This was just the latest attack:
The United States has just revealed a stunning amount of information on some of Israel’s the most closely guarded secrets: information about its military cooperation with America and 20 years’ worth of details on Israel’s nuclear technology development, up to the 1980s.
The 386-page report, composed in 1987 by the federally funded Institute for Defense Analysis, (an NGO that operates under the Pentagon), is titled “Critical Technological Assessment in Israel and NATO Nations.”
It was declassified by the Pentagon in early February — but oddly, the report has been redacted so as to black out or withhold everything the Institute wrote on America’s NATO allies — but to reveal all that American experts assembled in Israel.
Just coincidence, I’m sure.
That Obama….he plays dirty.
But I don’t think Netanyahu caves that easily.
The problem is that this administration has no fear that allies will retaliate in kind, because this administration has dialed in a descent to 100 feet and is just grinning as Congress bangs on the cockpit door in rage and futility. Obama hopes everyone reveals all sorts of US secrets and that it forever damages US power, prestige, and national security. That’s one of his goals.
The retaliation could, and should, come in the form embarrassing Obama personally. Who thinks Mossad couldn’t get its hands on Obamas college transcripts etc.?
“……as Congress bangs on the cockpit door in rage and futility.”
This is Congress’ own fault. They have surrendered the tools they were given to stop a rogue president: power of the purse, for one. And McConnell absolutely refuses to eliminate the filibuster so that Obama can be presented with Bills he’d have to veto.
Congress has no one to blame but themselves for not defending their prerogatives.
1. The report, written in 1987, was unclassified at birth. Since it was never classified, it couldn’t be declassified. Nothing in the report was classified to begin with!!!
2. According to annotation on cover page, the hard copy of the report was scanned into a PDF in 2007. The redaction’s were done then. This was during the Bush administration.
3. The report was not about nuclear technology, appears to me after a quick scan is that it a survey of technology capabilities of our traditional allies that might be useful for SDI.
4. IDA is a non-profit corporation, not a government organization. No political appointees. IDA is a well respected FFRDC (like Aerospace, Mitre, Rand, etc…)
This whole thing is a big nothing burger.
Perhaps, but the timing seems suspicious.
If nothing in it is classified, why was everything secret about every country other than Israel redacted?
One might think that the government is full of people who just hate Jews.
“he report, written in 1987, was unclassified at birth. Since it was never classified, it couldn’t be declassified. Nothing in the report was classified to begin with!!!”
This is not what is being reported so far. Where did you get this information? The reporting so far says it was declassified by the Pentagon last month. It was *composed* in ’87.
Also, if that is the case, why is some information redacted?
You seem to be able to read the report itself..can you provide a pointer?
Here’s a partial version of the scanned report, and likely what “SteveL” is referring to:
http://irmep.org/cfp/DoD/071987_CTAIIANN.pdf
Bottom of Page 1 shows it was scanned in 2007, but also shows that it was unclassified.
Now, that’s an IRmep copy, is only 129 pages instead of 368, and is heavily redacted. I haven’t found a link to the original version, so I can’t really offer any assessment beyond that.
The idea that the IDA redacted the document in 2007 doesn’t automatically follow just because someone annotated a scanned date to the file; that’s just a version that IRmep hosts on the web, and is very likely their own scan/redaction.
And from poking around just a little on IRmep’s website, I wouldn’t take them to be a “well respected FFRDC”; their “About Us” states quite clearly that they are anti-US/Israel (emphasis mine):
Given that mission statement, the redacted report showing only information about Israel is a political move on IRmep’s part. I haven’t the time nor energy to look any deeper into who funds them or what ties they may have to the current administration, if any.
Comparing the (redacted) table of contents to the actual contents, it appears that the missing pages match with the redacted table of contents.
“IDA is a non-profit corporation, not a government organization. No political appointees. IDA is a well respected FFRDC (like Aerospace, Mitre, Rand, etc…)”
Your point in #4 is utterly irrelevant. Not even sure why you mention it. No one is blaming IDA for this. IDA is not suffereing disrespect.
The government commissions reports from organizations like this all the time and they can be classified. The agency which writes them up has to be authorized to see and/or generate information that is classified.
Are you suggesting that because and outside agency prepared the report that automatically makes it unclassified? If so you have zero idea how these things work.
Further, how would anyone outside the government in 2010 or after even know to file a legal action to release an obscure report written in 1987 unless someone had been digging for information on Israeli nuclear secrets? Does anyone honestly think anyone was digging for information on Italy?
This release seems to be a game of what do we have that didn’t get classified but should have, and its existence could only be known to an insider with access and instructions to dig.
Makes me wonder now if Snowden got any help from the left.
The president has fully embraced his lame duck status.
Dems that hold their offices largely because they are strong supporters of Israel had better get busy distancing themselves from this administration and start chartering the bus with which to throw this guy under. That is if they intend to keep their jobs. Charles Schumer are you listening?
Comrade Davidovic Spainkov, carelessness with English grammar blows cover!
Fortune with me! For comrade Simbergsky has fixed for me!
You should be so lucky!
😉
Davidovic Haroldovich
“That is if they intend to keep their jobs”
Democrats don’t care. None of them will be losing jobs. :*(
WordPress ought to allow editing of comments until they have been replied to.
I can’t get too excited about the release of something everyone knows anyway.
Frankly, I can’t see any possible way to stop Iran getting the bomb, short of full-scale invasion, anyway. It isn’t Osirak. Iran has its stuff buried deep.
I’ve thought for years, Israel ought to come clean, and make it a policy that if any nuclear device explodes in Israel for any reason, Tehran and other major Iranian cities will be vaporized.
The government in Iran is on the record stating that their obtaining nuclear weapons changes the whole equation with Israel, because Israel can be easily wiped out, but Israel cannot kill 2 billion Muslims. I envision them demanding to Israel, “What are you going to do, kill all of us?”, and Israel responding, a la Wil Wheaton in Stand By Me, “No, Ace. Just you.”
1. George Turner: “If nothing in it is classified, why was everything secret about every country other than Israel redacted?”
The DD Form 1473 (page 3 of the PDF) dated April 1987 states entire document was unclassified at birth.
I don’t know why some parts redacted in 2007. Good question, my limited research hasn’t turned up any likely answers.
2. Gregg: “This is not what is being reported so far. Where did you get this information?”
I didn’t accept the ‘reporting’ at face value. I goggled the document title, found it on-line and read it my self.
3. Johnny B: Comments about IRmep. Agree, I didn’t dig into IRmep when I found the document. But don’t conflate IRmep and IDA, very different organizations. IDA is a FFRDC. IRmep appears to push questionable policy views and be very anti-Isreal.
4. Gregg: comments on classification. See #1 above
5. Rand: “…timing seems suspicious”
According to this article: http://www.courthousenews.com/2015/02/12/dod-report-details-israels-quest-for-hydrogen-bomb.htm “Grant Smith, director of the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy filed a FOIA request last year and followed with a lawsuit in September seeking to compel release of the report.”
And this article http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/12/31/dod-fights-request-for-report-on-israels-nuclear-needs.htm states that, “Smith … filed a request for the report under the Freedom of Information Act three years ago. When the government failed to produce the document, he followed up with a pro se complaint in September.”
Appears that decision to release the document was made by a judge after a 3-year legal battle.