An operational war plan got loose. So what? In January 1940, a German plane crashed in Belgium carrying Hitler’s war plan to invade France. The French were thrilled, smugly sure they were ready for the Germans. Realizing that, the Germans completely changed their plan. The French went to war against the old plan, and the Germans used the vastly improved new plan and conquered France in five weeks.
In June 1943, another German plane crashed carrying the war plan for their offensive to capture the Kursk salient in the Soviet Union. The Soviets took the German plan and reworked their defenses. The German offensive, perhaps their most powerful in World War II, was stopped in its tracks. They never mounted another major attack against the Soviet Union for the rest of the war. Hitler lost the war at Kursk.
War plans gone astray have decided the fate of nations. No one suggests that with our war plan in their hands, Yemen could have defeated the U.S. But they could have handed us a real disaster.
President Trump has refused to punish the perpetrators of this scandal. By comparison, during Trump’s first term, Reality Winner was prosecuted for releasing a one-page classified document concerning Russian interference in our 2016 election. She got more than five years in prison, the longest sentence ever passed down for such an infraction.
So, sunshine patriots: What do we do now? Do we protect national security or bow down to power that obeys no rules?
Robert Supansic
McKeesport