Marine took files as part of spy ring

[sgmgrumpy]

Marine took files as part of spy ring (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20071006-9999-1n6spies.html)


Marine Gunnery Sgt. Gary Maziarz said patriotism motivated him to join a spy ring, smuggle secret files from Camp Pendleton and give them to law enforcement officers for anti-terrorism work in Southern California.


The case is an intelligence nightmare, said defense analysts briefed on it.

They also said it unmasks the military's growing role in post-Sept. 11 domestic security and confirms that U.S. officials believe al-Qaeda is active in the United States.

“It gives operational security people brain cooties to think about an incident like this,” said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a think tank that focuses on emerging security concerns.

[SteveMetz]

Marine took files as part of spy ring (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20071006-9999-1n6spies.html)

"Brain cooties"? Technical terms like that really confuse me. What's next--a strategic wet willie?

[Stan]

They also said it unmasks the military's growing role in post-Sept. 11 domestic security and confirms that U.S. officials believe al-Qaeda is active in the United States.

I don't agree with what the Gunny did, nor the folks that received this classified information, but the article would have us believe the Marine gave it to Buck Fin Laden via US LEOs.

Talk about opening a can of worms. While they should be punished, are we really holding information back from Law Enforcement ?

Do we as a nation expect those to cover our six with no information while our military are abroad fighting ?

The whole story stinks

[davidbfpo]

There is a case in London, where a career Special Branch / Counter Terrorist detective retired and returned as a civilian employee in the same area. He was identified as having "leaked" a sensitive document to the press, for reasons as yet unknown and rumour suggests he'd "leaked" before.

Yes, different to the California case referred to, but it happens.

The balance between the 'need to know' and the 'need to share' remains. A point well made in the Colin Cramphorn lecture, in early 2007, by Peter Clarke, the UK police national co-ordinator for terrorism investigations. How is secret information on a live threat communicated downwards to the officer on the street?

davidbfpo

[davidbfpo]

Here is the link to the lecture:

http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/images/libimages/252.pdf

davidbfpo

[slapout9]

Talk about opening a can of worms. While they should be punished, are we really holding information back from Law Enforcement ?


Sad to say they are:mad: This even happens within the LE community. It turns into a jurisdiction nightmare. :mad:

[walrus]

The issue is, as has been proved a thousand times in a thousand different jurisdictions, is that these "leakages" of information are invariably eventually abused by those in power.

And for those who think I am a bleeding heart Liberal, I must add that it doesn't matter which party is in power. The basic issue is that Administrations will use threats regarding "security" to justify any and all intrusions, and this issue is at least 400 years old, it was recognised in the British Common Law as well as the American Constitution.

To put it another way, are you happy to perhaps see Hilary Clinton trolling through your email and sharing details with LEO's?

Sad to see it being revisited, but there you go.....

[shark11]

This whole thing stinks....sounds like the Gunny and his cronies who include a few colonels really thought they were doing something very patriotic but I would like to know what this Gunny was doing for the Marines of I MEF downrange in Iraq he should have been doing intelligence work for. I'm glad this ring of clowns was caught but I wonder how many people in the U.S. are passing controlled material to people other than LEO's.

Calling this case a spy ring is a bit extreme. I don't know if spying involves passing information to the same government.... this is more of a security violation than anything else.

Maybe the Posse Comitatus act wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

[SWJED]

... for anyone who might think the Gunny as a "uber-patriot", his downfall was the discovery of a cache of war loot he had stolen.