Stopping the Next Round of WikiLeaks

The latest WikiLeaks document release will cause serious damage to America's foreign policy. Are there steps we can take to prevent future leaks?

The recent release of information by WikiLeaks will hurt America’s national security.  FrumForum interviewed an array of former intelligence officials. All agreed with the Obama Administration’s refusal to cooperate with WikiLeaks regarding what documents should be released. They also agreed that America’s relationship with allies and enemies will be affected by the document release.

After this latest round of leaks, America’s allies may be convinced that secrets cannot be kept and will be less likely to share information.  There were a number of cables released in which foreign governments requested that information be protected.  Some of the information released stated that Saudi Arabia wanted Iran attacked, that Yemen was covering up American military attacks as their own, and that Pakistan did not want America’s technical expertise in handling their highly enriched uranium.

Michael Hayden, the former CIA Director, commented to FrumForum that “since this was made public (about Pakistan), do you think it will be easier or harder to keep HEU (highly enriched uranium) from falling into the wrong hands?  It would obviously make it harder.”

A former high ranking CIA official also noted that this will hurt America and Pakistan’s relationship in fighting the war on terror and that “in some ways they are our best ally in fighting terrorism.  Many of the 9/11 terrorist leadership was captured with their assistance but now they might not be as willing to cooperate.”

There was also the cable that discussed the unification of the Korean peninsula.  All those interviewed pointed out that the cable was phrased correctly, without any statements threatening China.  However, simply having it made public puts the emphasis on America’s desire to unify Korea.  This will upset the Chinese and make the North Koreans more paranoid, if that is even possible.

Adversaries, allies, and enemies will be able to connect the dots and as a former CIA operative stated will “be able to hone their skills, operations, and plans.  The leaks will alert other governments to our plans, intentions, and informants.  Any operational information that goes to the enemy has the potential to cost American lives.  These leaks would further exacerbate tensions and possibly lead to a tipping point, which could very well bring about a potential threat to our national security.”

Hayden felt that there will be hidden consequences as a result of these leaks.  He emphasized that “we will never know how our national security has been affected.  They are afraid we won’t keep secrets.  How are you going to know what people don’t tell us? How is that going to be measured?  Their attitude will be ‘don’t tell the Americans anything we want kept secret.’”

It is interesting that the CIA did not have a fallout from these leaks.  Bradley Manning, a low level military intelligence person, was able to gain access to critical state and defense department information through SIPRNet (Secret Internet Protocol Router Network.) This network allows too many people to have access to important information. According to Hayden “the CIA did not routinely participate in SIPRNet because we did not want to put our data in an environment that is just so available.  We were criticized for that but there have been no CIA materials leaked. “

What should be done to protect against future leaks?  All interviewed want those responsible, including the leaker and those at WikiLeaks to be punished to the fullest extent of the law.  Hayden also suggested that there should be a better monitoring system for SIPRNet: observing when a user goes to unusual sites and what data is downloaded.  He pointed out that SIPRNet did not have even the minimal security controls used by credit card companies who are able to inform customers if there is any unusual activity with their card.

This is a bipartisan issue in which the government must do everything in its power to prevent further leaks.