Various stories on Jack Teixeira, the 21-year-old Air National Guardsman from Dighton arrested in connection with allegedly leaking classified documents, generated many comments on BostonGlobe.com. The following is an edited sample:
Security? What security?
At this point, I’m very discouraged by how sloppy our government and military have become. It took me 68 years to say that. (Starcraft)
If a kid from Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School can join the National Guard and within a short time have access to such sensitive information — vetting or no vetting — what’s to prevent a skilled foreign agent from easily doing the same? (Boston Water)
It’s probably harder for me to get into my Verizon account than for a kid to do this. (SPRINGLAKE)
It’s a miracle that we haven’t blown ourselves up with this kind of lax security. (Cheeky Bantz)
Arrested, charged, held
It’s a slow slide over many decades (that I observed) including a heavy emphasis on contractors (self), and well before 9/11. You take an oath or you sign an employee agreement (self), independent of background checks and daily checks, and physical security, too. Then you either take those seriously or not. (I was surrounded by oath takers my first time and it’s an impression that remains.) Until you see it on a daily basis, it’s difficult to comprehend how heavily the Department of Defense (and other agencies) rely on contractors and newly minted uniformed professionals. (There are companies that specialize in getting their contractors “in” and keeping them “on” government programs. Some companies lure uniformed professionals into contractor roles.) Many of these contractors are exceptional (independent of whether they served or not) and indispensable to their programs. (RideLikeTheWind)
Like you, ride, at his age I had access to plans for nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines. They had big red letters on every page. I was proud to help construct these weapons of defense. I took it seriously. (Publias)
I expect the Air National Guard and the Pentagon are reviewing the chain of command at Otis Air Force Base. This is a huge embarrassment for that group. Seems like the commanding officers were asleep at the wheel. There need to be consequences for this, as well as additional protocols to prevent this from happening again. (PabloAmericano)
I wonder if this kind of incident is demoralizing to all those people with clearances who are so careful about following the rules and procedures regarding the handling of classified documents even when it’s inconvenient and time-consuming to do so. (Diana Moses)
“I can’t explain why the Massachusetts Air National Guard’s Intelligence Wing would have access to the kind of information that has been disclosed,” said Juliette Kayyem, who oversaw the state’s National Guard while serving as a homeland security adviser to then-governor Deval Patrick. That’s the $64,000 question. (Tigerlilley)
Can someone please explain to me why the Massachusetts Air National Guard would have access to CIA files on South Korean diplomacy, Israeli military capabilities, and Ukrainian war plans? It doesn’t make any sense. If I work as an IT tech at the Food and Drug Administration, does that mean as a government employee I have access to the addresses and phone numbers of every US senator — because the government’s IT is just one, big open system that can’t be segmented? (Cheeky Bantz)