In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) recently released to VICE News 140 pages of internal investigation report. Nearly two dozen DIA analysts examined the ‘damage’ to national security due to Snowden’s leaks in 2013. However, every page of the assessment,constructed from September 2013 to April 2014, is, interestingly, redacted – totally blacked out.
Virtually all text from the assessment report was redacted in order to “mitigate the harm caused to national security” read a declaration signed by Aleysia Williams, head of DIA’s FOIA department. Williams told Vice News that the information contained in the report can only be seen by individuals [who have also signed non-disclosure agreements] from the task force itself.
According to DIA’s director of operations David Leatherwood, “The task force reports focus on military plans and weapons systems, America’s relationships with foreign countries, plans to safeguard nuclear facilities, and vulnerabilities related to national security… The reporting of the task force focuses entirely on identifying the magnitude of the harm. Much of that reporting, for very legitimate reasons, remains classified”.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, who viewed the summary and believed “Snowden’s real acts of betrayal place America’s military men and women at greater risk”, and “the staggering effects of Snowden’s betrayal are likely to have lethal consequences for the US troops in the field”, failed to explain how.
Government claims Snowden leaks caused “damage” to national security, but still refuses to explain how https://t.co/sK6bon44t7
— Freedom of the Press (@FreedomofPress) February 25, 2015
We sued the gov’t for info related to “damage” caused by #Snowden leaks. They gave us blank documents. https://t.co/rfxIfZaJLz
— Marian Semic (@SemicFineArt) February 27, 2015
NSA claims Snowden leaks harm national security. For proof, they send @JasonLeopold completely blacked out document – http://t.co/Hq0opK52Rp
— Larry Akey (@LarryAkey) February 27, 2015
Snowden Task Force Damage Reports [REDACTED]
Since Edward Snowden’s leaked documents revealed numerous global surveillance programs, many of them run by the National Security Agency (NSA), and exposed the spying practices of the federal government, authorities have repeatedly claimed that Snowden compromised national security and harmed American foreign policy by disclosing the classified information. The DIA in 2014 had released portions of its assessment, withholding 27 of its 39 pages, of how Snowden’s leaks affected military operations after a Freedom of Information Act request from the Guardian. But that document too was heavily redacted.
Recently, NSA chief Mike Rogers had stated, “Anyone who thinks this has not had an impact… doesn’t know what they are talking about”. However, NSA has not even been able to prove anything so far. This sham report is another classic example of their dubious claim.
The agencies want to keep the public in dark as they insist laying out what Snowden wrought would risk revealing more sensitive secrets. “If after a year, they can’t show a single individual who’s been harmed in any way, by this reporting, is it really so grave? Is it really so serious? The possibility exists, and if this has caused some serious harm, I personally would like to know about it,” Snowden asked in an interview with NBC’s Brian Williams in 2014.
And this is what we believe too…
If Petraeus deserves special treatment after leaking because of his service to the nation, Snowden should too http://t.co/kXKzPzSXI1
— GuardianUS (@GuardianUS) March 6, 2015
It’s a long list of emptiness.
American spies and miliatry gotta answer for this