What the Heck?! Thread (Closed)

[siegecrossbow]

Eventuality of marriage.

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[solarz]

Then surely those two senior intelligence chiefs should have been replaced, even temporarily?

What is the point of having a head of intelligence who cannot see any of the intelligence his department is handling?

It's just absurd that such a situation was allowed to develop in the first place, and a downright farce that it has carried on for so long.

I don't think Blackstone actually read the article.

Anyway, this sounds like a political struggle. The Navy wants to replace him, but for some reason their hands are tied. He probably has powerful political backing.

 

[Blackstone]

It seems the spirit of Lin Biao is alive and well in the People's Republic.

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A new book in China officially declares that senior Communist Party officials attempted to "wreck and split the party."

Analysts in China say these are code words for a coup attempt,

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, and the fact that the book has been released is proof that President Xi Jinping is confident the challenge is over. Edited Excerpts From Discussions by Xi Jinping on Tightening Party Discipline and Rules sells for about $2, and the most interesting snippet is from a speech Xi gave on Jan. 13, 2015, to China's anticorruption agency. In the speech, Xi named five people — including an army general, a former party secretary of Chongqing, and a former security chief — who have all been imprisoned for corruption, abuse of power, or similar charges (one of the men died in 2015).

"The greater these people's power, the more important their position, the less seriously they took party discipline and political rules, to the point of recklessness and audaciousness," Xi said. "Some had inflated political ambitions and for their personal gain or the gain of their clique carried out political plot activities behind the party's back, carried out politically shady business to wreck and split the party." Ren Jianming, a professor at Beihang University, told the Times that "plot activities" and "wreck and split the party" are "coup activities, because it's the ruling party. It was the all very secret at the time, and this is the first time they have officially published about it, so it's very important."

 

[TerraN_EmpirE]

Then surely those two senior intelligence chiefs should have been replaced, even temporarily?

What is the point of having a head of intelligence who cannot see any of the intelligence his department is handling?

It's just absurd that such a situation was allowed to develop in the first place, and a downright farce that it has carried on for so long.

basically his ticket got pulled unless he is exonerated in the case he can't see a single file as he lacks clearance and he cannot be posted to any security clearance duty as again no clearance. His deputy presumably has clearence so is likely filling in on the briefs. Fact is the Government can't fire some one without a long process, The Military can't dismiss someone without proof of wrongdoing or disability. That all said there are still budgetary and allocations duties he can perform.

 

[solarz]

It seems the spirit of Lin Biao is alive and well in the People's Republic.

It would be pretty naive to think that Xi could conduct his widespread anti-corruption campaign without stepping on toes.

While the cynic would venture to say that the campaign is an excuse for political purges, the truth is probably that the campaign is both needed for the continued legitimacy of the CPC, and a convenient tool to consolidate Xi's power.

Power consolidation is not necessarily a bad thing, despite western MSM's trope of calling Xi a second Mao, but Xi still doesn't have nearly the amount of power Deng wielded, and is not likely to either.

Hu's administration was plagued by his inability to tackle corruption. Xi's stronger hold on power has actually benefitted both the Chinese society and the Party as a whole, to the detriment of those who were profiting from corruption. The danger here is that without as much checks against him, Xi might overstep his bounds and make some reckless decisions either domestically or on foreign policy. It's not a likely event, but it's a possibility.

 

[plawolf]

basically his ticket got pulled unless he is exonerated in the case he can't see a single file as he lacks clearance and he cannot be posted to any security clearance duty as again no clearance. His deputy presumably has clearence so is likely filling in on the briefs. Fact is the Government can't fire some one without a long process, The Military can't dismiss someone without proof of wrongdoing or disability. That all said there are still budgetary and allocations duties he can perform.

Putting aside the red tape nonsense, from a security standpoint alone, their suspended security clearance should have been enough to bar them from the building, or at least the secure wing naval intelligence is based.

Unless you have minders shadowing their every move, it's not only possible, but likely that they will have opportunity, at least, to see classified material or overhear confidential information even if they go out of their way to try and avoid such occurrences.

If you cannot, or don't want to fire them, put them on gardening leave and officially appoint a temporary caretaker so security isn't put at risk and the operations of a key department isn't utterly hamstrung.

 

[SampanViking]

Putting aside the red tape nonsense, from a security standpoint alone, their suspended security clearance should have been enough to bar them from the building, or at least the secure wing naval intelligence is based.

Unless you have minders shadowing their every move, it's not only possible, but likely that they will have opportunity, at least, to see classified material or overhear confidential information even if they go out of their way to try and avoid such occurrences.

If you cannot, or don't want to fire them, put them on gardening leave and officially appoint a temporary caretaker so security isn't put at risk and the operations of a key department isn't utterly hamstrung.

For me, the most disturbing possible explanation is that of the deliberate sidelining of an honest naval officer by the "Dodgy Dossier writers with reach and influence".
It seems to me a very good way of ensuring that no counter narrative; based in anything resembling reality, is ever put up against the spin.
Far fetched you may think, but given that the Intelligence organs have form not dissimilar to this, not impossible at all.

 

[TerraN_EmpirE]

The man is still a Admiral, so having him clean the parking lot is not a option. He can act though through administrative functions, approval of office budget for example.
His deputy is the caretaker of his responsibility's during this affair. As to access to sensitive information, agencies like the ONI are compartmentalized with special access areas. Sensitive documents and discussions are supposed to be isolated to special access areas and just because you have a top secret clearance for one program does not mean you have access to all programs. Chatter around the spy version of the water cooler Is strictly prohibited beyond return of the X Files. If someone is locked out they can remain at a high level.
Word is President Roosevelt was locked out of access to Japanese code braking data for a period before Pearl harbor due to sloppy handling of intercepts.

 

[solarz]

For me, the most disturbing possible explanation is that of the deliberate sidelining of an honest naval officer by the "Dodgy Dossier writers with reach and influence".
It seems to me a very good way of ensuring that no counter narrative; based in anything resembling reality, is ever put up against the spin.
Far fetched you may think, but given that the Intelligence organs have form not dissimilar to this, not impossible at all.

Good point, the fact that he was never charged with anything supports this view. After all, he can't defend himself if he's never charged with anything.

 

[PanAsian]

Fun stuff! Additional links in the original article to the CIA blog etc.

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Take a peek into the CIA's 'X-Files'

By Amanda Jackson, CNN
Updated 7:44 PM ET, Fri January 29, 2016

(CNN)The truth is out there: The CIA has released hundreds of declassified documents detailing investigations into possible alien life.

The Central Intelligence Agency posted documents of reported Unidentified Flying Objects that range in date from the late 1940s to the 1950s. While playing off the hype of the TV show reboot "The X-Files," the CIA broke down the cases into two categories, whether you side with Agent Mulder or Agent Scully.

For believers in alien life, and those who want to channel your inner Mulder, one case you can choose to investigate is the case of a flying saucer in Germany in 1952.

Air Force UFO files land on the Internet

According to CIA reports, an eyewitness told investigators that an object "resembling a huge flying pan" landed in a forest clearing in the Soviet zone of Germany in 1952. The eyewitness said once he was closer to the area where it landed, he saw two men dressed in shiny metallic clothing. The men were stooped over looking at a large object but were spooked by the eyewitness. The mysterious men jumped into the large flying pan object and it spun out into the sky.

"The whole object then began to rise slowly from the ground and rotate like a top," the eyewitness told the CIA.

The man told a judge he thought he was dreaming but said there was a circular imprint on the ground where the object had landed.

If that case intrigues you, there are four more listed on the CIA blog post.

But if you are more of a skeptic like Scully, and believe there is a simple explanation for flying saucer sightings, then the documents from the scientific advisory panel on UFOs in 1953 will help you prove your case.

According to the documents, panel members met to discuss the lack of sound data and reasonable explanations in a handful of sightings from 1952. The panel concluded unanimously that there was no evidence of direct threat to national security by the object sightings. Some of the explanations for the "flying saucers" and "balls of light" were determined to be from military aircraft, light reflected from ice crystals, birds and bright sunlight rays.

To investigate the other cases or to learn how to investigate your own, visit the CIA blog.