Zatch
07-28-2011, 01:56 AM
Who leaked classified information about Russia’s role in the Tblisi bombings to the Washington Times?
From a story written by Eli Lake in the Washington Times:
U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in a classified report late last year that Russia’s military intelligence was responsible for a bomb blast that occurred at an exterior wall of the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia, in September.
The highly classified report about the Sept. 22 incident was described to The Washington Times by two U.S. officials who have read it. They said the report supports the findings of the Georgian Interior Ministry, which traced the bombing to a Russian military intelligence officer.
The Times reported last week that Shota Utiashvili, director of information and analysis for the Georgian Interior Ministry, said the embassy blast and others in his country were the work of a Russian military intelligence officer named Maj. Yevgeny Borisov.
“It is written without hedges, and it confirms the Georgian account,” said one U.S. official familiar with the U.S. intelligence report.
This official added that it specifically says the Russian military intelligence, or GRU, coordinated the bombings.
Let’s assume, for the moment, that every single allegation in those three paragraphs is true. Let’s assume that the Russians actually were idiotic, arrogant, and short-sighted enough to think that detonating a bomb near the US embassy in Tblisi would somehow be a good idea (and let’s not, at least for now, indulge in somewhat frightening speculation about rogue agents operating outside the Kremlin’s authority). Let’s also assume that the Georgian and American security services have been sparkling examples of professionalism and have not made any mistakes, drawn any false conclusions, or manufactured any evidence. Let’s even assume that Vladimir Putin personally ordered this operation while cackling maniacally and stomping on a litter of corgi puppies, and that it was only Kieffer Sutherland’s presence in Tblisi that prevented the Spetsnaz from storming the building and skewering all of its inhabitants alive. Let’s just assume the very worst about the Russians in every aspect of this story.
My question is who leaked this information, and why are they not being held criminally accountable? Who are these “officials” and how did they so blithely leak the details of a “highly classified report” to a newspaper reporter? Why is the Obama administration not investigating this unconscionable lapse in security protocol?
Many people in the United States have openly and repeatedly called for the prosecution, if not execution, of Julian Assange and Bradley Manning for the crime of, respectively, receiving and leaking classified information. Over the past several years the Obama administration itself has gone on an increasingly vicious and uncompromising hunt for whistle blowers who leak classified information, and this incidence of leaking would seem to be an ideal target for their fury since it is a matter of such pressing important and such a high level of classification...
Article continues: http://blogs.forbes.com/markadomanis/2011/07/27/who-leaked-classified-information-russias-role-in-the-tblisi-bombings-to-the-washington-times/
edit: Make sure to click the link and read the rest of the article. He doesn't actually think the person who leaked the info should be prosecuted. He's just making a point.
From a story written by Eli Lake in the Washington Times:
U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in a classified report late last year that Russia’s military intelligence was responsible for a bomb blast that occurred at an exterior wall of the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia, in September.
The highly classified report about the Sept. 22 incident was described to The Washington Times by two U.S. officials who have read it. They said the report supports the findings of the Georgian Interior Ministry, which traced the bombing to a Russian military intelligence officer.
The Times reported last week that Shota Utiashvili, director of information and analysis for the Georgian Interior Ministry, said the embassy blast and others in his country were the work of a Russian military intelligence officer named Maj. Yevgeny Borisov.
“It is written without hedges, and it confirms the Georgian account,” said one U.S. official familiar with the U.S. intelligence report.
This official added that it specifically says the Russian military intelligence, or GRU, coordinated the bombings.
Let’s assume, for the moment, that every single allegation in those three paragraphs is true. Let’s assume that the Russians actually were idiotic, arrogant, and short-sighted enough to think that detonating a bomb near the US embassy in Tblisi would somehow be a good idea (and let’s not, at least for now, indulge in somewhat frightening speculation about rogue agents operating outside the Kremlin’s authority). Let’s also assume that the Georgian and American security services have been sparkling examples of professionalism and have not made any mistakes, drawn any false conclusions, or manufactured any evidence. Let’s even assume that Vladimir Putin personally ordered this operation while cackling maniacally and stomping on a litter of corgi puppies, and that it was only Kieffer Sutherland’s presence in Tblisi that prevented the Spetsnaz from storming the building and skewering all of its inhabitants alive. Let’s just assume the very worst about the Russians in every aspect of this story.
My question is who leaked this information, and why are they not being held criminally accountable? Who are these “officials” and how did they so blithely leak the details of a “highly classified report” to a newspaper reporter? Why is the Obama administration not investigating this unconscionable lapse in security protocol?
Many people in the United States have openly and repeatedly called for the prosecution, if not execution, of Julian Assange and Bradley Manning for the crime of, respectively, receiving and leaking classified information. Over the past several years the Obama administration itself has gone on an increasingly vicious and uncompromising hunt for whistle blowers who leak classified information, and this incidence of leaking would seem to be an ideal target for their fury since it is a matter of such pressing important and such a high level of classification...
Article continues: http://blogs.forbes.com/markadomanis/2011/07/27/who-leaked-classified-information-russias-role-in-the-tblisi-bombings-to-the-washington-times/
edit: Make sure to click the link and read the rest of the article. He doesn't actually think the person who leaked the info should be prosecuted. He's just making a point.