jon huntsman blogger: WikiLeaks

If returning Winston Churchill's bust and giving tacky gifts to Gordon Brown and the Queen weren't enough, the Obama administration has given the UK the ultimate swift kick in the pants. Recent Wikileaks cables shows that the Obama administration gave Russia the serial numbers of the Trident missiles it transfered to the UK as part of the START agreement. The serial numbers can be used to help determine the size of the UK's arsenal.

UK Telegraph: A series of classified messages sent to Washington by US negotiators show how information on Britain’s nuclear capability was crucial to securing Russia’s support for the “New START” deal.

Although the treaty was not supposed to have any impact on Britain, the leaked cables show that Russia used the talks to demand more information about the UK’s Trident missiles, which are manufactured and maintained in the US.

Washington lobbied London in 2009 for permission to supply Moscow with detailed data about the performance of UK missiles. The UK refused, but the US agreed to hand over the serial numbers of Trident missiles it transfers to Britain.

Professor Malcolm Chalmers said: “This appears to be significant because while the UK has announced how many missiles it possesses, there has been no way for the Russians to verify this. Over time, the unique identifiers will provide them with another data point to gauge the size of the British arsenal.”

Duncan Lennox, editor of Jane’s Strategic Weapons Systems, said: “They want to find out whether Britain has more missiles than we say we have, and having the unique identifiers might help them.”

While the US and Russia have long permitted inspections of each other’s nuclear weapons, Britain has sought to maintain some secrecy to compensate for the relatively small size of its arsenal.

Damn, talk about throwing someone under the bus. The thing I don't get is why Obama is willing to give up so much for the SALT treaty. [MORE]

Just think of all those people in the UK who wanted Obama to be president. They felt that Obama could improve America's image around the world. How's that working out for everybody? Something tells me those Bush "Miss Me Yet" billboards will soon be popping up in the UK.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: UK Telegraph

This is becoming beyond embarrassing. A global superpower is incapable of preventing a rag tag organization from publishing national secrets. Yet, this is exactly what we are dealing with now that Wikileaks has dumped a third set of classified documents.

This time the documents are of a diplomatic flavor. Some of the juicy items released are:

The video below helps to detail more of the information that was released.

The frustrating thing about these Wikileaks document dumps is that Wikileaks openly stated they were going to release more documents after they first dump, yet nothing was really done about it. Sarah Palin was quick to pick up on this fact and was one of the first to ask why nothing has been done so far.

Sarah Palin’s Facebook Page: We all applaud the successful thwarting of the Christmas-Tree Bomber and hope our government continues to do all it can to keep us safe. However, the latest round of publications of leaked classified U.S. documents through the shady organization called Wikileaks raises serious questions about the Obama administration’s incompetent handling of this whole fiasco.

First and foremost, what steps were taken to stop Wikileaks director Julian Assange from distributing this highly sensitive classified material especially after he had already published material not once but twice in the previous months? Assange is not a “journalist,” any more than the “editor” of al Qaeda’s new English-language magazine Inspire is a “journalist.” He is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands. His past posting of classified documents revealed the identity of more than 100 Afghan sources to the Taliban. Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al Qaeda and Taliban leaders?

What if any diplomatic pressure was brought to bear on NATO, EU, and other allies to disrupt Wikileaks’ technical infrastructure? Did we use all the cyber tools at our disposal to permanently dismantle Wikileaks? Were individuals working for Wikileaks on these document leaks investigated? Shouldn’t they at least have had their financial assets frozen just as we do to individuals who provide material support for terrorist organizations?

Most importantly, serious questions must also be asked of the U.S. intelligence system. How was it possible that a 22-year-old Private First Class could get unrestricted access to so much highly sensitive information? And how was it possible that he could copy and distribute these files without anyone noticing that security was compromised?

The White House has now issued orders to federal departments and agencies asking them to take immediate steps to ensure that no more leaks like this happen again. It’s of course important that we do all we can to prevent similar massive document leaks in the future. But why did the White House not publish these orders after the first leak back in July? What explains this strange lack of urgency on their part?

We are at war. American soldiers are in Afghanistan fighting to protect our freedoms. They are serious about keeping America safe. It would be great if they could count on their government being equally serious about that vital task.

- Sarah Palin

This is the question everyone (especially the media) should have been asking after the second Wikileaks dump. By not aggressively going after Wikileaks the Obama administration does look weak and as Will Jacobson from Legal Insurrection suggests a lot like the Carter administration.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: The New York Times

Via: UK Mail Online

Via: Spiegel Online

Via: UK Mail Online

Video h/t: The Right Scoop

Via: Sarah Palin’s Facebook Page

Via: Legal Insurrection