wall was a bad, racist idea," said Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. "But then this light bulb turned on over my head. It was actually just a light bulb though, not an actual idea, which was disappointing. But that got me thinking about trying to have an idea. And I got an idea: when we switch to socialism, everyone's gonna try to run away. But what if there's a big, solid object along the border? Then they can't run away. I mean, they could try to climb, but we could shoot them."

Senator Bernie Sanders said in his experience, walls are "absolutely necessary" to keep a socialist country's citizens from fleeing. "The Soviets had it right: big wall in Berlin, the symbolic Iron Curtain, shooting people who try to flee. It's all necessary to a healthy socialist state." Besides, Sanders added, politicians like him would be exempt from the "no running away" rule and he could fly out any time he wanted on a government plane.

Dems suggested maybe the border wall could use some upgrades such as landmines on the U.S. side, outposts with guards armed with AK-47s, and attack dogs. It will also need to be extended to surround the entire country and "maybe also a big dome around the top."
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/16/2019 03:02 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I would like to suggest an anxiety level index as they have for hurricanes or tornadoes.0-10 as with pain level. Give a report and indicate anxiety level as readily as ratting for those storms. I believe your gauge you post along with some articles is the same.
Posted by: Dale || 07/16/2019 10:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Or maybe Apple™ can make a wristband synced to neural activity in the amygdala. With settings from 'Generic Weasel' having beep-beep sounds, to 'Absolute Pelosi' with industrial klaxons. Call it... i feel. With proprietary colors from 'binary challenged blue-ish' to 'stark raving hot-pink' !
Posted by: Dron66046 || 07/16/2019 10:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Unfortunately, the way things are going, this might not be so far fetched...
Posted by: 49 Pan || 07/16/2019 13:39 Comments || Top||



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1Moslem Colonists

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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2019-07-16
  United Arab Emirates oil tanker vanishes after drifting into Iranian waters
Mon 2019-07-15
  Car bomb and all-night hotel siege kill 26 in Somalia's Kismayo
Sun 2019-07-14
  African Migrants Turned Church Into Base to Deal Heroin
Sat 2019-07-13
  Kismayo attack: 26 dead as gunmen storm Somali hotel
Fri 2019-07-12
  Labor Sec. Alex Acosta Resigns Amid Pall of Jeffrey Epstein Investigation
Thu 2019-07-11
  Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps boats tried, failed to seize British oil tanker in Persian Gulf
Wed 2019-07-10
  Egyptian Court Convicts Al-Azhar Professor, Others For Spying For Iran
Tue 2019-07-09
  Hafiz Multan, Taliban’s deputy Red Unit commander killed in Kandahar
Mon 2019-07-08
  Bouteflika’s ex-party chief detained in Algeria corruption probe
Sun 2019-07-07
  Radioactive material worth $72m seized from car in Turkey
Sat 2019-07-06
  Deal between protest leaders and Sudan’s ruling generals
Fri 2019-07-05
  Second ‘son of Hamas’ leaves terror group, exposing corruption, Turkish spy ring
Thu 2019-07-04
  Wishing all Rantburgers a happy and safe Independence Day!
Wed 2019-07-03
  Airstrike hits migrant detention center in Libya, 40 killed
Tue 2019-07-02
  Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher found not guilty on murder and attempted murder charges

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