As
a former member of the intelligence community I felt a deep shadow fall over me
as I read about Hillary Clinton's use of an outside email service instead of the
more secure and private State Department system. She did this for obvious
reasons, to keep her communications out of official channels and away from the
prying eyes of her political enemies (the Republicans...). One might sympathize
with a politician in her situation.However,
the Secretary of State of the United States of America is the number two
intelligence target IN THE WORLD, behind only her boss, the President. To tap
into her communications guarantees lavish rewards and promotions to the
intelligence team who does it. All eyes are on her, like vultures, waiting. Yes,
it really works this way.An
email system such as the one described is considered "easy pickings." After
seeing the details in the press, my first conclusion is
this:
·
Russians
and the Chinese were reading her emails. In real time.
·
I'm
not saying maybe or perhaps.
·
They
were.The
Russians and Chinese have sophisticated intelligence services, with
sophisticated spotting, assessing, targeting capabilities. They have thousands
of people who work these issues. Ms. Clinton may say that she didn't talk about
classified matters, and she may think this is correct. But any intelligence
professional knows its impossible to "talk around" a topic effectively (despite
what you might see in spy movies...). With a high value target like Ms. Clinton,
an intel service will have teams of analysts and psychologists analyzing every
word she says, with absolutely clear context.It
is also likely the French, the Germans and a host of other sophisticated
services were tapping in. There will be no trace of their reading it, no logs,
no records. This is an easy lift.On
the "perhaps" list, the Mexicans, the Iranians, the Narco Cartels, and the more
sophisticated backers of Al Quaida, along with various computer-savvy nuts from
around the country and around the world. Who else was getting it? Anyone the
Chinese or the Russians thought should get it!Let's
talk about information. Back in the day, I was told if you have a good source
but no particular requirements from your reports officer you ask about "Plans
and Intentions." We are talking about plans and intentions of the U.S.
government, negotiating positions, possible movement of resources that reveal
policy decisions, actions that if known could be circumvented or
countered.We
don't know the content of these emails, and of course a major part of those have
been deleted so we may never know. We have to assume the worst, so let's ask
some questions:
·
Did
Putin know what our reaction would be before he invaded the
Ukraine?
·
Did
Al Quaida know our intentions in Benghazi before the
attack?
·
Did
Iran know our proposals before we started negotiating this latest
agreement?
·
How
about any trade or political agreement where Russia or China might have an
interest? Compromised? How much money, positioning power, or benefit did the
American people lose because the opposite side new exactly how far to push?
These are potentially trillion dollar issues.I
wrote recently about a failure of Ms. Clinton's leadership during the Benghazi
attack. But this reveals a major failure in her understanding of simple security
procedures, to the devastating loss of her country. It always seemed to me that
President Obama has always gotten his clock cleaned in international
negotiations. Could it be because his Secretary of State was
compromised?Jim Morris
Twilight
Imagery, Inc.
