TO “C” OR NOT TO “SEE”, THAT IS THE QUESTION

When I heard Hillary Clinton claim that she did not know what “C” meant on a “Confidential” e-mail on her private server, I was alarmed. Logically, she would also claim that she didn’t know what “S” or “TS” meant or, in other word, “Secret” or “Top Secret”. To make matters even worse, she would probably claim not to know what “NO FORN (Foreign)” meant. Anyone who believes her claims of ignorance regarding the significance of classification is an “I” for idiot.

The situation, however, is actually even worse than not knowing “C”, “S” or “TS”. There are national secrets and human assets so important that “Special Access” is needed, and only a select few are given “need to know” clearance.  I ran into a “Special Access” situation with what was called a letter designation program.  My boss at the time, a Navy Captain, said that if I didn’t know what the letter meant then I had no business trying to know.  This was very disconcerting because I didn’t know whether the information contained within the letter designation program was relevant to my area of expertise in nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) defense.   It became a rather interesting drill reducing the classification to something that was useable for program purposes.

Then there are ticklish situations.  For example, I received information from the CIA.  They wanted to know what I thought about the information.  I told them everything provided was available from commercial sources and was not unique or of particular use.   Well, the fact that the CIA provided the information was a problem in that it exposed their interest in that particular area of technology.   To protect the CIA, I destroyed their information by shredding it and placing the remains in a “Secret, No Foreign” burn bag.  After that, if they wanted me to look at something, I went to the CIA headquarters or the Pentagon.  By the way, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) also had an interest in the CIA information so parochial challenges had to be dealt with.

Here is the bottom line:  Hillary isn’t incompetent, she didn’t make a mistake, and she abused national security.  She is a liar and a crook – and under normal circumstances would likely face life in prison.  Of great significance, she knew exactly what she was doing in establishing a private personal server to conduct pay for play and money laundering activities that would make the Mafia proud.   

Hillary figured she would never be caught.  Unfortunately for her, and very fortunately for Americans, the emails containing various levels of classification were leaked.  As far as national security is concerned, this is not good news as America’s secrets and people’s lives are now in the hands of not only Wikileaks but virtually every country that has an interest in the geopolitics of America’s leadership.

Donald Trump is right on the money when he calls her “crooked Hillary”.  The only additional question is who else is part of her gang of crooks.