Resonant Internet leak of secret Pentagon documents caused a lively discussion: was this a real failure of the American intelligence services or is there a well-orchestrated stuffing as part of the information war?
Trying to figure it out, necessary, first of all, Mark, that in order, what is now called "information war", the definition of "propaganda war" is more suitable, whose history spans more than one century, maybe a millennium. It's an intelligence battle, in which each pursues two key tasks:
1. Get the most complete and reliable information about the enemy and his plans;
2. Prevent leakage of relevant proprietary information, but it’s better to “feed” him “misinformation”, and do it like this, for him to believe her, considered reliable.
Concerning protection, then the key technique here is simple: limit access to really “sensitive” information as much as possible. The performer of the highest rank should know only that, What does he need to know to complete the task?, and more, even he can be misled about real plans.
So, preparing an attack on the USSR, Nazi Germany as a cover operation simulated the preparation of the landing in England, but the leadership of the Nazi fleet did not know this for a long time, - it was preparing Operation Sea Lion in earnest, reported to the Fuhrer and constantly asked her to postpone (better forever) due to high risks, enduring Hitler's traditional tantrums.
One more example (can, not entirely historically accurate), which is given in the memoirs of the legendary Soviet intelligence officer Pavel Sudoplatov. In the autumn 1942 g. through the created disinformation channel (The Germans "recruited" an officer of the General Staff of the Red Army) desa was dropped, that the main blow of the winter campaign by the Soviet troops will be inflicted on the Rzhev salient (in reality - near Stalingrad).
At the same time, the Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief, who led the Rzhev operation (!) Zhukov was not informed about this.
Characteristic is the story with a note from the General Staff I.V.. Stalin in May 1941 of the year. She got on the leader's table, handwritten by Deputy Chief of the Operations Department of the General Staff Vasilevsky with notes by Chief of the General Staff Zhukov.
That is, its contents were so confidential, which was not entrusted even to the checked-rechecked typists of the General Staff and clerks, most likely, personally transferred by the leadership of the Red Army into the hands of Stalin.
And it is not only, that they were afraid of the work of these technical staff for enemy intelligence. The leak could have happened unintentionally, let us say, to the driver, understanding from her text, that war is inevitable, would rush to buy groceries and other necessities, her relatives would have noticed, and "let's go".
The last "line of defense" is the use of various euphemisms and even distortions (which the real addressee will understand) in the most secure documents.
here, for example, excerpts from Stalin's correspondence with front commanders: "Go to the border of the river you know", “Where is Rotmistrov’s corps?» (General Rotmistrov commanded the army for a couple of years).
When is it necessary to misinform the enemy, the most sophisticated methods are used, in order to make the enemy believe in it, for him to believe it to be true. So, the message about the main Soviet strike near Rzhev was not the only information, handed over by a "recruited" officer.
By this time, he had been supplying the Abwehr with quite reliable information for quite some time., often valuable for the Germans and all for that, so that at the right time they believe the misinformation of strategic importance. Often "fake" (using modern terminology) documents are launched through the usual channels precisely in the expectation that, that enemy intelligence will not miss them.
To give credibility "stuffing" (more precisely, - "tosses") even plans for military operations are 90–95% consistent with real, correcting on the other, information obtained by enemy intelligence, and only the remaining 5-10% contain "details", in which, as is known, the devil is hiding.
The line is sometimes so thin, that historians have been arguing for decades, was it a misinformation or a real leak. In particular, it concerns the episode with the fall in 1942 on Soviet territory aircraft with an officer, carrying the plan of the German offensive in the South.
And one of the most famous episodes is the operation to misinform the Soviet leadership on the eve of the war.. 12 June 1941 g. the main newspaper of Nazi Germany, the Völkischer Beobachter, published an article by Goebbels "Crete as an example" with a hint, that the landing on the British Isles would be made in the same way, like the recent capture of the Greek island of Crete, - airborne assault.
The number is still being printed., when the Gestapo raided the printing house and confiscated the entire print run, and Goebbels up to 22 June disappeared from the "information space", what was perceived as disgrace, but foreign embassies managed to get a newspaper with an article.
Generally, the main thing in intelligence is not "Stirlitz" and "James Bonds", and the highest level of analytics, with a grandmaster level of thinking, which should in gigabytes of information (on all media), obtained from hundreds and thousands of sources, "separate the wheat from the chaff", calculate further opponents multi-level combinations.
Based on the above, almost impossible to imagine, that a 21-year-old soldier of one of the intelligence units of the Air Force (and, according to the media, it's about the pilot, and not about analytics) had access to a huge array of secret information, including so sensitive, that her leak allegedly forced a change in plans for a major offensive.
All the more, that Jack Teixeira did not serve in the US ARMY, and in the National Guard, which, like in other countries, designed primarily for internal tasks, and a proxy war on another continent is completely out of her jurisdiction, and "superfluous" is not supposed to know even its top management.
However, and the degree of confidentiality of information is different, some goes under the "harmless" stamp: "for administrative use". After all, not everything, for one reason or another, is expedient to voice publicly., but those involved must be "in the know", including for a general understanding of the situation. To such information Tresheira, of course, had access.
What do two know, the pig knows, and such information gets to the "vis-a-vis" with almost one hundred percent probability, what, certainly, taken into account when compiling. And, of course, through it you can throw and misinformation.
In this context, information about specific military units, their state and plans for the future clearly goes beyond that, needed to "understand".
Therefore, the key issue in the current incident is not, that there was a "leak", and in that, that she took on the character of a loud scandal, and the entire array of data was in public access.
Consequently, stuffing goals are not limited to misinforming the enemy leadership, that is, the leadership of Russia, the circle of "addressees" is much wider, including public opinion in various countries, as well as the leadership of a number of countries.
Generally, this is a classic information-psychological operation in a "modern style". Fake "leaks" can be an important component of it., this has long been a common technique of information wars - the publication of fake news, indicating authoritative publications as the primary source, where there was nothing like it.
Secret information of the Pentagon - what could be "more authoritative"? Although there is no such thing in the supposedly lost materials themselves (few people will consult the primary source of thousands of documents).
In this way, you can throw into foreign space then, under which official Washington cannot “sign” (because he admitted the leak, and therefore the authenticity of documents). let us say, "information" about serious disagreements in the leadership of Russia and almost a revolt against Vladimir Putin.
But the fact, what is in the original, and the authenticity of which is actually confirmed, this is a serious signal to "interested parties" about the position of the United States, the, that it is not customary to speak out loud even in closed negotiations.
Generally, the operation is multi-level and pursuing very broad goals, including major and minor, to the "main topic" - the conflict in Ukraine and the situation around it, which have a maximum indirect relationship.
But most importantly, of course, — the “Ukrainian problem” and a question of concern to many: is the military part of the “leaks” part of a global combination to “lull vigilance” and mislead the Russian leadership?
I think, this is unlikely, it would be just as naive on the part of the Americans, as an attempt by one grandmaster to checkmate another. “Hide the preparation of a major operation is just as impossible, like an awl in a bag", noted Comrade Stalin during the Tehran Conference, and since then, the possibilities of obtaining information have grown immeasurably, significantly outpacing the growth of means of its protection.
therefore, sure, publications in open media, even all sorts of "insiders" and scandalous leaks, - last thing, What is military intelligence focused on?, finding out the real plans of the enemy.
As for the assessments of the situation on the Ukrainian front contained in the documents that have appeared, the, at the risk of appearing immodest, recall, that they are close to, which Alternativa made back in January. Even earlier, we predicted the exhaustion of the Ukrainian air defense resource and that Western supplies were not able to compensate for this..
And then we noted, that the main goal of the media inflating the topic of the upcoming Ukrainian offensive was to maintain a noticeably falling spirit in the Ukrainian troops and rear, citing as a historical analogy the words of Adolf Hitler, said 24 February 1945 of the year: «I look to the future with confidence. "Weapon of Retribution", which I have, will change the situation in favor of the Third Reich».
Well, now the Western countries (US first), are already beginning to prepare their own public opinion for, that the much-touted "revenge offensive" will never take place or will lead to results, far from expected.
The essence of the current US line in ornate diplomatic terms was outlined by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. According to him, Ukraine's counteroffensive will begin in the coming weeks, and Washington will support him. «Ukraine is a democracy. President Volodymyr Zelensky is responsible for leading the country, but he must listen to the will of the Ukrainians», - he said. At the same time, the decision to, whether to return Crimea, should accept Ukraine.
Translated into public, - supporting Ukraine, The United States is doing its "democratic duty" (where to get away from him), but decisions are made by Zelensky, focusing, as it should be in democracies, to the will of the citizens. They are (it's already a default figure) long for the continuation of the war and the offensive. But the responsibility for its results will fall on Zelensky.
Generally, Americans wash their hands.
In the same context, the widely spread interpretation, that the “selection” of various documents that has become public is a hint to Zelensky, so that he does not go to further escalation (So, concluded, that China will start supplying weapons, if Kyiv starts shelling the historical territory of the Russian Federation or commits a terrorist attack against someone from the leadership of Russia), and began to look for ways to peace. Even the possibility of its physical elimination is subtly hinted at..
Let's not guess, did the ex-clown really acquire such “subjectivity”, that Washington has to try to influence him with such methods, or he is forced to play according to the score written for him.
But that, that in the event of an unfavorable development of events for the West, they will make it “extreme” - did not listen, breakwater, good advice, already obvious.
Alexander Fidel,
