According to the newspaper, last year they called for more information to be made public about Moscow and Beijing’s alleged “detrimental behaviour” in the international arena
US intelligence agencies are considering declassifying and releasing more information on the actions of Russia and China following an appeal by the heads of nine of the 11 joint and special US military commands. This was reported on Monday by Politico newspaper, citing its sources.
According to them, the nine generals made a rare and urgent request last year to release more information about the alleged “detrimental behaviour” of Moscow and Beijing in the international arena. Only by “exposing the truth against America’s rivals in the 21st century” can it gain the support of allies, the command chiefs argue. But attempts to compete with Russia and China in the information war, they suggest, are hampered by overly strict rules of secrecy. The document, in particular, calls on US intelligence to publish satellite images documenting the actions of Russia and China. Thus, according to the publication’s sources, the heads of commands do not receive the information they need, or get it too late, or with a high level of secrecy, so that it cannot be passed on to allies and partners.
As Politico notes, the generals’ letter “caused a huge stir” in the Pentagon, the intelligence community and in Congress last year. However, only the heads of the Central Command, whose area of operational responsibility includes primarily the Middle East, and the Cyber Command did not sign the message. Admiral Philip Davidson, head of Indo-Pacific Command, had the idea for the letter. However, the message itself has not been classified, it has been categorised as “for official use only”.
Politico had earlier reported that the office of US Director of National Intelligence, Evryl Haines, had begun setting up a centre to combat covert foreign influence on the country’s domestic political processes. The so-called centre to combat malicious foreign influences is to be established “as soon as possible”. The formation of the centre was envisaged by earlier US intelligence appropriations legislation.