Obama to Begin Intelligence Brieifings

[sacase]

By briefs I meant classified briefs in general. Of course he hasn't sat through a presidential brief , but he has sat through classified briefs before so it shouldn't come as a complete culture shock to McCain like it will to Obama.

As a Naval Officer McCain MAY have recieved a brief at the secret level at most.

As a Aviator he may have seen some secret imagery.

Nothing even remotely close to what Obama is going to be read into.

A PDB isn't what most people think it is.

[GibbsFactor]

Yeah, I like that.

"Through expanded access, greater than what he had in his briefings as a candidate or as a Senator, he will see the full range of capabilities we deploy for the United States."

[sleazye]

As a Naval Officer McCain MAY have recieved a brief at the secret level at most.

As a Aviator he may have seen some secret imagery.

Nothing even remotely close to what Obama is going to be read into.

A PDB isn't what most people think it is.

Sacase, you keep talking in this cryptic language like there's some out of this world **** going on and you don't even give us a taste? "C'Mon Maaaan"

[sacase]

Sacase, you keep talking in this cryptic language like there's some out of this world **** going on and you don't even give us a taste? "C'Mon Maaaan"

Apply at www.dia.mil or www.cia.gov, get hired, get your clearence,get your poly and we can talk about a few things.

[RyansRangers]

can you imagine the first time you hear all that info and you cant tell anyone? I would be freaking out like I gotta to tell some one, I would have to tell my dog

[Zguy28]

Well Barack is on the Foreign relations committee with Biden.

The world of intelligence isn't like some uber-cool community or something. Its mostly boring briefs etc.

[MikeInJc aka M.I.A.]

As a Naval Officer McCain MAY have recieved a brief at the secret level at most.

Not necessarily true. When I was in the Army I had to brief officers at a higher level. Same goes for the Navy. Some of their officers receive highly sensitive briefings

[sacase]

Not necessarily true. When I was in the Army I had to brief officers at a higher level. Same goes for the Navy. Some of their officers receive highly sensitive briefings

Well the reason I say secret level at most, is based on his career. He was never in command, so there are few instances in which he would have a need to know.

[SkinsHokieFan]

Apply at www.dia.mil or www.cia.gov, get hired, get your clearence,get your poly and we can talk about a few things.

Got to that poly part

[sacase]

Got to that poly part

Yeah that part can suck. Took me many hours to get through mine.

[SkinsFanJPD]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081105/ap_on_el_pr/obama

Now that we can move past all the Election Campaign Crap. Can you imagine being involved in these meetings for the first time? I know as Senator you have privy info but nothing to this extent.. Your eyes must be wide open and jaw dropped when you learn about all the covert missions and national security info the first time. I dont care Obama or Mccain this is really cool imo

I hope the intelligence briefings give him some intelligence. Because what we know about Obama's views thus far gives one concern that he needs some.

[SkinsHokieFan]

Yeah that part can suck. Took me many hours to get through mine.

[Capt Rich Fla]

Apply at www.dia.mil or www.cia.gov, get hired, get your clearence,get your poly and we can talk about a few things.

Now that is just horse ****! You come in here with some juicy knowedge and dangle a carrot and won't tell us about the goodies? Now you listen here. You better start talking and talk now. Enquiring minds want to know. Details! Details!

[Reic]

Sacase, why was "Area 51" moved to Colorado?

[Corcaigh]

Now that is just horse ****! You come in here with some juicy knowedge and dangle a carrot and won't tell us about the goodies? Now you listen here. You better start talking and talk now. Enquiring minds want to know. Details! Details!

I know two guys socially who have been involved in the daily briefings. At times they seem unsure if telling you their last name is giving away too much information.

[Mad Mike]

On a different but associated note (and this is directed at those of you who have or have access to classified info), don't you think the government goes a little overboard with what it considers secret?

I mean come on... Area 51 has been photographed from a thousand different angles but the government still refuses to admit it exists. Read any redacted document and it looks like a kid with a magic marker and a cruel sense of humor decided to black out random words. Look at some of the things that are de-classified and it's hard to tell what they were worried about in the first place.

Now I'm not saying that there are not real secrets with good reason to keep them that way, but to use the war on terror as an example. I think that some of the information that is held back would be better off told to the American people. Looking at what has been released about Iraq under Saddam, I cant help but think that if this is what they will tell us, what the hell is under all of that black ink and how much worse must the real truth be.

[Larry]

Just speaking from complete ignorance, but I'd assume that sometimes information is classified because we don't want to reveal how much (or, I suppose, how little) we know.

But I do agree with your general thrust. I can certainly understand, for example, why we want to classify the complete roster of the prisoners we have at Gitmo. However, I honestly believe that the only reason the government won't reveal the approximate number is because doing so would not harm the security of the US, but it might harm the Party in charge.

By a similar reasoning, I see no reason why the People can't be told what criteria are used to decide who goes there, who makes the decision, and what kind or treatment is performed there.

[skinfan2k]

Some information is only on a need to know basis. You dont need to know some classified materials

[sacase]

Just speaking from complete ignorance, but I'd assume that sometimes information is classified because we don't want to reveal how much (or, I suppose, how little) we know.

But I do agree with your general thrust. I can certainly understand, for example, why we want to classify the complete roster of the prisoners we have at Gitmo. However, I honestly believe that the only reason the government won't reveal the approximate number is because doing so would not harm the security of the US, but it might harm the Party in charge.

By a similar reasoning, I see no reason why the People can't be told what criteria are used to decide who goes there, who makes the decision, and what kind or treatment is performed there.

This is partially right, we don't want anyone to know what exactly we know. However, one of the biggest reasons is protecting our sources. We don't want to give up how we got the information be it HUMINT, SIGINT or IMINT. There is a big push to make sure we do not over classify stuff as well. None of what we classify is related to politics, its about national security. There are written riles about classification and classification authorities, it is not arbitrary.

[sacase]

Sacase, why was "Area 51" moved to Colorado?

When I first got my clearence....the very first thing I looked up was Area 51......LOL

[Zguy28]

On a different but associated note (and this is directed at those of you who have or have access to classified info), don't you think the government goes a little overboard with what it considers secret?

I don't know. Radio frequencies that the E-2C Hawkeye uses in it AWACs patrols seems like a good thing to keep under wraps.

[Larry]

I don't know. Radio frequencies that the E-2C Hawkeye uses in it AWACs patrols seems like a good thing to keep under wraps.

Remembering during Desert Storm, one of Norm Schwartzkopf's Press Briefings:

Q: General, you say we've conducted hundreds of air missions, over several days, into Iraq, and into Baghdad itself, using cruise missiles and manned aircraft. Into a country which at least claims to have more anti-aircraft armaments and technology than any location other than Moscow. And yet you also say we have not suffered one single casualty. Not even lost one aircraft, after hundreds of missions. How do you reconcile these claims?

A: (Pause) I . . . don't think I want to tell you why their anti-aircraft isn't working better.

[MikeInJc aka M.I.A.]

However, one of the biggest reasons is protecting our sources.

BINGO. As the saying goes in the community "What use is a dead source?"

[Capt Rich Fla]

When I first got my clearence....the very first thing I looked up was Area 51......LOL

Weeeeeeell. Out with it! We won't tell a soul.

[Ellis]

So here's something I want clarifying on...

The 2003 New York State blackout a few years ago.

Was it the Chinese via computer hackers that caused it?

I have a few friends 'in the know' who have said it was classified but there are plenty of articles on the net that have spoken about it. The topic is simply not acknowledged or disputed by our intelligence agencies.

Also... back in August, who hacked McCain and Obama campaign computers? Russia or China or both?