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“Loose Lips Sink Ships”
“This phrase was coined as a slogan during WWII as part of the US Office of
War Information's attempt to limit the possibility of people inadvertently
giving useful information to enemy spies. The slogan was actually 'Loose
Lips Might Sink Ships. This was one of several similar slogans which all
came under the campaigns basic message - 'Careless Talk Costs Lives' .”
(Ref. 1)
“US President Donald Trump once said the name
of the dog which was injured when Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
blew himself up in a tunnel would remain classified. So much for that.
“After Mr. Trump was needled by sections of the US media
for tweeting an obviously faked photo of himself with the dog, he was
unable to resist tweeting his response and revealing the name of the dog.
[Emphasis mine]
“{In a blatant violation of long-standing
security protocols, the headline-seeking, thin-skinned president potentially
exposed the identities of the dog’s handler and the Special Operations unit
that tracked down the ISIS terrorist leader. Trump tweeted: }
‘The 'live' version of Conan will be leaving the Middle East for the White
House sometime next week.’
“Speculation about the dog's name had been rife since
Mr. Trump revealed it played a key part in the mission that led to the death
of Baghdadi.
“The President refused to name Conan at the time,
saying his name was ‘classified’. {But, being ‘classified’ meant nothing
to Trump who had accused Hilary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign of
violating national security by her use of a private email account that supposedly
contained ‘classified’ material. Garnering publicity apparently means more to
this President than observing national security rules and regulations! }
“The reason {for not releasing the name of the dog} . . .
was to protect the secret special forces unit Conan was attached to.
Releasing his name could run the risk of identifying the dog's handler and
other soldiers. [Emphasis mine]
“Mr. Trump's decision to reveal the dog's name came
after he was criticised for tweeting a fake photo of himself giving the animal
the Medal of Honour.
“The original photograph was from 2017, when Mr.
Trump awarded a Medal of Honour to {a} retired US Army medic . . .”
(Ref. 2)
Simply being criticized in the media for faking a
photograph was sufficient to cause the president to jeopardize the lives of
the Special Operations troops who had taken part in the raid against the head
of ISIS. It was also sufficient justification for his violating national
security.
Although the dog’s name had previously been reported
in the media, security rules require that such information be “neither confirmed
nor denied” until and unless the information is officially declassified. Some
years ago, when I was working on a classified program under a Navy contract, I
was contacted by the Navy’s program manager who informed me that some classified
information about the program had appeared in the media. The program manager
instructed me to “neither confirm nor deny” the information if I was contacted
by any reporters seeking additional information about the program. This president
feels he is above such restrictions, even if it puts lives at risk.
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References:
- The meaning and origin of the expression: Loose lips sink ships,
The Phrase Finder, Accessed 31 October 2019.
- Donald Trump tweets previously classified name of 'hero' dog from
Baghdadi raid, after photoshopped Medal of Honour image,
abc.net.au, 31 October 2019.
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