Fri 14 Apr 2023:
Jack Teixeira, the 21-year-old air national guardsman identified as the key suspect in the leak of confidential intelligence documents, appears thin in his dark blue air force uniform in images. He appears to be young, barely older than the teenage friends pictured in the internet group where the confidential data were released.
Who is Jack Teixeira?
Teixeira is an employee of the US Air Force National Guard stationed at the Otis Air National Guard Base in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. He is also a leading figure in an online gaming chat group called Thug Shaker Central on the social network platform Discord. In a roup mostly made up of teenagers, Teixeira went by the name ‘Jack the dripper’ and was referred to as ‘OG’. According to The Washington Post, Teixeira would often seek to impress the younger members by leaking classified information.
The group made up of 24 people, including some from Russia and Ukraine, shared a “mutual love of guns, military gear and God,” the Post reported.
What do the leaks reveal?
The leaked information appears to be classified US intelligence documents – some top secret – with a number of them related to the ongoing war in Ukraine. Unlike recent leaks – including the information leaked by Snowden or former US army whistleblower Chelsea Manning – the files leaked by Teixeira seem to be hard copies of briefing materials.
The leaked files also carry information on US and its allies including Israel, South Korea and Turkey.
Where did the documents appear?
Since the leak of the documents, the highly classified information turned up across multiple social media platforms including, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. However, Teixeira originally dumped them on Discord in his ‘Thug Shaker Central’ online gaming group. The documents drew more traction once they landed in far-right forums like 4Chan and pro-Russian chat groups on Telegram.
How has the world reacted?
While Ukraine has adamantly dismissed the leak as “Russian disinformation”, Russian state media pins it as a failure of President Joe Biden’s policy on Ukraine.
President Biden addressed the leak during his visit to Ireland on Thursday, saying he was “concerned”. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued a statement applauding the FBI “for their swift arrest in connection with this investigation.”
Meanwhile, US ally South Korea termed the leaked documents as “altered” and “false”.
As things stand, there has not been a major diplomatic fallout between US and its allies with the US State Department not announcing any contingency plans to correct potential misinformation. According to reports, there is little scope for any lasting diplomatic damage. While South Korea has aligned itself firmly on the stance taken by the US, another key US ally Israel has so far refused to comment on the claims about Mossad in the leaked files.
How will it affect Ukraine?
Most attention has been paid to the documents relating to Ukraine. While Ukrainian officials have tried to play down the content, suggesting it might be disinformation and pointing out it does not contain concrete battle plans for its spring offensive, the material broadly reflects what many have suspected: that Ukrainian casualties may be higher than acknowledged, and that Kyiv has been using ammunition for different systems at times at an exhausting rate, raising questions over combat endurance.
One document from late February questioned Ukraine’s “ability to provide medium range air defence to protect the [frontlines] will be completely reduced by May 23. UKR assessed to withstand 2-3 more wave strikes” from attacking Russian missiles and drones.
The most damage is likely to be in the detail – ie rates of fire for US-provided systems, such as artillery systems and the precision-guided high mobility artillery rocket systems (Himars) which – if accurate – would be militarily useful to Russian planners.
The documents also detail US and Nato training and assistance, which would also be useful to Moscow, including air defence status, battalion sizes and combat readiness at a key juncture in the war.
What does it tell us about US spying on allies?
While Washington was highly embarrassed by revelations of how widespread its intelligence gathering against allies was – the Snowden disclosures identified 35 friendly countries targeted, including the then German chancellor, Angela Merkel – the material suggests the practice is still widespread.
One document reveals how the US listened in on a conversation between two senior South Korean national security officials discussing concerns over a US request for ammunition for Ukraine which would violate South Korea’s policy of not supplying lethal aid to countries at war.
According to the document, one official suggested bypassing the neutrality policy by selling the ammunition to Poland to pass on to Ukraine.
More intriguing is material relating to Israel containing the suggestion, gleaned from communications intercepts, that the leadership of the Mossad, the country’s foreign intelligence agency, had “advocated for Mossad officials and Israeli citizens to protest [against] the new Israeli government’s proposed judicial reforms, including several explicit calls to action that decried the Israeli government”. Israel has denied the claims, pointing out that Mossad is required to be politically neutral.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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