Getting It Wrong

For John, BLUF:  Is this stupidity or propaganda?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

America is hacking other countries with stealthy submarines

This is from The Washington Post and Reporters Brian Fung and Andrea Peterson.

The first thing that jumps to mind is why would we be making this information public?  There are only a couple of reasons.  One is because it is part of a sophisticated mind game.  Another is because some other nation is doing this to us and our friends and allies and this is a way of saying "we know what you are doing". However, it does reveal some of our sources and methods, usually a no-no.

The second issue, for me, if the lede:

When Donald Trump effectively called for Russia to hack into Hillary Clinton's emails Wednesday, the GOP nominee's remarks touched off a (predictable) media firestorm. Here was a presidential candidate from a major U.S. party encouraging a foreign government to target American interests with cyberspying — an act that could not only expose national security information but also potentially undermine the actual security infrastructure of the United States.

This is rubbish.  Further it suggests that the Reporters are clueless the ways of EMail.  The 30,000 Emails had already been deleted and wiped away back in 2015.  To think they could be found by hacking is like thinking that by hacking Plymouth Rock we can get information on the diary entries of the Pilgrims.

This looks for all the world like The Washington Post carrying water for Candidate Hillary Clinton by perpetuating a meme that is false and should be known to be false.  This can of activity is why someone like Mr Trump has risen to the nomination of the Republican Party.

UPDATE:  Someone did note that it could have been a move in the budget battles faced every year.  Only so many dollars and a lot of requirements.

Aside from that I have no strong feelings.

Regards  —  Cliff