A large number of classified documents presumed to have been written by the US Department of Defense were leaked.
The leaked document totals 100 pages, and is believed to have been compiled by the Joint Chiefs of Staff from reports from government intelligence agencies such as the US National Security Agency (NSA), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and US State Department Intelligence and Investigation Agency.
The leak route of the document, the contents of the document, and the reactions of the countries mentioned in the document are analyzed in a question-and-answer format based on foreign media such as Reuters, Bloomberg, the New York Times (NYT), and CNN.
-Where did the document appear?
The documents were posted on various social media platforms and other sites, including Twitter, the far-right online message board 4chan, and Discord.
However, many of them are no longer seen where they first appeared, and US authorities are reportedly continuing work to remove them.
British investigative news outlet Bellingcat reported a Discord user’s claim to have witnessed similar documents since January of this year. Discord is a popular chat platform for video gamers.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) also reported that a member who participated in a Discord chat room began posting files containing details of the war in Ukraine in January.
– How the document was leaked
▶ The specific outflow route is not yet known. The New York Times said it would be difficult to determine who was behind the leak, as hundreds to thousands of government officials had the necessary security clearances to access the documents.
However, given that it is presumed to be a photo of a briefing report by the US Department of Defense and that it has a ‘NOFORN’ sign written on it, it seems that it was leaked by an American rather than an external Russian act.
Many of the documents are marked as written by the Joint Chiefs of Staff intelligence unit known as J2, giving weight to the fact that they are briefing documents. J2 is the Intelligence Community Manager for Military Operations Support, serving as the Joint Warfare Capability Assessment Officer for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance under the Joint Requirement Oversight Committee.
CNN said the crumpled documents lay on top of magazines and were surrounded by household items, suggesting they were hastily tucked into a pocket and then taken from a safe location.
However, the possibility that it was the Russian side cannot be completely ruled out.
Authorities are tracking the leak with a range of hypotheses in mind, ranging from the possibility that someone shared it simply to show off what they were doing, to the possibility that there may be spies within the US intelligence community or the military, Reuters reported. .
The White House is working to delete documents that have been circulated online, but it is expected that it will be difficult to completely delete the documents. Tesla CEO Elon Musk mocked, saying, “You can completely delete anything on the Internet,” referring to an article that the Department of Defense is working to delete classified documents posted on Twitter.
-What is contained in the document
▶The document contains a wide range of content, from the US evaluation and analysis of the war in Ukraine to wiretapping and wiretapping of allies Israel and South Korea.
It also provided details of the size of some Ukrainian armed forces and an assessment that, if the rate of use of Ukraine’s air defenses remained the same, it would be depleted by May 23.
Circumstances were also detected that special operations agents from France, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Latvia, which are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), are operating in Ukraine.
It was also revealed that the Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, had instigated anti-government protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bill to neutralize the judiciary.
The leaked documents also included content about South Korea. In one part of the document, it is known that “Korean officials were concerned that US President Joe Biden would call and pressure President Yoon Seok-yeol to deliver the goods (weapons).”
From Asia and the Middle East to Africa and South America, all over the world were mentioned.
Specifically, the latest updates on Iran’s nuclear activities, information on how the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is working with Russia to help build maintenance centers for some weapons, China’s future position in the war in Ukraine, and North Korea’s Details of the nuclear missile test and information about Brazilian officials who will visit Russia this month to discuss plans to mediate the war in Ukraine.
– Are the contents of the document real?
▶According to foreign media reports, US officials evaluate most of the contents of the document as genuine. However, it is widely believed that the number of Russian soldiers killed on the battlefields in Ukraine listed on some pages is an underestimate.
Foreign media added that it was unclear whether this was an intelligence operation by Russia to disseminate misinformation or a US plan to mislead Russia.
– The US response
▶ The US Department of Justice launched an investigation to identify the leak route, and the Department of Defense is also reviewing this issue.
“The Department of Defense is reviewing and evaluating the validity of photos of documents that appear to be sensitive and highly classified circulating on social media sites,” Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said in a statement. An inter-agency effort focused on assessing impacts has begun.”
“There is a Department of Defense team, which includes the Department of Defense’s Legislative Affairs, Official Affairs, Policy, General Counsel, Intelligence and Security, and Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to determine the scale and scope of the breach,” said Deputy Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Chris Meager.
White House National Security Council (NSC) Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby also said, “I know that some of the documents have been fabricated. “I will not say whether all the documents, including those that appear to have been unfalsified, are valid,” he said.
-The reaction of the countries mentioned in the document
▶ The countries mentioned in the document are denying the content.
Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement denying the allegations in the leaked documents, saying that “Mossad and its executives had no involvement in the protests, and that Mossad has been committed to serving the state since its founding.”
France also denied that its soldiers were on the battlefield in Ukraine. “There are no French troops operating in Ukraine,” said French Defense Minister spokesman Sebastien Lecornu.
The South Korean presidential office also said, “The government has a basic position on Ukraine. There is no change in that position.”
However, the situation in which information was collected based on eavesdropping and wiretapping of allies was also caught, and the diplomatic repercussions are expected to spread.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.