There are several curious aspects of this 'leak' of internal communication of high ranking members of the Trump administration:
Top national security officials for President Donald Trump, including his defense secretary, texted war plans for upcoming military strikes in Yemen to a group chat in a secure messaging app that included the editor-in-chief for The Atlantic, the magazine reported in a story posted online Monday. The National Security Council said the text chain “appears to be authentic.”
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The material in the text chain “contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Iran-backed Houthi-rebels in Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing,” editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg reported.
The Atlantic is the worst magazine in America. Its editor in chief, ..
.. Jeffrey Goldberg, dropped out of an Ivy League University to volunteer to be an IDF prison guard during the first Palestinian Intifada. In his memoirs, Goldberg revealed that he helped cover up serious prisoner abuse.
Goldberg is a neo-conservative who has yet to see a U.S. instigated war he dislikes. To trust his reporting is dangerous.
Here is how he tells the story:
On Tuesday, March 11, I received a connection request on Signal from a user identified as Michael Waltz. Signal is an open-source encrypted messaging service popular with journalists and others who seek more privacy than other text-messaging services are capable of delivering. I assumed that the Michael Waltz in question was President Donald Trump’s national security adviser.
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I accepted the connection request, hoping that this was the actual national security adviser, and that he wanted to chat about Ukraine, or Iran, or some other important matter.Two days later—Thursday—at 4:28 p.m., I received a notice that I was to be included in a Signal chat group. It was called the “Houthi PC small group.”
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At 8:05 a.m. on Friday, March 14, “Michael Waltz” texted the group: “Team, you should have a statement of conclusions with taskings per the Presidents guidance this morning in your high side inboxes.” (High side, in government parlance, refers to classified computer and communications systems.)
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At this point, a fascinating policy discussion commenced. The account labeled “JD Vance” responded at 8:16: “Team, I am out for the day doing an economic event in Michigan. But I think we are making a mistake.” (Vance was indeed in Michigan that day.) The Vance account goes on to state, “3 percent of US trade runs through the suez. 40 percent of European trade does. There is a real risk that the public doesn’t understand this or why it’s necessary. The strongest reason to do this is, as POTUS said, to send a message.”
During the discussion CIA head John Ratcliff, Secretary of Defense Hegseth and the deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller join in. Despite the reluctance of Vance the bombing campaign in Yemen is ready to go:
At 11:44 a.m., the account labeled “Pete Hegseth” posted in Signal a “TEAM UPDATE.” I will not quote from this update, or from certain other subsequent texts. The information contained in them, if they had been read by an adversary of the United States, could conceivably have been used to harm American military and intelligence personnel, particularly in the broader Middle East, Central Command’s area of responsibility. What I will say, in order to illustrate the shocking recklessness of this Signal conversation, is that the Hegseth post contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing.
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According to the lengthy Hegseth text, the first detonations in Yemen would be felt two hours hence, at 1:45 p.m. eastern time. So I waited in my car in a supermarket parking lot. If this Signal chat was real, I reasoned, Houthi targets would soon be bombed. At about 1:55, I checked X and searched Yemen. Explosions were then being heard across Sanaa, the capital city.
I went back to the Signal channel. At 1:48, “Michael Waltz” had provided the group an update. Again, I won’t quote from this text, except to note that he described the operation as an “amazing job.” A few minutes later, “John Ratcliffe” wrote, “A good start.” Not long after, Waltz responded with three emoji: a fist, an American flag, and fire. Others soon joined in, including “MAR,” who wrote, “Good Job Pete and your team!!,” and “Susie Wiles,” who texted, “Kudos to all – most particularly those in theater and CENTCOM! Really great. God bless.” “Steve Witkoff” responded with five emoji: two hands-praying, a flexed bicep, and two American flags. “TG” responded, “Great work and effects!” The after-action discussion included assessments of damage done, including the likely death of a specific individual. The Houthi-run Yemeni health ministry reported that at least 53 people were killed in the strikes, a number that has not been independently verified.
The juvenile behavior of the participants all but confirms that the characters are genuine.
It however leaves many questions:
Why did Michael Waltz, a former advisor to Dick Cheney, seek to add war-pimp and anti-Trumper Jeffrey Goldberg to his contact list? What did he plan to leak to him?
Signal is an encrypted chat application which, until recently, was financed by the U.S. government. That is in itself a good reason to not trust it. There have also been reports that several foreign entities are trying to crack it. Why would high administration officials, who have access to more secure communication systems, use Signal to chat with each other?
Why are Vance and others implying that 'freedom of navigation' in the Red Sea is for the good of Europe and that it should pay for it? That framing does not fit.
The reason for the Houthi blockade of the Red Sea is the Zionist genocide in Gaza. Israel is the country most hurt by the stop of sea traffic to its harbors. The closure of the Red Sea has increased ocean transport cost for a container from $2,000 to $8,000 for everyone, including the U.S., because the transport around Africa takes longer and has led to a shortage of container ships.
This lambasting of Europe to press it for money is part of Trump's general program. To 'leak' this as part of a chat, which hardly mentions Israel or Gaza, is reinforcing that message. This is the main reason why I find this 'leak' suspicious.
The use of Signal and the sending of confidential war plans over it of course a breach of several laws and regulations.
There are rumors that national security advisor Waltz will be punished for this. But I do not expect any firing or other consequences from it.