RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — There are five active-duty military bases, a military ocean terminal, a U.S. Coast Guard base, and multiple National Guard and reserve installations in North Carolina.
At any given time, the state is home to 100,000 active duty personnel. Some are deployed on missions so secret that we never find out the mission existed while others become public after the fact.
“So, people who are doing missions from Fort Bragg or other bases, you know they rely on the fact that people who know what these missions are, where they’re going, what they’re doing, that that information is secure and won’t fall into the wrong people’s hands. So, we need as a society to take this seriously,” said David Schanzer.
Schanzer is the director of the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security and professor of the practice at the Duke Sanford School of Public Policy.
Schanzer agrees that the recent Pentagon document leak could undermine Ukraine’s war effort. But he also says the U.S. still managed to gain intel on Russia and Putin at crucial times during the conflict. Now that Russia knows more of what we know about Russia’s strategy, it may mean Ukraine and its allies have to pivot.
“So, our intelligence agencies, these things happen, it’s tragic when it does. But they adapt, they come up with new techniques and procedures and I think they do a fantastic job to help support national security policy makers make good decisions,” said Schanzer.
Schanzer said this incident emphasizes the seriousness of classified documents ending up in someone’s personal possession. Specifically, President Biden and former president Donald Trump.
The leak also includes a list of intelligence that involves other countries as well. Some are close partners with the United States.
Schanzer isn’t concerned that will alter those relationships.
“You know among professionals everybody understands that these things happen. But it’s a different matter for politics and so on. So sometimes you have to express public outrage, but the relationships are strong, and this is something they can surmount,” he said.
