An article from columnist and former judge Andrew Napolitano that I found quite interesting. Perhaps worthy of some discussion. Quoting the introduction and the conclusion...
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by Andrew P. Napolitano
April 21, 2023
The arrest last week of 21-year-old air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira on charges of espionage has sparked a debate in the intelligence community and elsewhere about whether his behavior is criminal or heroic. He apparently shared top-secret intelligence and military briefings – to which he had lawful access – with folks in his chatroom, at least one of whom let the cat out of the bag.
Is Teixeira a pawn for folks in the government far senior to him who believe that the United States needs to cease its criminal foray into the Russia/Ukraine war? Or should he be prosecuted because government agents have risked their lives to amass data about Russia and the compromise of this data can be fatal to them and their sources?
I look at this from the perspective of the natural human right to search for and reveal the truth.
What we have here is either Teixeira operating on his own in an effort to impress acquaintances whom he barely knew or Teixeira as a pawn for government officials repulsed by Biden administration policies.
What are these policies? During the past 15 months, the U.S. has spent more than $68 billion in military hardware and ammunition, and in cash, all in an effort to help the Ukraine government resist the Russian military. The administration’s argument is that Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to reassemble the old Soviet Union. If he succeeds in Ukraine, this argument goes, he will soon choose another European country to occupy. This is the discredited domino theory that President Lyndon Johnson used to justify the Vietnam War.
The counter-argument offers that the American promise that triggered the non-bloody dissolution of the old Soviet Union was that NATO would not move one inch closer to Moscow than it was in 1989. Of course, it is hundreds of miles closer to Moscow today – complete with a U.S.-instigated coup in Ukraine in 2014 – and just recently added Finland and its 800-mile border with Russia. NATO countries have easy access to Western military hardware – aimed at Moscow.
Even though NATO is a defensive organization, its weapons are deployed in an ancient border dispute between Ukraine, a non-NATO country, and Russia – a dispute that has no bearing on the national security of the US
[snip]
Is there a moral difference between Nuland’s revelations and Teixeira’s? Both are truths derived from secrets, yet one furthers killing and the other lets the public judge for itself if the government is worthy of belief. Is there a moral difference between what Teixeira told his buddies and what Austin told Congress? Yes, Teixeira told the truth and Austin lied.
Pontius Pilate famously asked Jesus: "What is truth?" St. Thomas Aquinas defines it as identity between intellect and reality. When the government is manipulating the consent of the governed to fight an illegal war and lies about it, we should praise those who identify reality, not punish them.
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Full article:
Secrecy Versus Truth | antiwar.com
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by Andrew P. Napolitano
April 21, 2023
The arrest last week of 21-year-old air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira on charges of espionage has sparked a debate in the intelligence community and elsewhere about whether his behavior is criminal or heroic. He apparently shared top-secret intelligence and military briefings – to which he had lawful access – with folks in his chatroom, at least one of whom let the cat out of the bag.
Is Teixeira a pawn for folks in the government far senior to him who believe that the United States needs to cease its criminal foray into the Russia/Ukraine war? Or should he be prosecuted because government agents have risked their lives to amass data about Russia and the compromise of this data can be fatal to them and their sources?
I look at this from the perspective of the natural human right to search for and reveal the truth.
What we have here is either Teixeira operating on his own in an effort to impress acquaintances whom he barely knew or Teixeira as a pawn for government officials repulsed by Biden administration policies.
What are these policies? During the past 15 months, the U.S. has spent more than $68 billion in military hardware and ammunition, and in cash, all in an effort to help the Ukraine government resist the Russian military. The administration’s argument is that Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to reassemble the old Soviet Union. If he succeeds in Ukraine, this argument goes, he will soon choose another European country to occupy. This is the discredited domino theory that President Lyndon Johnson used to justify the Vietnam War.
The counter-argument offers that the American promise that triggered the non-bloody dissolution of the old Soviet Union was that NATO would not move one inch closer to Moscow than it was in 1989. Of course, it is hundreds of miles closer to Moscow today – complete with a U.S.-instigated coup in Ukraine in 2014 – and just recently added Finland and its 800-mile border with Russia. NATO countries have easy access to Western military hardware – aimed at Moscow.
Even though NATO is a defensive organization, its weapons are deployed in an ancient border dispute between Ukraine, a non-NATO country, and Russia – a dispute that has no bearing on the national security of the US
[snip]
Is there a moral difference between Nuland’s revelations and Teixeira’s? Both are truths derived from secrets, yet one furthers killing and the other lets the public judge for itself if the government is worthy of belief. Is there a moral difference between what Teixeira told his buddies and what Austin told Congress? Yes, Teixeira told the truth and Austin lied.
Pontius Pilate famously asked Jesus: "What is truth?" St. Thomas Aquinas defines it as identity between intellect and reality. When the government is manipulating the consent of the governed to fight an illegal war and lies about it, we should praise those who identify reality, not punish them.
**
Full article:
Secrecy Versus Truth | antiwar.com
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did not have the authority to make NATO policy, especially with memorandums.