This past Thursday, information was released by an official in the US Central Command; this information included the details that 25,000 Iraqi and Kurdush soldiers, working with the US, were going to take back the Iraqi city of Mosul sometime this spring. Stating the reason for giving out so much detail, the official said that they wanted to show that all soldiers and participants were fully committed to the plan. This information has caused many officials, including John McCain and Lindsey Graham who have contacted the White House, to express their displeasure at the amount of information given out. They believe that releasing information about a future attack could significantly decrease the possibility of it's success as well as put the lives of all soldiers in danger.
While specific dates have not been given out and there is still time to prepare for whatever assault is planned, this is a surprising turn of events in the world of military information being made public. The precedent of keeping out of the public eye until after a "mission" has been around for obvious reasons. What I wonder is, even with the reasons the Central Command official has given, if there are tactical reasons for this disclosure. It seems odd that at a time when it seems crucial to make sure everything goes to plan, we would choose to let others know key details that could be used to their advantage.
--Normally kept private so to maintain secrecy and not jeopardize American lives, this information was willingly given out and is now public knowledge. Should this information have been kept out of the public atmosphere for those reasons or would that have not made a difference?
--Could this instance, despite the reason this information was given out, prompt people to want more notice to what actions the military is taking?
1 comment:
I definitely believe that this information should have been kept private and think that it was a foolish move to release it. There is a lot of debate about government transparency, especially when it comes to the military and secret missions that the general public don't necessarily agree with. While I see this point, I think that it is naive to think that it's your right to know everything happening in terms of military endeavors because the only way for them to be successful is if they are secret. I hope that the government had a secret reason for putting this information out there because if not they have just put thousands of lives at risk.
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