US intelligence services are considering declassifying and disclosing more information about Russia and China as part of the confrontation in the information war, they were asked by the heads of most of the commands of the US Armed Forces, Politico newspaper reported, citing sources.
According to the newspaper, representatives of nine commands of the US Armed Forces submitted a request to intelligence to declassify such information. In 2020, they drafted a letter asking for more information that could then be released to the public to combat the “harmful behavior” of countries.
According to the newspaper, the appeal says that Washington can get the support of its allies only through “a public struggle for the truth against those who challenge America in the 21st century.” According to the military, the sphere of satellite imagery needs to be made more open. They called on the intelligence to release such pictures and photographs, which recorded “the behavior of the opponents.”
According to one of the unnamed ex-employees of the US Department of Defense, the heads of command do not receive the necessary information or receive it late, and sometimes it turns out to be classified, and therefore cannot be disseminated.
“The Russians and the Chinese, in particular, are using information as a weapon. This is a serious issue raised by commanders and intelligence experts,” Carey Bingen, deputy defense secretary for intelligence and security, told Politico, who is reportedly aware of the message.
The appeal of the military, according to the newspaper, was not made public, but caused a “sensation” in the Pentagon, the intelligence community and in Congress. The writing of the letter was organized by the head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, Philip Davidson. It was signed by nine division heads (four-star generals) out of 11. The note was not classified, but was marked as “for official use only.”
Earlier, Politico newspaper reported that the office of the Director of National Intelligence of the United States will create a unit to combat “foreign malign influence” (Foreign Malign Influence Center) from Russia, Iran, North Korea and China.
In March 2021, the United States intelligence released a report in which it accused Moscow of trying to support former US President Donald Trump, discredit the current American leader Joe Biden and “sow discord” in American society. Moscow denies any involvement in this. Leonid Slutsky, the head of the Duma’s international affairs committee, noted that intelligence “has not said anything new,” while the myth of the Russian threat is being used in the United States for domestic political purposes.
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