The US Department of Defense has been left reeling after what appears to be a massive leak of highly sensitive Pentagon documents in 2023. The more than 100 photographed pages of documents dated between late February and early March, labeled “Secret”, “Top Secret” and “NOFORN” (not for viewing by foreign nationals) first emerged on Discord, a messaging platform popular with gamers. They remained largely unnoticed until they were shared on Twitter and other popular platforms.
The supposedly leaked classified Pentagon papers are related to the ongoing NATO-Russia proxy war in Ukraine, with information about military strategy and troop movements. Furthermore, Washington officials have been rushing to placate allies after embarrassing revelations contained in PowerPoint slides from briefings - part of the leaked documents - of how Washington spies on them.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken revealed that he had conferred with unnamed allies of Washington to “reassure them about our own commitment to safeguarding intelligence”.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also weighed in, saying:
“We will continue to investigate and turn over every rock until we find the source of this and the extent of it.”
Who is the One Who Leaked the Secret Docs?
US officials and the whole world are wondering who could be responsible for such a breach, with a plethora of speculations about the culprit. Here are some of them.
One of the most recent reports claimed the source of the Pentagon leaks was a man in his early to mid-twenties who works on a US military base. The supposed ‘leaker’, identified as 'OG', had been penning his own reports of the classified information and sharing the files in minor group chat for months, according to a teen who met ‘OG’ online. Frustrated that his reports were being sidelined in the chat, ‘OG’ purportedly then shared snaps of the documents further, and they spread beyond the niche internet sites. Once US media broke the story, 'OG' was described as having been "frantic" after that, and "aware of what’s happening and what the consequences may be”.
However, according to other reports, sources within the intelligence community think it could all have been an inside job at the Pentagon. Their prime suspect is an unnamed high-ranking official working at one of the Pentagon's most sensitive departments. The documents were purportedly extracted undetected over several months. The employee - likely to be disaffected - may have wanted to sow chaos within the national security apparatus.
Another scenario cited by analysts is that US President Joe Biden or other top-ranking White House administration officials could have approved all or some of the recent Pentagon leaks. Furthermore, "leaks" could even have been mixed with some disinformation to “mislead the Russians", former intelligence agents have suggested.
The leak may well have been orchestrated by foreign intelligence agencies, claim other reports, for the purpose of attaining a key advantage in their dealings with Washington.
Ideological motives have also been suggested. The unipolar world order that the US has striven to dominate, wielding military interventions and aggressive foreign policy as its tools, is being assertively challenged by Russia, China, and other countries. With tectonic geopolitical changes underway, the leaks could have been masterminded by those hoping to call attention to the "dangers of American hegemony".
A single dissident within the US security establishment who opposes the Biden administration's policies could also be behind the leak, analysts believe.
Some think the Pentagon leak could have been perpetrated by a lone wolf for purely personal financial gain, as breaches of sensitive information by hackers often are.
Irrespective of the motivation behind the Pentagon leak, the documents are out there, and the US Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation while the Pentagon is scrambling to restrict access to sensitive information.