The White House has spent the week trying to downplay the revelation that top national security officials discussed plans for U.S. strikes in Yemen on Signal, a commercial messaging app. In a stunning breach of national security, the Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, disclosed specific operational details before the attacks in the group chat, which inadvertently included The Atlantic’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg. Several Democrats called for Mr. Hegseth to step down. But the Trump administration has tried to divert or sidestep the issues.
Dave Abdallah wasn’t happy with the way Mr. Trump and those around him kept downplaying the Signal chat security breach. They “are totally wrong,” Mr. Abdallah said. The breach, he added, could have cost U.S. soldiers their lives. “This is a serious, serious mistake,” he said of the entire affair.
Perry Hunter, a real estate broker, took time to learn the details before deciding what he thought of the situation. This time, he ended up thinking that the scandal was not much of a scandal at all, saying that the chat included no specific war plans, echoing the White House’s description.
Tali Jackont compared it with how closely military secrets are kept in Israel, her home country. When Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service, conducts an operation, no one claims responsibility even if it seems obvious, she said. “No one will tell you, until they tell you,” she said.
Jaime Escobar Jr. knew how important it was to protect sensitive government information. “That is a big mistake, and they just have to be extra careful about it,” he said. It’s a lesson that needs to be learned very quickly and just cannot be repeated.
Isaiah Thompson wondered how any member of the federal government could make such a mistake. Then he wondered how Democrats — rather than Republicans — would react. “The left hasn’t had much to fight with or defend themselves with. It would seem like this could give them a foothold,” he said.
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