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Mr. Romney yet to receive an intelligence briefing

Larrry

Well-known member
The "Logistics" of Intelligence

Gee, I never knew the "logistics" of intelligence briefings were so difficult.


Amid the kerfuffle over Mitt Romney's comments about anti-American violence in the Middle East (and the murder of our ambassador to Libya), we also learned this rather interesting fact:


Almost three weeks after accepting his party's nomination for President, Mr. Romney was yet to receive an intelligence briefing.


Given the gravity of issues facing a prospective commander-in-chief, it has become customary for each party's nominee to receive regular intelligence updates during the run-up to the fall election. In 2008, then-Senator Barack Obama received his first briefing just five days after accepting the Democratic nomination.


So why hasn't Mitt Romney received the same courtesy? According to a spokesman for the Director of National Intelligence, it's a matter of "logistics."


As the nominee, Romney should receive classified briefings on U.S. intelligence, but administration officials said that hasn't been arranged yet.

"The intelligence community is working closely with the Romney campaign to finalize the logistics for the candidate briefings," said Shawn Turner, spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.


Incidentally, that information was buried deep in an Associated Press article that followed the media "theme of the day," suggesting that Mr. Romney somehow misspoke on the Middle East, spoke too soon, or violated the old dictum that "politics ends at the water's edge."


I'll leave that debate to others, but it is rather curious that John Kerry repeatedly criticized George W. Bush's handling of the Iraq War during the 2004 campaign, and even Barack Obama used the deaths of nine American soldiers to criticize President Bush and the 2008 GOP nominee, John McCain.


Equally curious is the "logistics" argument that has supposedly prevented Mr. Romney from receiving intelligence updates. While details of these briefings have not been disclosed, they are believed similar to the Presidential Daily Brief (PDB), which is provided to the commander-in-chief.


As a former command intelligence briefer, I'm wondering why it has become so difficult to get information to Mr. Obama's Republican rival. In reality, the "logistics," cited by Turner are rather simple. As noted in previous posts, the intelligence community has invested heavily in secure communications networks for the dissemination of Secret and Top Secret information. Data classified up to the Secret level can be posed on SIPRNET (Secret Internet Protocol Router Network), while TS/SCI material is hosted on the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System (JWICS).


Terminals for the JWICS (read: desktop or laptop PCs with the right comm connections and security systems) are located at all intelligence nodes and most military installations. Regardless of where Mr. Romney is campaigning, he's never more than a couple of hours from a sensitive compartmentalized intelligence facility (SCIF), where intelligence briefers can access the latest information and provide it to the Republican candidate.


Shouldn't be that difficult. Today, for example, Governor Romney is campaigning in Fairfax, Virginia, barely 16 miles from ODNI headquarters in nearby McLean. Yeah, traffic on the Beltway or I-66 can be a bear, but it wouldn't be that difficult to dispatch a briefer to Mr. Romney's hotel and allow him to review a hard-copy or computer version of the daily summary.


The same drill applies at more remote locations. On Friday, Mr. Romney will be on the road in Painesville, Ohio, near Cleveland. One of the largest intelligence organizations in the Air Force, the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC), is located at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, 235 miles away. A DNI briefer could easily access intel information at that node and ferry it to Mr. Romney at Painesville. Intelligence material is also available through JWICS terminals belonging to the Ohio National Guard and Air National Guard, along with federal law enforcement agencies. And thanks to the Joint Personnel Adjudication System (JPAS), the security clearance and identity of anyone with access to classified information can be instantly verified.


But let's say the intel update contains Special Access Program/Special Access Required (SAP/SAR) material, or ODNI doesn't want to coordinate working from someone else's facility. In those situations, the ODNI briefer still has the option of preparing the briefing in McLean, and flying to Mr. Romney's destination on a government jet. It's hardly a problem for the DNI to schedule such a flight and coordinate it with the Romney campaign, so the information reaches the candidate at the scheduled time.


Truth be told, the "logistics" of getting intel information to Governor Romney are pretty simple. It's really a matter of professional courtesy, one that was readily extended to candidate Obama in 2008, but one that has been denied to Mr. Romney this time around. It's a subject you'd think the mainstream media might be interested in, but they're too busy trying to stretch the Libya e theme into multiple news cycles.
http://formerspook.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-logistics-of-intelligence.html
 

cowman52

Well-known member
And you think Axleod, Jarrett, Penata, and every other White House insider hasn't sanitized it to the point that my 3 yr old grandikids pictures on the refrigerator door are of twice the value??
 

Steve

Well-known member
Romney and vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan had not begun receiving intelligence briefings similar to those the president and vice president receive — a courtesy usually extended to the opposing party's nominees once they are formally nominated.

Obama received his starting five days after his nomination..

by the same standard .. it has been a few weeks and it was just promised to start sometime "next week"...

I would expect a few delays.. but am confident by early January 2013,... he will be getting them..

They will begin next week and, beyond that, we will have no further comment."
 

Steve

Well-known member
cowman52 said:
And you think Axleod, Jarrett, Penata, and every other White House insider hasn't sanitized it to the point that my 3 yr old grandikids pictures on the refrigerator door are of twice the value??


it will look a bit like this...
Aclu-v-ashcroft-redacted.jpg
 

Tam

Well-known member
Seems Obama is taking his National Security briefings printed out on paper, reading them on his way to the next Fund Raiser, AND has been for his whole Presidentcy according to reports.

Well at least Obama claims he reads them but somehow I doubt he is if he didn't booster security in the Middle East when his Administration got intel warning of the violence coming on the Anniversary of 911, according to reports coming out of FOREIGN MEDIA SOURCES.

So what would be so hard for them to run off two copies one for the Campaigner in Chief and give the other to Romney and if he has questions about what is being ignored by Obama while he is out glad handing his donors and playing Mr COOL Predisent on Late Night TV, he can start asking questions before it is too late and Ambassadors are losing their lives? :x
 

cowman52

Well-known member
Hard to read a daily briefing between work out, espn, letterman, vanity fair, swearing up and down that we are safer than ever before, I think steves post is the same one Obama reads.
 

Faster horses

Well-known member
cowman52 said:
Hard to read a daily briefing between work out, espn, letterman, vanity fair, swearing up and down that we are safer than ever before, I think steves post is the same one Obama reads.

Maybe he can't read. We aren't sure he ever went to school are we? :p :wink: :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Steve said:
Romney and vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan had not begun receiving intelligence briefings similar to those the president and vice president receive — a courtesy usually extended to the opposing party's nominees once they are formally nominated.

Obama received his starting five days after his nomination..

by the same standard .. it has been a few weeks and it was just promised to start sometime "next week"...

I would expect a few delays.. but am confident by early January 2013,... he will be getting them..

They will begin next week and, beyond that, we will have no further comment."

Obama was also a United States Senator and already working under a government position which required him to have taken an oath of office to protect the constitution and the country and completed a background/clearance check...

What position does Romney hold ? Unemployed Multi-Millionaire :???:
Has he ever had a Federal background security check :???:

At this point- Ryan would probably be more authorized for intelligence briefings.....
 

Larrry

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
Steve said:
Romney and vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan had not begun receiving intelligence briefings similar to those the president and vice president receive — a courtesy usually extended to the opposing party's nominees once they are formally nominated.

Obama received his starting five days after his nomination..

by the same standard .. it has been a few weeks and it was just promised to start sometime "next week"...

I would expect a few delays.. but am confident by early January 2013,... he will be getting them..

They will begin next week and, beyond that, we will have no further comment."

Obama was also a United States Senator and already working under a government position which required him to have taken an oath of office to protect the constitution and the country and completed a background/clearance check...

What position does Romney hold ? Unemployed Multi-Millionaire :???:
Has he ever had a Federal background security check :???:

At this point- Ryan would probably be more authorized for intelligence briefings.....

That has absolutely nothing to do with the fact Romney hasn't gotten current intelligence briefings. Why can't the obama regime co-operate.
 

Texan

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
Obama was also a United States Senator and already working under a government position which required him to have taken an oath of office to protect the constitution and the country and completed a background/clearance check...
How's that working out? Seems that oath wasn't worth much, was it?
 

Mike

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
Steve said:
Romney and vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan had not begun receiving intelligence briefings similar to those the president and vice president receive — a courtesy usually extended to the opposing party's nominees once they are formally nominated.

Obama received his starting five days after his nomination..

by the same standard .. it has been a few weeks and it was just promised to start sometime "next week"...

I would expect a few delays.. but am confident by early January 2013,... he will be getting them..

They will begin next week and, beyond that, we will have no further comment."

Obama was also a United States Senator and already working under a government position which required him to have taken an oath of office to protect the constitution and the country and completed a background/clearance check...

What position does Romney hold ? Unemployed Multi-Millionaire :???:
Has he ever had a Federal background security check :???:

At this point- Ryan would probably be more authorized for intelligence briefings.....

There are no security/clearance checks for Senators & Congressmen.

We have received a lot of question asking “How did Obama get this far, he must have had background checks as he is a U.S. Senator.”

However, this is inaccurate according to Special Agent-in-Charge: C. Frank Figliuzzi of the Cleveland FBI. Background checks are not performed on those elected, once elected they work for Congress and are handed a secret clearance. See below:

This is a conversation between the Special Agent-in-Charge: C. Frank Figliuzzi of the Cleveland FBI and Mike Trivisonno on the Mike Trivisonno Show, WTAM 1100, 7/02/08, Hr. 2.

Caller – Do they perform background checks on candidates and fellows who are in Congress and the Senate and perhaps potential presidential candidates?.

FBI – The short answer is no, no we don’t, but they’re given top secret clearances because they’re members of Congress, or Senators, or even higher ranking officials.

Host – Time out. There are no background checks from the FBI on the people that lead the country, the United States of America?.

FBI – Let me emphasize, elected officials. This is a democracy, the people have elected an official to represent them in Washington, and we do not routinely run background checks on those people.

Host – Even people running for president of the United States of America?.

FBI – That’s correct.

Host – That’s a little weird

FBI – Well, its part of democracy, its part of what the American people want, they want to be able to vote for somebody to represent them in Washington and they don’t want us to get in the way of that and we have no predilection to get in the way of that.

Host – Yeah, but what if they’re voting for a bad person and they don’t know that person is bad, do you follow me?. I’m saying, if the guy’s got a background and maybe he’s involved with some people that he shouldn’t be involved with, shouldn’t we know that as voters?.

FBI – Well, I think you’d agree that the American political process is about as rigorous as you’ll ever see and if there’s dirt back there, probably the opponent is gonna get it out probably before anyone else will.

Host – Now I know why you’re the head of the FBI, they’re good, aren’t they?.”
 

Tam

Well-known member
Faster horses said:
cowman52 said:
Hard to read a daily briefing between work out, espn, letterman, vanity fair, swearing up and down that we are safer than ever before, I think steves post is the same one Obama reads.

Maybe he can't read. We aren't sure he ever went to school are we? :p :wink: :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

If you can trust anything in his book, he at least made it to the parking lot at the school as that is were him and his home boys were spending most of their time. :wink:
 

Tam

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
Steve said:
Romney and vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan had not begun receiving intelligence briefings similar to those the president and vice president receive — a courtesy usually extended to the opposing party's nominees once they are formally nominated.

Obama received his starting five days after his nomination..

by the same standard .. it has been a few weeks and it was just promised to start sometime "next week"...

I would expect a few delays.. but am confident by early January 2013,... he will be getting them..

They will begin next week and, beyond that, we will have no further comment."

Obama was also a United States Senator and already working under a government position which required him to have taken an oath of office to protect the constitution and the country and completed a background/clearance check...

What position does Romney hold ? Unemployed Multi-Millionaire :???:
Has he ever had a Federal background security check :???:

At this point- Ryan would probably be more authorized for intelligence briefings.....

Don't even go there your hero with his so called background/clearance check broke every rule in the books when he used top secret info about the Bin Laden Kill to make himself look good in the media. He put a target on the backs of every Seal Team Six member and their families to make himeself look good.
I have to wonder what is going to happen when the Bin Laden Movie that was made to show to the world the greatness of the Obama and his couragous decision to take out Osama hits the air waves if a 13 minute You Tube video supposedly cause riots in 20 different countries like Obama claimed it did.
 

Steve

Well-known member
Romney was the governor of a state...

When National Guard units are not under federal control, the governor is the commander-in-chief of the units of his or her respective state,

States are free to employ their National Guard forces under state control for state purposes and at state expense as provided in the state’s constitution and statutes. In doing so, Governors, as commanders-in-chief, can directly access and utilize the Guard’s federally assigned aircraft, vehicles and other equipment

The 104th Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard located in Westfield, Massachusetts, is an operational flying unit assigned to the Air Combat Command,

102d Intelligence Wing (102 IW), of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, is a military intelligence unit located at Otis Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts.

Major units of the Massachusetts Army National Guard include the following:

26th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade - Yankee
101st Field Artillery Regiment - Boston Light Artillery
101st Engineer Battalion (United States)
101st Infantry Regiment (United States)
181st Infantry Regiment (United States)
182nd Infantry Regiment (United States)
211th Military Police Battalion - First Corps of Cadets
164th Transportation Battalion
126th Aviation Regiment (United States)
54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment

I would say he probably already had a security clearance..

it is not like it is something you brag about... :shock:
 

hopalong

Well-known member
Probabally has a higher clearance that oldtimer and all his contacts with the BSA, GSA, FFA. ETC

Especially since oldtimer once again showed just how out of touch he is with the real world, with all that time spent with his head in a dark area of his leader
 
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