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US leaks name of Manchester bomber, "irritating" the UK

Jackpot

Banned
One of the few times leaks really are the story.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/may/23/trump-administration-manchester-bomber-name-leak

US leak of Manchester attacker's name strikes new blow to intelligence sharing

American officials have been criticised for leaking the identity of the Manchester bomber before British police officially named him.

Salman Abedi was identified in media reports that attributed “US officials” as the source even as their British counterparts remained tight-lipped.

Although UK journalists had Abedi’s name, the UK government and Greater Manchester police declined to confirm it more than two hours after it appeared in the US press. Earlier in the day, the government indicated it might not release the name at all on Tuesday because the investigation was continuing.

On Monday night, a correspondent for America’s ABC network tweeted: “Leading theory is Manchester was a suicide bomber, US senior law enforcement official briefed on the investigation tells @ABC.”

On Tuesday, CBS and NBC were quick to name the suspect believed to have blown himself up following an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena as 22-year-old Salman Abedi. The Reuters news agency, an international organisation with headquarters in London, also published the name, citing “three US officials”, before British police made it public.

Thomas Sanderson, director of the transnational threats project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies thinktank in Washington, said the disclosures would be irritating to the British. “Suddenly you’ve got 10,000 reporters descending on the bomber’s house when maybe the police wanted to approach it more subtly,” he said.

Sanderson warned of ill judgment and lack of discipline in the White House. “This is a leaky administration. What does that mean for sharing information we need to going forward? The UK and Israel are probably our two biggest sources of intelligence. Now they’re thinking, ‘Is this going to cause us damage every time we share?’ Then you have to calculate every piece of information.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-40026413

Home Secretary Amber Rudd has said she is irritated with the US for releasing information about the Manchester bomber before UK police would have liked.

Ms Rudd said the British had wanted to control the flow of information to "keep the element of surprise".

She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme she had been very clear with Washington "that it should not happen again".

Information about the bomber's identity first emerged in the US, and Ms Rudd was asked whether she would be looking at how information sharing may have resulted in the premature release of details the British police and security services had not wanted in the public domain.

The home secretary told Today: "Yes, quite frankly.

"The British police have been very clear they want to control the flow of information in order to protect operational integrity - the element of surprise - so it is irritating if it gets released from other sources, and I've been very clear with our friends that that should not happen again."

Pressed on whether the Americans had compromised the investigation, she said: "I wouldn't go that far, but I can say they are perfectly clear about the situation and that it shouldn't happen again."

She had been concerned that this "might have compromised aspects of the investigation", namely that it may have "alerted associates" of the bomber "that the security forces here knew who they were looking for".

He added: "Ms Rudd, I'm told, got on the blower to US officials and gave them a piece of her mind. Officials say they are in no doubt about our views on that."
 

Regginator

Member
Fucking US officials and media alike need to be ashamed of themselves, but everything for a quick scoop, amirite? The investigation is still fresh and they're all over them like fucking vultures.
 
It seems Trumps stupidity is contagious. Right now the US is a laughing stock though due to it being the US it isn't actually funny, it's depressing.
 

Juicy Bob

Member
I admit this isn't an area of expertise for me, but something makes me highly doubt that such a leak would've occured among our European allies.

I believe this reflects how keeping a strong intelligence relationship with Europe after leaving the EU should be a critical priority.
 

Alx

Member
"intelligence" services... It's surprising how bad secret services are at doing the one thing they're supposed to do : keeping a lid on secret information.
 

Xando

Member
Fuck US officials leaking this. And fuck US media for reporting everything instantly without regards to the developing situation.

Maybe we should shut out the US for the time being.
 
This is really bad news. The US and UK intelligence services seemed to have been working pretty well with each other since 9/11, and it's definitely not good for anyone to go back to the bad old days of quid pro quo sharing of specific pieces of information.
 

SKINNER!

Banned
Fuck US officials leaking this. And fuck US media for reporting everything instantly without regards to the developing situation.

Maybe we should shut out the US for the time being.

b-b-b-but the special and unbreakable relationship.

No matter how matter times the US shits over the UK, Westminster will still come crawling back
 
Why are people blaming Trump on this? I hate the guy as much as anybody else, but US officials always reveal information to US media outlets when there's a terrorist attack.
 

StayDead

Member
b-b-b-but the special and unbreakable relationship.

No matter how matter times the US shits over the UK, Westminster will still come crawling back

Yup, Teresa May especially will be the first person begging to Trump for handouts especially as she wants a hard Brexit.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
If it impacted the investigation = bad.

I'm not really one of those people who think terrorists/mass shooters shouldn't be named at all though. We kinda need to know who the type of people are that would do this so that we as a society can adapt and prevent.

Just name him after it's irrelevant to the process of investigation.
 

Xando

Member
If it impacted the investigation = bad.

I'm not really one of those people who think terrorists/mass shooters shouldn't be named at all though. We kinda need to know who the type of people are that would do this so that we as a society can adapt and prevent.

No one is talking about not naming them.

US media should just wait until officials are ready to name the suspects instead of releasing their name and possibly impact a developing situation for a quick ratings push.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
No one is talking about not naming them.

US media should just wait until officials are ready to name the suspects instead of releasing their name and possibly impact a developing situation for a quick ratings push.
Ah, then I fully agree.
 

Orin GA

I wish I could hat you to death
WOOO!. First again!.

U S A

U S......

Moe-Walks-to-Rejects-Side-The-Simpson.gif
 

Tovarisc

Member
Fucking US officials and media alike need to be ashamed of themselves, but everything for a quick scoop, amirite? The investigation is still fresh and they're all over them like fucking vultures.

Media is always going to go around and poke around for latest details that no one else has. It's what drives sales and viewerships from printed to live news coverage. Something that GAF has no trouble applauding when it's White House leaking (confidential) information about Trump.

It's on the sources / officials to know better and keep their mouth shut.
 
It seems Trumps stupidity is contagious. Right now the US is a laughing stock though due to it being the US it isn't actually funny, it's depressing.

I think it's just that with Trump, come his entire cabinet and their staff and they are just not fit for working in a goverment. You see how many mistaked, typos, leaks they have in their daily work...
 

Dryk

Member
If it impacted the investigation = bad.

I'm not really one of those people who think terrorists/mass shooters shouldn't be named at all though. We kinda need to know who the type of people are that would do this so that we as a society can adapt and prevent.

Just name him after it's irrelevant to the process of investigation.
It says it right there in the article that 36 hours is the magic number. Before that you compromise the investigation into the suspects known associates.
 
Its been been 2 days and they were still hiding the suspects name? I cant imagine that was to protect an ongoing investigation. If anything releasing his name and face would lead to him being tracked down sooner.
 
What does this even mean?

Well let me explain his post:
"It seems Trumps stupidity is contagious."
Trump leaked information about ISIS the US had recieved from Israel's secret service to Russian officials, therefore this situation mirrors the US leaking information about Islamist terrorists from allies.

"Right now the US is a laughing stock"
Currently, the US are making fools of themselves in the international community due to Trump's buffoonery and other things that the American government has botched, to the point of being almost a parody of incompetence.

"though due to it being the US it isn't actually funny, it's depressing."
However, due to the fact the USA are considered a global power thanks to their economic and military strength, the fact this isn't a parody makes this situation not comedic and rather dangerous to the point of being concerning.

Does that help?
 

liquidtmd

Banned
Its been been 2 days and they were still hiding the suspects name? I cant imagine that was to protect an ongoing investigation. If anything releasing his name and face would lead to him being tracked down sooner.

You have several years of training and are fully versed in the training, policy and process of the Met?

Imagine harder.
 

Xando

Member
Its been been 2 days and they were still hiding the suspects name? I cant imagine that was to protect an ongoing investigation. If anything releasing his name and face would lead to him being tracked down sooner.

They released his name yesterday afternoon. US media released it yesterday morning just before CT police were starting raids.

But you probably know better than MI5 and Met.
 

Tovarisc

Member
Its been been 2 days and they were still hiding the suspects name? I cant imagine that was to protect an ongoing investigation. If anything releasing his name and face would lead to him being tracked down sooner.

He was dead. He died when he detonated his IED. They wanted to keep his name etc. under wraps to create cover for police to operate in when tracking down bombers latest activity, contacts etc.

I imagine this leak has played into UK raising terror alert level and deploying military troops to help armed police with securing areas within major cities. They are afraid that bomber had cell and it got scared into wind by leak etc.
 
Its been been 2 days and they were still hiding the suspects name? I cant imagine that was to protect an ongoing investigation. If anything releasing his name and face would lead to him being tracked down sooner.
It seems he was not acting alone. So keeping his name out of the media might have helped in preventing others going into hiding, thinking the police wasn't on their trail.
 

hodgy100

Member
Its been been 2 days and they were still hiding the suspects name? I cant imagine that was to protect an ongoing investigation. If anything releasing his name and face would lead to him being tracked down sooner.

unless you are part of the police or intelligence force I'd say that you should respect that these people know how to deal with these situations a lot better than you do.
 
I am surprised US officials didn't know better to hold off naming the terrorist. I do not know if I blame the media as I assume there is a level of trust that if the US officials give you the information then it is expected to be made public.
 

scotcheggz

Member
I was pretty suprised by this. At the time the official line on the BBC was that the police were not releasing his details because of their investigations and then next minute it was common knowledge. I didn't realise it was a leak from the US.
 

LewieP

Member
Awful move. All attention should be going towards compassion for those affected right now, not giving this horrific individual notoriety,
 
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