“A nightmare!”

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Dozens of top secret US documents have been circulating on the internet in recent days. Including highly sensitive information about the war in Ukraine, US defense and China. Although the papers are now gone or at least much harder to find, a bitter aftertaste remains.

The leak is probably the largest in the past decade. The United States is now trying to clarify and calm its allies. Many questions remain unanswered and the leak could have serious consequences.

The release of top-secret US documents poses a very high security risk to the Pentagon, a Defense Department spokesman said. US President Joe Biden (80) would be concerned about the number of published documents.

Documents that should have been kept secret – but have now been made available to a number of people. Peter Regli (78), former head of the Swiss intelligence service, finds clear words for the data scandal in an interview with Blick. It was a “serious mistake” what happened there. In short, “It’s a nightmare for any intelligence agency.”

The documents were probably leaked by one or more people from the US Secret Service. The responsible authorities confirm this. Regli explains: “Western intelligence services are based on trust.” Trust that can also be broken.

It is still unclear who published these documents and for what purpose. Some believe it is a US defense insider who decided to get the truth out. “It’s an absolute horror scenario when your own employees work for the other side,” says Regli. However, it is difficult to avoid such situations.

“We will turn every stone until we find out the origin and magnitude of the incident,” US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, 69, said. Both he and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (60) say they have spoken with their Ukrainian colleagues.

According to Regli, the top priority for Americans now is to compare the published documents with the original papers. “Since Americans seem to know exactly what documents are involved, it’s a relatively easy task.”

The leaked documents not only contain highly sensitive information about the war in Ukraine. Evidence was also published that the US secret services had wiretapped their allies. Trust in the US can be broken, especially in Ukraine.

Regli disagrees and to some extent sympathizes with American informants: “Trust is good, control is better.” In order not to lose the trust of the partners, direct communication is very important at the moment. “The priority is to put that back together. A leak can happen to any intelligence service.”

The leaked documents show, among other things, that the US is pessimistic about a successful Ukrainian counter-offensive. This will not be as successful as last fall in Kherson.

So the leak comes at the worst possible time in the war, as Ukraine wanted to launch an offensive in April. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal (47) has even indicated that the offensive will be postponed until the summer.

And the Russian side could also benefit from the publication. “We have to assume that the Russian secret services are very well informed,” says Regli. Because the documents also describe which Ukrainian brigades are the weakest – valuable information for Russian warfare.

Source: Blick