21-year-old Jack Teixeira of the Massachusetts Air National Guard was arrested by the FBI in April in connection to leaking classified documents from the Pentagon. The information detailed in these leaks may prove embarrassing and problematic for the United States as documents appear to show the US spying on many of their allies. It also paints a picture of just how much information the US has on Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine. This type of slip-up must be prevented, but both increasing and decreasing the number of people who have access to classified documents comes with risks. Teixeira’s case is also an example of the increasing challenge to secrecy in the modern age when information can be easily circulated on online platforms.
The implications of these leaks are far reaching. Key takeaways from these leaked papers include the revelation that Ukraine’s much anticipated spring offence may be curtailed as Ukraine is currently running out of ammunition as well as the air defence missiles it needs to protect its critical infrastructure.
The leaks also present a challenge for Russia, as it outlines a higher number of casualties then it has so far reported, while US intel suggests that Egypt was prepared to produce 40,000 rockets for Russia.
While much of the information is in relation to the conflict in Ukraine, there are many details that involve intelligence taken from its own allies. Reports from the BBC suggest that the US knows the exact numbers of special forces that its allies have in Ukraine, with the UK having 50 members of its special forces carrying out secret operations in Ukraine. More embarrassing revelations include the report that senior officers in Israel’s Mossad intelligence service were advocating for staff to protest its own government’s controversial Judicial reform plan. This information specifically appears to come from signal intelligence which suggests the US gained the information from spying on Israel and others. Putting lives in danger as well as possibly revealing US sources of information, leaks such as these must be put to a stop.
The way this leak was spread is worrying, pointing to an increase in sensitive information being shared online. In the past, serious leaks have tended to be given to organisations with the express purpose to publish them. The Pentagon Papers for instance were published by the Washington Post. Chelsea Manning used WikiLeaks to expose hundreds of thousands of documents in relation to the war on terror, while Edward Snowden published his NSA leaks through The Guardian and the Washington Post. What is surreal about this leak is that it appears to have spread through various pages online such as Discord and 4Chan.
According to the investigative group Bellingcat, these leaked documents first appeared on pro-Russian telegram streams, with them seemingly appearing from the 4Chan server called “politically incorrect”. However, Bellingcat was able to dig further with the chain of where these documents originated. The online platform Discord is seemingly the first place these documents were posted with classified material finding its way onto three discord servers. Documents were posted on a Discord Minecraft page, which came from a page dedicated for fans of the Youtuber WoaMao. The original server Bellingcat identified was one that was called “Thug Shaker Central”. This server had around 20 or so members and its focus seemed to be around gaming, tanks, and Christianity, but racist memes were routinely posted on the chat.
The leak is also unique in that it appears to have come about from Teixeira posting to his friends rather than for a greater good or cause. When Edward Snowden leaked information about the NSA, he fled to Hong Kong and then was granted asylum in Russia. In this regard, he knew his actions had a severe consequence, but did it anyway because he believed it was worth paying that price. Teixeira had different motivations. One member of the Thug Shaker Central server told CNN Teixeira did it so his friends “could hear the information first and not be shocked on the news, and to know where their tax dollars went”.
More worryingly is the uptick in cases where this type of sensitive information is being linked to show bravado or to one up someone in an argument. This is exactly what has been reported to have happened when it was posted to a Discord server about Minecraft with the caption “here have some classified documents”. According to the Washington Post, sensitive documents about military equipment have been previously posted to win arguments about the game War Thunder, or to get developers to make more accurate tanks in game.
This type of trivial leaking now presents a massive problem for the US and other nations. The US has over 1.25 million people with security clearance. Writing in the Atlantic, Juliette Kayyem who once oversaw the Massachusetts Air National Guard said she had no idea why Teixeira had any access to this information, especially as the role was reservist and he was not contracted by the federal government. The Guardian highlights a paradox that has faced the intelligence community for years. Post 9/11, there was an increase in the amount of people who can access classified information and in the amount of information marked classified. This in turn trivialises the need to make sure that documents are kept safe.
- This may be the biggest consequence of the leak—a paradigm shift both within intelligence agencies and across them both nationally and abroad regarding what intelligence gets shared and who gets to see it. It’s a decision with no easy answers, because if intelligence organisations are too cooperative, they could risk another leak that could put lives in danger. On the other hand, they could become too secretive and risk being left in the dark amidst a potential terror attack. Whatever the outcome, there seems to be no winner or benefactors from these leaks, only losers. In the case of Jack Teixeira, it could be 10 years in prison.
