Loading ...Panama John McCain To Fundraiser Crowd: Yeah, I Think Barack’s Going To Be In Iraq This Weekend But I Could Be Wrong About That
On the surface, it sounds like a harmless enough statement but to those “in the know”, including Senator McCain of Arizona Panama, it constitutes a SERIOUS violation of OPSEC to disclose such details of a diplomat’s or VIP’s visit to a designated combat area. In fact, were “Panama John” a average, ordinary Citizen with a security clearance versus one of the “elites”, he would most likely have his clearance revoked for demonstrating such careless judgement.
The Talking Points Memo‘s Josh Marshall, in reference to the original Reuters story, puts it appropriately:
Did He Really Just Do That?
(Snip!)
“… It’s known that Obama is leaving on his foreign trip this weekend and the Journal OpEd page this morning said that Obama could arrive in Iraq “as early as this weekend.” And with a slew of reporters in tow, it’s not exactly highly classified information. But there is a reason definite information about these sorts of trips aren’t released in advance.
Hypothetically, maybe McCain was just guessing. But even so it would still be a serious lapse of judgment on his part. …”
Yessiree-Bob — he really DID “just do that“. As for “bad judgement”? Understatement: try ABSOLUTELY bad judgement. Better yet, absolutely UNPRESIDENTIAL judgement. Or, maybe the man does suffer from memory loss after all. As a former war hero, there was a time, I promise you, when the man knew all about OPSEC-COMSEC and would never think to violate those basic controls.
It will be interesting to know whether or not this unnecessary disclosure by John McCain will lead to a quick, behind the scenes rescheduling of his trip. While it would most likely remain classified in nature and we, the general public, would most likely never know; it would be seemless to the outside world. On the inside, however; it could very well cost we taxpayers tons of tax dollars as planes are re-routed, people are rescheduled, perhaps even for longer stays with taxpayer-funded perdiem in the cards, etc., etc., etc. It could add up quickly — cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-CHING…
Good move there, Mr. “Conservative”. Most true “conservatives” would “conserve” such information with not only human lives in mind but with the “conservation” of our hard-earned, badly managed tax dollars as well.
Filing this one under “Duh!“
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Other bloggers o-pine: The Newshoggers (Cernig); Blue Girl, Red State (Warren Street); Obsidian Wings (Hilzoy)
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