Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Of leaks and such

You can never be entirely sure of the motivation of a government official leaking to you, even when they tell you why they are giving you the information.

By , a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy.
030305-D-2987S-033
Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld (left) and Commander, Central Command Gen. Tommy Franks, U.S. Army, listen to a question at the close of a Pentagon press conference on March 5, 2003.  Rumsfeld and Franks gave reporters an operational update and fielded questions on the possible conflict in Iraq. DoD photo by Helene C. Stikkel.  (Released)
030305-D-2987S-033 Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld (left) and Commander, Central Command Gen. Tommy Franks, U.S. Army, listen to a question at the close of a Pentagon press conference on March 5, 2003. Rumsfeld and Franks gave reporters an operational update and fielded questions on the possible conflict in Iraq. DoD photo by Helene C. Stikkel. (Released)
030305-D-2987S-033 Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld (left) and Commander, Central Command Gen. Tommy Franks, U.S. Army, listen to a question at the close of a Pentagon press conference on March 5, 2003. Rumsfeld and Franks gave reporters an operational update and fielded questions on the possible conflict in Iraq. DoD photo by Helene C. Stikkel. (Released)

 

 

You can never be entirely sure of the motivation of a government official leaking to you, even when they tell you why they are giving you the information.

But in my experience of 35 years of reporting, most of them in Washington, the majority of leaks seem not to be personal but professional. That is, an Air Force colonel in charge of one aspect of an acquisition program feels that a member of Congress is being unfair to that program because that member has in his district the headquarters of a competing firm that wanted the contract. But he doesn’t want to end his career by antagonizing that member. Or a congressional staffer feels that counter sea mine warfare is being stiffed in the defense budget (it always is) and gives you the documentation on the Navy’s painful shortfalls in that area.

My point is that most leaks are institutional in nature, not personal. The only time I can remember getting a lot of personal leaks was when Donald Rumsfeld was defense secretary. His heavy-handed manner and shoddy handling of the Iraq war antagonized a lot of senior officers. I was at the Washington Post at the time.

Late one afternoon at the Post, my desk phone rang. Picking up the receiver, I heard the voice of a general I knew. He was chuckling. “Hey Tom, I thought you’d like this,” he began. “You know what Rummy just said in the Tank at the end of the meeting? ‘And I DON’T want to read all this in tomorrow’s Washington Post.’”

I reached for my long reporter’s notebook and began to take notes.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1

Read More On Military

More from Foreign Policy

Children are hooked up to IV drips on the stairs at a children's hospital in Beijing.
Children are hooked up to IV drips on the stairs at a children's hospital in Beijing.

Chinese Hospitals Are Housing Another Deadly Outbreak

Authorities are covering up the spread of antibiotic-resistant pneumonia.

Henry Kissinger during an interview in Washington in August 1980.
Henry Kissinger during an interview in Washington in August 1980.

Henry Kissinger, Colossus on the World Stage

The late statesman was a master of realpolitik—whom some regarded as a war criminal.

A Ukrainian soldier in helmet and fatigues holds a cell phone and looks up at the night sky as an explosion lights up the horizon behind him.
A Ukrainian soldier in helmet and fatigues holds a cell phone and looks up at the night sky as an explosion lights up the horizon behind him.

The West’s False Choice in Ukraine

The crossroads is not between war and compromise, but between victory and defeat.

Illustrated portraits of Reps. MIke Gallagher, right, and Raja Krishnamoorthi
Illustrated portraits of Reps. MIke Gallagher, right, and Raja Krishnamoorthi

The Masterminds

Washington wants to get tough on China, and the leaders of the House China Committee are in the driver’s seat.