A major leak from the Pentagon finally hit the news over the weekend. The leak itself is bad enough, REALLY bad. Especially given the information leaked is so detailed it makes the Edward Snowden leak look like child’s play.

Pentagon officials are reeling from the leak of highly classified military plans on the war in Ukraine that surfaced last week — alarmed by both the sensitivity and sheer amount of information exposed.

The U.S. government is scrambling to determine the source of the most significant breach of U.S. intelligence in a decade after the tranche of more than 100 documents surfaced on social media. The documents contain information so sensitive that only people with the highest levels of security clearance in the U.S. government can access them.

~Snip

“The mood is anger,” said one DoD official, who like others quoted for this story was granted anonymity to discuss internal reactions to the leak. “It’s a massive betrayal.”

“I’m sick to my stomach,” said a second DoD official.

As everyone should be. The information that has been leaked is now all over the media and social media. The world is seeing all of it. For example: Egypt, a long time ally of the United States, was thrown under the leaker’s bus with the disclosure that they were supposedly negotiating with Russia to supply Russia with 40,000 rockets. 

You can damned well bet the discussions between Egypt and the Biden Administration right now won’t be winning any awards for congeniality! Oh, but there’s more. LOTS more. None of it good. 

Five photos of printed presentation slides and maps dated March 1 detailed timelines for the training and preparation of nine Ukrainian brigades ahead of an expected counterattack, as well as information about tanks, vehicles, and artillery, along with equipment supply trains. US officials told The Post the photos showed real slides, but some information appeared to have been edited — most notably claims that Russia had lost between “16k-17.5k” forces in the conflict so far while between “61k-71.5k” Ukrainian troops had been killed in action.

Other documents leaked from the Pentagon predicted that, without reinforcement, Ukraine’s air defense forces would be exhausted by May 23 — allowing Russia’s fighter and bomber aircraft to return to the skies in large numbers, according to The New York Times.

South Korean officials were wary of sending ammunition to the US out of concern that the arms would be sent on to Ukraine — information American intelligence officials obtained by spying on one of Washington’s strongest East Asian allies, the Times reported.

US officials have explored how to persuade Israel to provide “lethal aid” to Ukraine while remaining officially neutral in the conflict between Kyiv and Moscow, according to NBC News. Options that have been discussed include having Israel route materiel to Ukraine through third parties or highlighting Moscow’s support for Iran as well as its role in Syria’s ongoing civil war.

Hackers working with Russia’s FSB spy agency claimed to have halted operations at a Canadian natural gas pipeline company earlier this year, The Globe and Mail newspaper reported. However, the company’s president has denied the claims and Canadian officials have been unable to confirm the cyberattack took place. 

Leaked CIA intelligence claimed Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency had made “explicit calls to action” against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial judicial reform plan — though his office has since called the report “mendacious and without any foundation whatsoever.”

NONE of this is good for the U.S. and its foreign policy. Especially given that there is more information leaked than has been published. Information not only about Ukraine, but about China and others as well, as in Russia building rapport with the UAE. Of course, US officials are saying these leaks could be damaging and/or embarrassing. YOU THINK??!!

Even more embarrassing is the Biden Administration response to the leak. 

Moreover, the press is being told to NOT discuss the Pentagon leak any further!

John Kirby warns journalists not to report on leaked Pentagon documents.

"This is information that has no business in the public domain…It has no business…on the front pages of newspapers or on television." pic.twitter.com/625CxNIarI

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) April 10, 2023

Has the Pentagon gotten the leak(s) stopped? Who knows!

REPORTER: "Do you believe the [Pentagon intelligence] leak is contained? Are there more documents out there that have not been released publicly? Is this an ongoing threat?"

KIRBY: "We don't know — we truly don't know." pic.twitter.com/hmytzCU603

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) April 10, 2023

Here’s the thing, yes with this leak of information we are finding out what Russia, Ukraine, and China are doing. We are also finding out information on our allies. Now, don’t get me wrong. Everyone spies on everyone and has for decades. That said, why this huge leak this year? Why now? What does the leaker want to gain from this?

If it was to tank our foreign policy – Mission Accomplished. 

If the move was to embarrass Biden – Mission definitely Accomplished. 

If the move was to piss off our allies, well he or she accomplished that in spades. 

If the move was to embolden China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and others… Done and DONE. 

Currently, the way our government is handling this issue doesn’t make us look any better than the information contained within the leaks themselves. 

This is bad news for the U.S. all around and has put our intelligence assets, our military, and our foreign policy on the skids. 

This Pentagon leak is very bad news for us folks and we should ALL, regardless of politics, be very pissed off about it. 

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Feature Photo Credit: classified top secret by Mokee81 via iStock, cropped and modified