Is the White House Using Leaked Intelligence for Political Gain

It is extremely rare to see a battle between the White House and Congress about secrecy and classified materials. But, that is just what is going on now in Washington.
David Sanger, Chief Washington Correspondent for the New York Times, has published a book, “Confront and Conceal”, that has Congress almost red with rage, and it is not just Republicans who are angry, but Democrats as well.
What Sanger attempts to document in his book is that President Obama has a “doctrine” of sorts which consists of using Information Technology (cyber warfare, as it is often referred to in the news these days) and drone attacks as the flagship of his Middle East foreign policy.
Both the cyber warfare and drone attack policies were, according to Sanger, activated during the Bush administration and passed on to Obama by Bush several days before Obama took office.
Sanger has spent 18 months working on the detail provided in his book, and while he was careful to protect his sources on CNN this week, it seems clear that he has received information from White House “Situation Room” level sources.
This is what the congressional fire storm is all about. As background, it must be said that Congress has always been very active in managing its relationship with US intelligence groups. The Senate and House Intelligence Committees are very active and often meet with CIA and military intelligence officials. Normally, the White House and Congress are in lock step on Intelligence to protect it and keep leaks from occurring, as well as to protect those on the ground from being discovered and put in danger.
But, Senator John McCain, Ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee has accused the White House of revealing secret information to Sanger as a political tool meant to enhance President Obama’s image as being aggressive in foreign affairs and especially in the Middle East.
Appearing after Mr. Sanger on CNN, he blasted the release of the “most secret, highly classified information that would compromise our ability to pursue the goals that our national security requirements dictate.”
As an example, he pointed to “the doctor that helped us in the Bin Laden case. He’s now been sentenced to thirty-three years in prison, probably a death sentence, because he helped Americans. That information was leaked by this administration.”
The purpose of those leaks, said Senator McCain, was clearly political and wants a special counsel to investigate: “The fact is the portrayal of the President in these stories is obviously nothing short of heroic. I don’t think there’s any doubt, according to Mr. Sanger, that dozens of administration officials were involved in this…If they hadn’t talked to him, then he wouldn’t have been able to corroborate it. They obviously talked to him, he states that, that’s wrong.”
Senator McCain was objecting to the politics, not necessarily the policy: “I agree with the cyber warfare,” he said, “but why should we reveal it to the enemy?”
These accusations are almost unheard of in the United States. Intelligence is neutral. Covert operations personnel brief Congress in closed door sessions. The White House does not comment on intelligence when it involves ongoing activities.
In this case, there is one example in Sanger’s book that particularly infuriated the Senate Armed Services Committee.
He includes in his book information about what is called “Olympic Games” technology. This is apparently the code name for cyber attacks on Iran’s uranium enrichment activities. Sanger also confirms in his book that Israel is actively working with the US on the project to interrupt Iran’s enrichment program, i.e., its nuclear bomb capability.
However, in speaking to CNN of the major disclosures in his book Sanger insisted “it wasn’t anything that anybody said to anyone. It was the error in 2010 in the summer that allowed the worm that later became known as Stuxnet to escape from the Natanz plant and propagate out across the internet. The United States and the Israelis had not planned on that happening. That was a programming mistake. It made the worm evident to the whole wide world.”
The other revelation concerns intelligence-directed drone attacks inside Pakistan and elsewhere in the Middle East. US-Pakistan relations are already stretched to the breaking point, and publicly dragging activities that Pakistan considers a violation of its territory are not helpful. While Americans are as unhappy with Pakistan as Pakistanis are with America, the two countries need to work together in order to make the new US “light footprint” policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan successful.
Is President Obama looking the other way while his aides use intelligence leaks to improve his chances at being re-elected?
Senator McCain wants that question answered.
And if the answer is “yes,” we will be in uncharted political territory in the United States.