Trump's security issues

[Craig4]

Y'all just can't let the witch die can you? You don't think Trump is being investigated enough, is that the point?

Just another ISF circle-jerk thread. "Hey look at me, I think just like you guys! Hmmm let's see oh I got one - Trump is orange! Can I join the club now too?"

No discussion, let's just make a list! Yayeee. It's a bit silly.

That thing infesting the Whitehouse will have been investigated enough when it and its spawn are in prison.

 

[Segnosaur]

Time to resurrect this thread, with yet another possible Trump security breach...

So, Iran had a rocket that was supposed to launch a satellite into space. Something went wrong, and the rocked exploded on the launch pad. Trump, ever the man child, taunted them on Twitter, claiming the U.S. had nothing to do with the explosion, and saying 'good luck' in finding out what happened.

The problem is... he also posted a very highly detailed satellite photo of the launch pad, that was higher resolution than would normally be available (suggesting the picture had a military origin). Its unknown whether the image was classified or not, but even if it was cleared for release, its certainly revealing the abilities of American image gathering information (something that the government should want to keep secret.)

From: https://www.npr.org/2019/08/30/755994591/president-trump-tweets-sensitive-surveillance-image-of-iran
Some of the highest-resolution imagery available commercially comes from the company Maxar....But the image shown in the president's tweet appears to be of far better quality, says Ankit Panda, an adjunct senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, who specializes in analyzing satellite imagery.
...
"These are closely held national secrets," Panda adds. "We don't even share a lot of this kind of imagery with our closest allies." In tweeting it out to the world, Trump is letting Iran know exactly what the U.S. is capable of.

 

[The Don]

Time to resurrect this thread, with yet another possible Trump security breach...

So, Iran had a rocket that was supposed to launch a satellite into space. Something went wrong, and the rocked exploded on the launch pad. Trump, ever the man child, taunted them on Twitter, claiming the U.S. had nothing to do with the explosion, and saying 'good luck' in finding out what happened.

The problem is... he also posted a very highly detailed satellite photo of the launch pad, that was higher resolution than would normally be available (suggesting the picture had a military origin). Its unknown whether the image was classified or not, but even if it was cleared for release, its certainly revealing the abilities of American image gathering information (something that the government should want to keep secret.)

From: https://www.npr.org/2019/08/30/755994591/president-trump-tweets-sensitive-surveillance-image-of-iran
Some of the highest-resolution imagery available commercially comes from the company Maxar....But the image shown in the president's tweet appears to be of far better quality, says Ankit Panda, an adjunct senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, who specializes in analyzing satellite imagery.
...
"These are closely held national secrets," Panda adds. "We don't even share a lot of this kind of imagery with our closest allies." In tweeting it out to the world, Trump is letting Iran know exactly what the U.S. is capable of.

I think it's been mentioned in several other security-related threads but doesn't President Trump have the power and authority to declassify anything he chooses ? If that's the case then there's no legal wrongdoing here.

As regards the inadvisability of tweeting such images, I'm pretty sure that Iran knows that its facilities are under satellite surveillance and the resolution of this image will come as no surprise to them whatsoever.

President Trump may behave like an impulsive child, and in this case (like so many others) he appears to have done so but IMO the actual damage is zero or very close to it.

 

[Squeegee Beckenheim]

A US official is reported to have confirmed that the image came from a classified intelligence briefing

 

[Babbylonian]

I think it's been mentioned in several other security-related threads but doesn't President Trump have the power and authority to declassify anything he chooses ? If that's the case then there's no legal wrongdoing here.

As regards the inadvisability of tweeting such images, I'm pretty sure that Iran knows that its facilities are under satellite surveillance and the resolution of this image will come as no surprise to them whatsoever.

President Trump may behave like an impulsive child, and in this case (like so many others) he appears to have done so but IMO the actual damage is zero or very close to it.

The point is that you never show the full capabilities of your military/intelligence capabilities unless absolutely necessary. It may not be criminal for a president to do so, but it's incredibly stupid, especially for the purpose of doing a Nelson Muntz impression.

 

[The Shrike]

The thing that many people forget is that Congress has a DUTY to the American people - the people who elected them, not to let this slide. They each swore an oath to uphold the the Constitution of the United States. ...

I think about this every damn day.

 

[Dr. Keith]

The point is that you never show the full capabilities of your military/intelligence capabilities unless absolutely necessary. It may not be criminal for a president to do so, but it's incredibly stupid, especially for the purpose of doing a Nelson Muntz impression.

You act as if our intelligence capabilities could ever be used for a higher purpose.

 

[Segnosaur]

I think it's been mentioned in several other security-related threads but doesn't President Trump have the power and authority to declassify anything he chooses ? If that's the case then there's no legal wrongdoing here.

The president does have the ability to declassify material. But, he didn't exactly do that here.... as far as we can see, he revealed/distributed classified information, without going through the proper process to actually declassify it.

Proper 'declassification' involves more than just "here you go... look at the secret stuff!"

https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-...resident-have-ability-declassify-anything-an/

As regards the inadvisability of tweeting such images, I'm pretty sure that Iran knows that its facilities are under satellite surveillance and the resolution of this image will come as no surprise to them whatsoever.

As other posters have stated... never give your enemies any information about your capabilities, without a good reason.

 

[WilliamSeger]

The president does have the ability to declassify material. But, he didn't exactly do that here.... as far as we can see, he revealed/distributed classified information, without going through the proper process to actually declassify it.

Proper 'declassification' involves more than just "here you go... look at the secret stuff!"

https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-...resident-have-ability-declassify-anything-an/


As other posters have stated... never give your enemies any information about your capabilities, without a good reason.

To my eye, the photo doesn't look to be all that much better resolution than the best Google Earth images. I have to wonder if Trump has revealed that our spy satellites aren't quite as powerful as urban legend has it (i.e. able to read licence plates).

 

[BowlOfRed]

To my eye, the photo doesn't look to be all that much better resolution than the best Google Earth images. I have to wonder if Trump has revealed that our spy satellites aren't quite as powerful as urban legend has it (i.e. able to read licence plates).

It's not better. But Google Earth synthesizes many different sources, including aerial photos. The nice detail you see in it over cities is due to cameras on airplanes, not satellites.

The tweeted photo was initially assumed by several to be taken instead from a plane/drone (penetrating their airspace) because the detail was higher than some thought possible from a satellite. It was the fact that the time/position of the image could be determined and this closely matched the path of a known US satellite that shifted consensus.

 

[The Norseman]

I really keep thinking this thread should be titled "tRump's Insecurity Issues" because they're so unsurprisingly related.

 

[Segnosaur]

To my eye, the photo doesn't look to be all that much better resolution than the best Google Earth images.

Some experts might disagree with you...

From: https://www.npr.org/2019/09/05/7580...-highly-classified-satellite-photo-yep-he-can
...it was the photo that left Hanham, a satellite imagery expert, gobsmacked....
Hanham, deputy director of the Open Nuclear Network in Vienna, says she has seen lots of images over the years but never anything like this. "It was so crystal clear and high-resolution that I did not believe it could have come from a satellite," she says.

The article also points out another issue: It gives Iran an idea of what satellite that was used and would help them avoid being watched in the future.

...Iran will be able to learn from the image. A group of independent satellite spotters says it has already determined which U.S. satellite took the picture....Now that the satellite has been pinpointed, Aftergood worries that Iran can evade it. For example, he says, in the runup to an Indian nuclear weapons test in 1998, India tracked U.S. satellites and made sure not to move any major equipment while they were overhead.

 

[WilliamSeger]

Some experts might disagree with you...

From: https://www.npr.org/2019/09/05/7580...-highly-classified-satellite-photo-yep-he-can
...it was the photo that left Hanham, a satellite imagery expert, gobsmacked....
Hanham, deputy director of the Open Nuclear Network in Vienna, says she has seen lots of images over the years but never anything like this. "It was so crystal clear and high-resolution that I did not believe it could have come from a satellite," she says.

The article also points out another issue: It gives Iran an idea of what satellite that was used and would help them avoid being watched in the future.

...Iran will be able to learn from the image. A group of independent satellite spotters says it has already determined which U.S. satellite took the picture....Now that the satellite has been pinpointed, Aftergood worries that Iran can evade it. For example, he says, in the runup to an Indian nuclear weapons test in 1998, India tracked U.S. satellites and made sure not to move any major equipment while they were overhead.

Interesting. Looking around, I see that the first version of the image I had seen was not the best quality. Which reminds me: Has it been determined if Trump tweeted the original image or if he took a phone picture of a briefing slide? That speculation was based on the white spot in the middle, which appears similar to a reflection of a flash, but looking at a better quality version, I have to doubt it -- one reason being that I doubt that Trump would have taken the trouble of cropping a phone picture.

 

[pgwenthold]

Interesting. Looking around, I see that the first version of the image I had seen was not the best quality. Which reminds me: Has it been determined if Trump tweeted the original image or if he took a phone picture of a briefing slide? That speculation was based on the white spot in the middle, which appears similar to a reflection of a flash, but looking at a better quality version, I have to doubt it -- one reason being that I doubt that Trump would have taken the trouble of cropping a phone picture.

There was a shadow of a person in the picture so you could see that it was a person standing over the picture taking a photo of it

 

[Segnosaur]

Not a specific security breech, but there is this:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/09/politics/russia-us-spy-extracted/index.html
In a previously undisclosed secret mission in 2017, the United States successfully extracted from Russia one of its highest-level covert sources inside the Russian government...A person directly involved in the discussions said that the removal of the Russian was driven, in part, by concerns that President Donald Trump and his administration repeatedly mishandled classified intelligence and could contribute to exposing the covert source as a spy.

But, but... her emails!

 

[The Great Zaganza]

The only way Trump was ever to get any level of Security Clearance was to get elected President.

 

[jeremyp]

To my eye, the photo doesn't look to be all that much better resolution than the best Google Earth images. I have to wonder if Trump has revealed that our spy satellites aren't quite as powerful as urban legend has it (i.e. able to read licence plates).

It’s way better resolution than the actual Google Earth image. 35.234722, 53.920833 Is the coordinates if you want to see for yourself.

 

[cullennz]

Bit off topic, but I was listening to a sound bite of Trump talking to reporters on the radio earlier.

Has anyone else ever wondered presidents don't start the helicopter after they have finished answering questions, or answer questions in a building and then walk out to the running helicopter?

Or is it a trying to create a impression of how important they are and how they always have to be some where?

It seems to be every time you hear them they are talking on the outskirts of a hurricane

 

[fishbob]

The helicopter noise is the only thing that keeps me from having to buy a new TV every week. His voice without interference would cause me to throw TVs through the window.

PS - And new windows are also expensive.

 

[Stacyhs]

The helicopter noise is the only thing that keeps me from having to buy a new TV every week. His voice without interference would cause me to throw TVs through the window.

PS - And new windows are also expensive.

I've tried putting the TV on mute when he's on. That only works as long as I don't actually look at the TV. I've found that just watching his smarmy face without the distraction of his whiny voice has its own problems: it makes me notice his little, itty bitty mouth, his raccoon eyes, his fake orange tan, and his comb over even more. Ew. Just ew.