Not that it wasn't predicted by literally anyone who has even spent a few minutes listening to Donald Trump, but the Internet was abuzz last night at the prospect that Donald Trump potentially revealed the existence of a U.S. base in Saudi Arabia... Which is a very, very, very bad thing. We know this is a very, very, very bad thing because violating the "classified" part of "classified intelligence" is exactly why everyone is angry at the existence of Hillary Clinton's e-mail server AND why everyone (including him!!!) is so upset the FBI didn't recommend charges .
It all started with a reporter's tweet...
Oh?
...Oh. Uh oh.
D'oh.
Just to get this straight, Donald Trump receives intelligence briefings now. This is something that was going to happen as soon as he was the official nominee. It's standard operating procedure for both candidates to get briefings so that whoever wins the presidency doesn't go into the job completely unaware of what is going on in the country and the world. However, as this piece at the Wall Street Journal points out , the candidates aren't allowed to divulge the information they receive.
The post also goes on to say, though, that we don't exactly know what happens to a candidate who does reveal the classified intelligence they receive. However, if a U.S. base's location is not public knowledge, then it is really, really bad to reveal the location of the base. Especially when it is in one of the most hostile-to-America regions on the planet. It's just incredibly irresponsible. It's dangerous for the staff there. It's stupid.
But, no one has ever accused Donald Trump of being a genius (except Donald Trump, that is).
Ben Jacobs ✔ @Bencjacobs
Trump is now complaining "we pay rent for our base to Saudi Arabia"
4:23 PM - 29 Jul 2016
If there is now a US military base in Saudi, it is classified and mentioning it should have legal consequences. https:// twitter.com/bencjacobs/sta tus/759137191507337216 …
Dan Mangan @_DanMangan
@ yarotrof @ Bencjacobs gotta hop train, but that's tricky lgl ? Hinge on what he was told, if he had indpt knwlge 1st, what statute says, etc
@ _DanMangan @ yarotrof @ Bencjacobs If he signed the secrecy agreement already as part of getting the briefing, he could be prosecuted.
7:06 PM - 29 Jul 2016
John Burger ツ @ johndburger 18h 18 hours ago
@ mstonemja A businessman who doesn't know there hasn't been a base in Saudi Arabia for thirteen years? @ Bencjacobs
RedBeardedT @ RedBeardedT_SRN 11h 11 hours ago
@ riwired @ pujalords Except Officially we have no military bases in Saudi Arabia, so yes, having a base in SA would be a Classified secret.1/
To be fair, while I detest the man, I knew that there was a base in Saudi Arabia, and I assumed we paid rent on the property-- wherever we have a base. To me, this wasn't a state secret. I mean, every time we throw troops over there, they gather in Saudi Arabia, so I assumed there was a base there.
While I expect him to have loose lips, (that sink ships), to me, this is not a "leak". I'm trying to be fair.
America's secret drone base in Saudi Arabia revealed
The United States has been operating a secret drone base in Saudi Arabia for the past two years as a launch pad for attacks on terror targets in Yemen, it emerged on Wednesday.
"The revelation came after a news blackout on reporting the existence of the base was broken by two US newspapers. The blackout had been agreed by American media organisations and the Obama administration bceause of the national security issues involved.
The first pilotless CIA mission flown from the base killed Anwar al-Awlaki, a US-born cleric and senior figure in al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and a deputy in September 2011, reports said.
Another Predator drone strike killed Awlaki's 16-year-old son Abdulrahman weeks later, though US officials claimed in the Washington Post that he was not the target of the attack.
There have been at least 64 drone attacks on the unstable Arab state since 2002, though President Barack Obama dramatically escalated their frequency to an estimated one a week at times last year.
The disclosure of the drone airfield will embarrass the Saudi royal family, which still faces anger from powerful conservative clerics for allowing the US to establish military bases after the 1991 Gulf war.
Those bases closed by 2003, but the presence of non-Muslim troops on holy soil was effectively deployed as a casus belli by al-Qaeda leaders.
The Washington Post said several US media organisations knew of the drone base but abided by official requests not to disclose its location because of the risk to counter-terrorism cooperation with Saudi Arabia."
You may have thought you knew there was a base, but then you are not running for president.
Evidently this is classified intelligence.
Either he inappropriately revealed classified intelligence or he was spitballing irresponsibly.
I'm NOT defending his actions. I'd say he was spitballing irresponsibly. About what I expect of him...
Dowser, the president cannot irresponsibly spew his train of thought.
Even if newspapers report a secret base, the government denies it for diplomatic reasons.
The government HAS to deny it. He was wrong, and you know i'm not going to vote for him... He has no judgement, he's just a hot ball of wax.
Either the existence of the base is classified information or it isn't. If Trump has signed papers requiring him to protect classified information he needs to keep his mouth shut.
The thought of Donald Trump keeping a secret is laughable. If he doesn't tweet it, he'll keep it all in his back pocket to impress his loser friends at some point. Whiney Little Bitch.