Yes Trump is the punk rocker of politics, and will burn down the post WWII order. It may take more than his term, and a leader with less of a bull in the china shop approach to chart a new order out of the change.
Carney: "The old relationship we had with the United States based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation is over."
Yeah...this ain't gonna end up going well for the US.
This article gets some facts wrong. The app Signal was authorized and preloaded on government phones and recommended for secure non- controlled information since it is encrypted rather well. Exactly how much of the information included in the chat could be useful to Iran or the Houthis in protecting or countering an attack, is not clear to me, but knowledgeable people have claimed that the area of possible interaction was too large to be any more use to the enemy than the previously publicly expressed threats AND the same level of info had already been shared with allies, not all of whom are immune from leaking.
The second theme of your article, that the conversation showed unwarrented annoyance to Europe, is also not exactly correct.The view that Europe is uncapable of defending itself against Russia, and has been sponging on US defenses ever since WWII, is not intrinsically evil. Indeed, a Europe that can aquit itself better in military terms is a safer Europe and a better partner. Precisely how much Western help to Ukraine is dependent on the US, is the best argument Europe should need to make it get its act together. And contrary to one Trump theme, military cooperation against a common enemy is more likely to unite Europe into one power concentration than the agreements based solely on economics. France is all too eager to lead the pack as the Germans are still looked at cross-eyed when it comes to military power. Current policy that insists that Europe grow up, be able to protect itself, and increase protection for any Western leaning country, improves the penetration of Western culture into the Third World. I do not see anything a liberal humanitarian can not like. Rather than bringing Russia into Europe, as the Trumpian verbal goal seems to be, it sets the two against each other, and frees the US to counter China. And lastly, carrots and nice talk by every President since Bush 1, at the very least, have not worked. Tough love is the last resort.
The CIA presented the new director with his government phone with Signal already installed. Ratcliffe testified that in front of Congress under oath. Other current and former government officials agreed that Signal is widely used and has been for several past administration.
"One of the first things that happened when I was confirmed as CIA director was Signal was loaded onto my computer at the CIA as it is for most CIA officers. One of the things that I was briefed on very early senator, was by the CIA records management folks about the use of Signal as a permissible work use."
Ignoring the statement about computer instead of phone: the testimony indicates that there are specific restrictions for the use of the app as it pertains to the CIA.
I think you'll find that while Signal may be approved for use in certain agencies and in certain scenarios that it is not approved across the board; that auto-deletion is likely forbidden; and that it may not be used for classified information.
In the recorded conversation, people did mention that any further detail had to be discussed "higher up" ( or words close) ie in a more secure venue. Did they all misunderstand the requirements of security or are the outsiders making a big deal about this, misunderstanding what is and what needs to be classified.
"Item: (U) Information providing indcation or advance warning that the US or its allies are preparing an attack.
Level: TS [note: this means Top Secret]
Derivative: ODNI MIL T-14
Dissem. Control: NOFORN [note: this means no foreign dissemination allowed]
Reason: 1.4(a)(d)
Declass. On: Current Date + 25 Years
Remarks: (U) May be REL TO USA, FVEY depending on content. Contact ODNI Partner Engagement (ODNI/PE) for foreign disclosure guidance."
They had explicit statements on times and equipment that was to be used (e.g. F/A-18s). That fits the criteria for the above classification guideline per ODNI.
Regardless: the use of Signal is subject to agency/department approval, and any use has to obey federal recordkeeping laws. They have been using Signal since the transition so they can avoid FOIA requests and any papertrail.
At some point, you're either going to have to stop defending them or just admit you don't care.
It most definitely was not preloaded on government phones because the app marketplaces for government phones don't have Signal available. In fact, Witkoff stated:
“I only had with me a secure phone provided by the government for special circumstances when you travel to regions where you do not want your devices compromised. I had no access to my personal devices until I returned from my trip."
This is evidence that Signal is installed on his personal device, not a government-provided secure device.
Also seen in the screenshots is that messages were set to delete: that is a blatant violation of federal record keeping laws.
Signal is not approved by the DoD because of those record keeping issues
Some agencies use it for some non-official communications (as in "Hey, you have a message in the confidential system waiting for you") , but nothing like what this group was talking about about.
How well the information could have been used by an adversary is irrelevant. The information was TS-level per DoD classification for attack data (e.g. specific times), as was the fact that we had humint resources on the ground.
It is true that Europe needs to re-arm itself, and invest more in defense. That the point of the Pax Americana was to prevent this re-armament and prevent further war in Europe needs to be kept in mind, though.
Re Ukraine: Europe has provided more aid than the US, at least from a total monetary level (and that likely is more true when looking sth how we have accounted for military equipment that was waiting to be scrapped and sent to Ukraine instead).
Giving up Europe ($24t GDP, 540mil people, $600b of US importa) for Russia ($2t GDP, 160mil people, $600m in imports) is just dumb.
Thinking that that will more readily allow the US to counter China is a bit harebrained as we are showing ourselves to be unreliable allies, and that is going to drive APAC towards China - not away from it.
It also flies a bit in the face of reality as tariffs are being placed on our allies more so than China, when you'd expect the opposite. The whole point of TPP was to bring the area more into our sphere of influence: Trump killed that in his first term because it was negotiated by Obama, not because it helped counter China.
Sad that European members of NATO have gradually declined their support to the alliance over the years, decades. Support being funds invested in effective forces, capabilities and capacity along with willingness to intervene in the defense and support of allies.
Some have maintained their support, but they are the exception, e.g. Poland.
Keeping NATO intact and meaningful is the better play, I think, long term. But it looks like the asymmetrical effort might not be sustainable.
Yes Trump is the punk rocker of politics, and will burn down the post WWII order. It may take more than his term, and a leader with less of a bull in the china shop approach to chart a new order out of the change.
If it is even the US making said new order...
Carney: "The old relationship we had with the United States based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperation is over."
Yeah...this ain't gonna end up going well for the US.
And so it goes:
https://www.reuters.com/world/china-japan-south-korea-will-jointly-respond-us-tariffs-chinese-state-media-says-2025-03-31/
This article gets some facts wrong. The app Signal was authorized and preloaded on government phones and recommended for secure non- controlled information since it is encrypted rather well. Exactly how much of the information included in the chat could be useful to Iran or the Houthis in protecting or countering an attack, is not clear to me, but knowledgeable people have claimed that the area of possible interaction was too large to be any more use to the enemy than the previously publicly expressed threats AND the same level of info had already been shared with allies, not all of whom are immune from leaking.
The second theme of your article, that the conversation showed unwarrented annoyance to Europe, is also not exactly correct.The view that Europe is uncapable of defending itself against Russia, and has been sponging on US defenses ever since WWII, is not intrinsically evil. Indeed, a Europe that can aquit itself better in military terms is a safer Europe and a better partner. Precisely how much Western help to Ukraine is dependent on the US, is the best argument Europe should need to make it get its act together. And contrary to one Trump theme, military cooperation against a common enemy is more likely to unite Europe into one power concentration than the agreements based solely on economics. France is all too eager to lead the pack as the Germans are still looked at cross-eyed when it comes to military power. Current policy that insists that Europe grow up, be able to protect itself, and increase protection for any Western leaning country, improves the penetration of Western culture into the Third World. I do not see anything a liberal humanitarian can not like. Rather than bringing Russia into Europe, as the Trumpian verbal goal seems to be, it sets the two against each other, and frees the US to counter China. And lastly, carrots and nice talk by every President since Bush 1, at the very least, have not worked. Tough love is the last resort.
As far as I know, you’re wrong about Signal on government phones. Read my previous post. https://www.theracketnews.com/p/calling-bs-on-signal-excuses
The CIA presented the new director with his government phone with Signal already installed. Ratcliffe testified that in front of Congress under oath. Other current and former government officials agreed that Signal is widely used and has been for several past administration.
"One of the first things that happened when I was confirmed as CIA director was Signal was loaded onto my computer at the CIA as it is for most CIA officers. One of the things that I was briefed on very early senator, was by the CIA records management folks about the use of Signal as a permissible work use."
Ignoring the statement about computer instead of phone: the testimony indicates that there are specific restrictions for the use of the app as it pertains to the CIA.
I think you'll find that while Signal may be approved for use in certain agencies and in certain scenarios that it is not approved across the board; that auto-deletion is likely forbidden; and that it may not be used for classified information.
In the recorded conversation, people did mention that any further detail had to be discussed "higher up" ( or words close) ie in a more secure venue. Did they all misunderstand the requirements of security or are the outsiders making a big deal about this, misunderstanding what is and what needs to be classified.
You might be in a cult.
Seek help.
From a FOIA request of ODNI's guidelines for classification (image available at https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Gm-mio7W4AA6aED?format=jpg&name=medium), my notes in brackets:
"Item: (U) Information providing indcation or advance warning that the US or its allies are preparing an attack.
Level: TS [note: this means Top Secret]
Derivative: ODNI MIL T-14
Dissem. Control: NOFORN [note: this means no foreign dissemination allowed]
Reason: 1.4(a)(d)
Declass. On: Current Date + 25 Years
Remarks: (U) May be REL TO USA, FVEY depending on content. Contact ODNI Partner Engagement (ODNI/PE) for foreign disclosure guidance."
They had explicit statements on times and equipment that was to be used (e.g. F/A-18s). That fits the criteria for the above classification guideline per ODNI.
Regardless: the use of Signal is subject to agency/department approval, and any use has to obey federal recordkeeping laws. They have been using Signal since the transition so they can avoid FOIA requests and any papertrail.
At some point, you're either going to have to stop defending them or just admit you don't care.
It most definitely was not preloaded on government phones because the app marketplaces for government phones don't have Signal available. In fact, Witkoff stated:
“I only had with me a secure phone provided by the government for special circumstances when you travel to regions where you do not want your devices compromised. I had no access to my personal devices until I returned from my trip."
This is evidence that Signal is installed on his personal device, not a government-provided secure device.
Also seen in the screenshots is that messages were set to delete: that is a blatant violation of federal record keeping laws.
Signal is not approved by the DoD because of those record keeping issues
Some agencies use it for some non-official communications (as in "Hey, you have a message in the confidential system waiting for you") , but nothing like what this group was talking about about.
How well the information could have been used by an adversary is irrelevant. The information was TS-level per DoD classification for attack data (e.g. specific times), as was the fact that we had humint resources on the ground.
It is true that Europe needs to re-arm itself, and invest more in defense. That the point of the Pax Americana was to prevent this re-armament and prevent further war in Europe needs to be kept in mind, though.
Re Ukraine: Europe has provided more aid than the US, at least from a total monetary level (and that likely is more true when looking sth how we have accounted for military equipment that was waiting to be scrapped and sent to Ukraine instead).
Giving up Europe ($24t GDP, 540mil people, $600b of US importa) for Russia ($2t GDP, 160mil people, $600m in imports) is just dumb.
Thinking that that will more readily allow the US to counter China is a bit harebrained as we are showing ourselves to be unreliable allies, and that is going to drive APAC towards China - not away from it.
It also flies a bit in the face of reality as tariffs are being placed on our allies more so than China, when you'd expect the opposite. The whole point of TPP was to bring the area more into our sphere of influence: Trump killed that in his first term because it was negotiated by Obama, not because it helped counter China.
Ssshhhhh...
There are Trumpian cult talking points to push!
Good read, Steve.
Sad that European members of NATO have gradually declined their support to the alliance over the years, decades. Support being funds invested in effective forces, capabilities and capacity along with willingness to intervene in the defense and support of allies.
Some have maintained their support, but they are the exception, e.g. Poland.
Keeping NATO intact and meaningful is the better play, I think, long term. But it looks like the asymmetrical effort might not be sustainable.