For sale: Military secrets, slightly used

Oddjob points to this post at BlondeSense, which directs us to a stunning article in the LA Times.

No more than 200 yards from the main gate of the sprawling U.S. base here, stolen computer drives containing classified military assessments of enemy targets, names of corrupt Afghan officials and descriptions of American defenses are on sale in the local bazaar...

The thefts of computer drives have the potential to expose military secrets as well as Social Security numbers and other identifying information of military personnel...

The drives also included deployment rosters and other documents that identified nearly 700 U.S. service members and their Social Security numbers, information that identity thieves could use to open credit card accounts in soldiers' names.
More troubling information has been found on some of the drives recovered by a reporter, as well, including documents marked "Secret," slide shows prepared for American military officials, classified briefings, military maps, and an array of documents that reveal concerns and strategies regarding prominent figures in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is, suffice it to say, shocking to learn that this information is being hocked on hard drives at a local market.

Lt. Mike Cody, a spokesman for the U.S. forces here, declined to comment on the computer drives or their content.

“We do not discuss issues that involve or could affect operational security,” he said.
I think the cat's out of the bag, mate. Someone had better say something about this, and fast.

(Crossposted at AlterNet PEEK.)

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