Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
Trump Administration Shares War Plan with Journalist
If one had any doubt that the people in the Trump administration are arrogant and incompetent, evidence that should dispel that view emerged a few hours ago. Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic found himself included in a text thread on Signal where top Trump administration officials were discussing the attack on Houthi tribesmen in Yemen. There is so much wrong with this one hardly knows where to start. Firing everyone on the thread is a good start because this kind of discussion should only happen in a secure location, not one personal cell phones from wherever.
Mr. Goldberg opens his story with
The world found out shortly before 2 p.m. eastern time on March 15 that the United States was bombing Houthi targets across Yemen.
I, however, knew two hours before the first bombs exploded that the attack might be coming. The reason I knew this is that Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, had texted me the war plan at 11:44 a.m. The plan included precise information about weapons packages, targets, and timing.
Meanwhile,"We are currently clean on OPSEC," Mr. Hegseth wrote, using the military acronym for operational security. Nope. Not even close. The only reason the war plans were not published is that Mr. Goldberg has some integrity. This journal takes the view that publishing the information after the attack would only serve to punish the people who need it. So, please, Mr. Goldberg, be a journalist.
Of course, the people who made America less secure with this thread are trying to lie their ways out of accountability. "At this time, the message thread that was reported appears to be authentic, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain," Brian Hughes, the National Security Council spokesman, said in an emailed statement. He called the thread "a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials."
Deep and thoughtful? Did no one think, "perhaps this is not appropriate for a Signal thread on personal cell phones. From an OPSEC perspective?"
Instead, they figured that they were just fine using unsecured communications to talk about a US military strike. There is the arrogance factor. Mr. Goldburg is as good a reporter as there is anywhere, but he is not the kind to engage in a black-bag operation to get this kind of information. This more or less fell in his lap.
The people who will engage in a black-bag op are the Chinese Ministry of State Security, whatever the Russians are calling the KGB these days, Iranian intelligence and anyone else who would like to do America harm. Can one imagine if one of these commercial cell phones (with whatever security there might be) were taken apart in China or Russia. Most people who use smartphones have much of their business life on the phone. If one has US Security as a job, and if the phone is lost or stolen, it will be bad for America.
This is going to happen again if no one in real authority is held accountable. In all likelihood, some minion with a G-10 government job will get fired for putting Mr. Goldberg on the thread. The fact that the thread should never have existed will be ignored. With the sacrificial lamb gutted, the bigwigs are free to continue as before. They will have learned nothing. They will have changed nothing. And some intelligence officer somewhere will get a chance for a big career score when it happens again. American troops will die needlessly.
One cannot fathom how that Makes America Great Again. It makes America a target again.
© Copyright 2025 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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