[HN Gopher] Danish intelligence chief held over suspected info l...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Danish intelligence chief held over suspected info leaks, local
       media report
        
       Author : pizza
       Score  : 198 points
       Date   : 2022-01-10 15:53 UTC (7 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.reuters.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.reuters.com)
        
       | mrweasel wrote:
       | Two newspapers have also refused to let the police question their
       | journalists, because it's not specified why they want to
       | interview them, and given that they won't name sources,
       | questioning becomes pointless.
        
         | duxup wrote:
         | Do those requests usually go through a newspaper and not to the
         | individual?
        
           | hutzlibu wrote:
           | Maybe, but since it is work related, the individual
           | journalist can still informs their newspaper and lawers who
           | can take action.
        
           | [deleted]
        
           | mrweasel wrote:
           | No, they go to the individual, as explained in a debate on
           | Danish TV yesterday. The journalists then bring the
           | information to their employeers, which call their lawyers and
           | handle the matter from there.
           | 
           | The journalists aren't legally required to allow themselfs to
           | be questioned. That's only if the case goes to court, but no
           | one is refusing to testify in that case, because then the
           | charges are public and a judge is present.
        
       | danielovichdk wrote:
       | "Microsofts datacenterregion vil sikre Forsvaret adgang til IT-
       | og datakapacitet, som vi ikke kan udvikle selv. Mange af de
       | losninger, vi er afhaengige af i fremtiden - inklusive losninger,
       | der bygger pa kunstig intelligens - kraever computerkraft, der
       | kun er mulig ved brug af cloud-losninger. Jeg ser derfor frem til
       | samarbejdet med Microsoft i forhold til de konkrete muligheder,
       | som den nye datacenterregion abner for Forsvaret," siger Kristian
       | Vengsgaard, Chief Information Officer i Forsvaret"
       | 
       | Source:
       | 
       | https://news.microsoft.com/da-dk/2020/12/07/microsoft-invest...
        
         | danielovichdk wrote:
         | Translated
         | 
         | "Microsoft's data center region will ensure the Armed Forces
         | access to IT and data capacity that we cannot develop
         | ourselves. Many of the solutions we depend on in the future -
         | including solutions based on artificial intelligence - require
         | computing power that is only possible using cloud solutions. I
         | therefore look forward to the collaboration with Microsoft in
         | relation to the specific opportunities that the new data center
         | region opens up for the Armed Forces, "says Kristian
         | Vengsgaard, Chief Information Officer in the Armed Forces"
        
         | HumanReadable wrote:
         | I have a feeling the computing demand for every AI use case the
         | Danish military could want to pursue, could be met by a few
         | mainframes with fewer security risks. Given the work that goes
         | into verifying the data center meets some assumably very high
         | requirements, I imagine mainframes might even be the cheaper
         | solution too.
         | 
         | Seems to me like yet another example of companies successfully
         | lobbying governments to buy unnecessary things.
        
       | Mizza wrote:
       | Secret charges and courts corrupt democratic society.
       | Extrajudicial "intelligence" agencies must be dismantled.
        
         | kzrdude wrote:
         | Maybe arresting the director is a good first step? (Alas, it is
         | not, because the conflict seems to be mostly about leaking info
         | about the security state operations to media, not doing any
         | such operations that they shouldn't have.)
        
         | tomjen3 wrote:
         | We have lots of secret charges in Denmark. Usually it is
         | because there are more than one person involved and we don't
         | want to tip anybody of.
         | 
         | Often the identity of the person involved is also secret, but
         | that is to protected that person, in case he or she is
         | innocent. Such orders are always removed when the person is
         | found guilty (to my knowledge anyway).
         | 
         | I think charges have to be revealed when the actual proceedings
         | start, and of course the defendant and their lawyers know.
        
       | throwaway4good wrote:
       | This is an absolutely bonkers story by Danish standard. The guy
       | is amongst the highest ranking civil servants, holds the order of
       | Dannebro. On top of this a number of Danish journalists have been
       | "taken in for a chat" by the intelligence services.
       | 
       | The charges are still secret, but appears to be related to this
       | story:
       | 
       | Danish secret service helped US spy on Germany's Angela Merkel:
       | report
       | 
       | https://www.dw.com/en/danish-secret-service-helped-us-spy-on...
        
         | miohtama wrote:
         | Do fiber cables land in Denmark, or what special does Denmark
         | have to make it a good partner for NSA?
        
           | poizan42 wrote:
           | Exactly, more specifically Blabjerg is one of the landing
           | points of TAT-14 as well as Havfrue/AEC-2.
        
           | hammock wrote:
           | They are Nine Eyes (coalition that excludes Germany),
           | willingly cooperative and with different charter/regulations
           | than NSA. Bit of a tautological answer and I hope another
           | commenter has more insight.
        
           | 4gotunameagain wrote:
           | https://www.submarinecablemap.com/
           | 
           | Also Denmark has been a US protectorate for quite a while for
           | reasons (e.g. Thule airforce base)
        
             | pc86 wrote:
             | "Protectorate" has a very specific definition and Denmark
             | is most certainly not one.
        
         | phkahler wrote:
         | When the head of the agency can't stop the agency from doing
         | something he doesn't like...
        
         | keewee7 wrote:
         | If anyone is doubting how much influence US intelligence has
         | over Danish intelligence:
         | 
         | >Danish intelligence also helped the US agency to spy on the
         | Danish foreign and finance ministries as well as a Danish
         | weapons manufacturer. The FE also cooperated with the NSA on
         | spying operations against the US government itself.
         | 
         | https://www.dw.com/en/danish-secret-service-helped-us-spy-on...
         | 
         | The NSA made the Danish FE spy on both the Danish and US
         | government. That is wild.
        
           | samwillis wrote:
           | > "The FE also cooperated with the NSA on spying operations
           | against the US government itself."
           | 
           | It's long be standard practice for intelligence agencies in
           | 5/9 Eyes to ask each other to spy on the others citizens when
           | it would be illegal to do so themselves.
           | 
           | The NSA for example would find it difficult to spy on
           | Senators, this is there way around it. And there is no
           | denying there has be a reasonable cause to in the last four
           | years.
        
             | hlbjhblbljib wrote:
             | > It's long be standard practice for intelligence agencies
             | in 5/9 Eyes to ask each other to spy on the others citizens
             | when it would be illegal to do so themselves.
             | 
             | This goes against the actual agreements in place, where
             | they have to treat the other citizens as their countries
             | do.
        
             | skrebbel wrote:
             | > And there is no denying there has be a reasonable cause
             | to in the last four years.
             | 
             | Isn't this the same as saying that you don't think there
             | should be fundamental rights for people you don't agree
             | with?
        
               | samwillis wrote:
               | Not at all, it's saying that sometimes rules have to bent
               | in order for the intelligence services to go about their
               | mission to protect the citizens of their country
               | (including their rights). Sometimes potential threats
               | come from within (even potentially from government
               | ministers or civil servants) making them legally
               | difficult to investigate quickly. Asking their mates to
               | take a "quick look" is a good way of checking out if
               | there is a problem that warrants further investigation.
               | 
               | Having said all that, I'm no expert, I'm just a John Le
               | Carre fan.
        
             | jonnybgood wrote:
             | Collection and analysis of intelligence on a US person by a
             | US intelligence agency is subjected to the same laws no
             | matter where it came from. There is no way around it. If
             | GCHQ collected and NSA analyzed and used that intelligence
             | in any way then the law regarding US persons applies. I'm
             | not aware of anywhere in the law that makes exceptions for
             | these cases.
        
               | jollybean wrote:
               | There are practical reasons for the US to work with
               | Danish intelligence (and others) that would have nothing
               | to do with circumventing the law.
        
               | kevin_thibedeau wrote:
               | There is a way around it for people subject to a
               | background investigation. The 4A gets suspended for them
               | by EO12333. Technically not "the law" but you don't see
               | Congress doing anything about executive overreach.
        
             | Mikeb85 wrote:
             | > And there is no denying there has be a reasonable cause
             | to in the last four years.
             | 
             | If there's actually reasonable cause go to a court, get a
             | warrant and investigate.
        
               | mannerheim wrote:
               | We can't let archaic and outdated conventions like the
               | Fourth Amendment get in the way of protecting citizens
               | from themselves.
        
               | vintermann wrote:
               | Getting a hand-picked guy in a wig to sign off on it is
               | just too much effort.
        
             | JackFr wrote:
             | > The NSA for example would find it difficult to spy on
             | Senators,
             | 
             | https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/31/cia-admits-
             | spy...
        
             | artificialLimbs wrote:
             | >> And there is no denying there has be a reasonable cause
             | to in the last four years.
             | 
             | Yea who needs laws when we can just instate shadow
             | government agencies with shadow budgets and their own set
             | of alternative laws.
        
               | samwillis wrote:
               | That's not for a second what I am suggesting.
        
               | netizen-936824 wrote:
               | Really? Because from your original comment, the NSA is
               | circumventing protections that are in place to spy on US
               | citizens
               | 
               | That is _exactly_ what you are suggesting. These rules
               | should not be  "bent" because there are legal mechanisms
               | to investigate that are being blatantly bypassed to make
               | things easier
        
               | samwillis wrote:
               | First, artificialLimbs comment has been edited and toned
               | down significantly since it was first posted.
               | 
               | Second, my personal opinion on how intelligent agency's
               | operate is irrelevant. I am only trying to inform on my
               | understanding how they sometimes operate in relation to
               | the original far more interesting article.
               | 
               | Checks and balances are obviously essential and are the
               | priority in all cases.
               | 
               | Finally, while I don't believe in the boogie man, people,
               | anyone, can be bad.
        
               | [deleted]
        
               | artificialLimbs wrote:
               | >> First, artificialLimbs comment has been edited and
               | toned down significantly since it was first posted.
               | 
               | No it wasn't. Unless you could see what I typed into the
               | web form before I hit submit.
               | 
               | >> while I don't believe in the boogie man
               | 
               | Well you should. They're here. They are the NSA, the FBI,
               | the CIA, and other government agencies that regularly
               | operate out of bounds of legality. If the horrible things
               | that they have done and continue to do don't shock you
               | and create the desire for their radical change or
               | elimination entirely, you are stupid or malicious.
        
               | samwillis wrote:
               | Apologies if I'm mistaken, I just thought I recalled it
               | being phrased differently. I'm not renowned for my short
               | term memory.
               | 
               | I'm not American and so have little interest in their
               | internal politics other than as a spectator.
        
               | netizen-936824 wrote:
               | I think you should be interested, because whether you
               | like it or not the politics and actions of these
               | organisations effect _everyone globally_
               | 
               | That's why we should all care
        
             | tomjen3 wrote:
             | This may be an extreme belief, but I don't think we need
             | intelligence services to operate anywhere wear regular
             | courts would be an answer. The FBI can get a warrant if
             | they have a reason and the intelligence services obviously
             | don't stop things they should, such as corruption and child
             | sex abuse.
        
           | jollybean wrote:
           | It's not wild at all.
           | 
           | A Danish arms manufacturer planning on doing a deal with
           | Gaddaffi during sanctions era?
           | 
           | A member of the White House in Europe to meet with Russian
           | contacts, off his calendar, in the middle of an investigation
           | into possible illicit ties between the White House and
           | Russia?
           | 
           | The Head of US Olympics suspected of taking of bribes, having
           | meeting with Addidas in Copenhagen with big money changing
           | hands?
           | 
           | There are plenty of things like that going on.
        
           | LatteLazy wrote:
           | People think it's west Vs China or USA vs others. It's not.
           | It's these "services" Vs the people they're meant to be
           | serving.
        
             | skinkestek wrote:
             | It is also the west vs China.
             | 
             | Although not Westerners against Chinese (my kids are
             | welcome to play with the Chinese kids next door and the
             | Chinese next door are just as welcome as any other neighbor
             | to a garden party).
             | 
             | But it should be the world against crimes against humanity.
             | 
             | And then we Westerners will also have to clean up our own
             | systems; that is just as important, but a smaller task.
        
               | trasz wrote:
               | It's not China who killed million random civilians in the
               | Middle East. Was there a more severe crime against
               | humanity in the past two decades?
        
           | dybber wrote:
           | And it has been going on for 25 years, the deal being cited
           | as the reason Bill Clinton visited Denmark in the 90's (we
           | usually never get visits from US presidents)
        
         | decebalus1 wrote:
         | Do you mean 'Dannebrog' (Dannebrogordenen)?
         | 
         | Dannebro reads like a title a fraternity would give you
        
           | cinntaile wrote:
           | Welcome to our secret order where everyone is called Daniel,
           | we're all brothers.
        
           | throwaway4good wrote:
           | Yeah - missing the g - it is serious business in dk though:
           | 
           | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Dannebrog
        
           | kzrdude wrote:
           | The 'g' is not sounded out loud anyway in Dannebrog, so your
           | interpretation still lives, I can happily report.
        
             | pomdapi wrote:
             | Oh jeez, so that bunch of drunk Danish students I've seen
             | do all the bars in the street was in fact a wild pack of
             | Dannebros...
             | 
             | Duly noted.
        
             | rvense wrote:
             | Exactly. If you prononuce it "Dannebrok" we will complain.
        
       | dirtyid wrote:
       | Was matter of time before effected EU countries start tackling US
       | infiltration. Surprised this is handled so publically.
        
       | olliej wrote:
       | Seems like the type of group we could definitely trust to have
       | access to "emergency use only" back doors in encryption
       | algorithms.
        
       | topper-123 wrote:
       | The timeline of this is very strange:
       | 
       | - in august he had been put on administrative leave
       | 
       | - he was imprisoned on the 9th of december
       | 
       | - on the 13th of december an independant commission set up by
       | parliament (consisting of three judges) exponerated everyone
       | implicated in this case
       | 
       | - on the 14th of december, the minister of defence welcomed him
       | back to work
       | 
       | - today, 10th of january the public learned for the first time
       | that he was imprisoned and still is imprisoned.
       | 
       | So even though he was exonerated by the independent commitee AND
       | welcomed back by the minister, he is actually in prison. Very
       | strange situation, makes we wonder if there are aspects of the
       | case the public does not know about, or if someone has made an
       | enormous error.
        
         | lotsofpulp wrote:
         | > experated
         | 
         | I assume this is a typo for exonerated?
        
           | pfortuny wrote:
           | That means to irritate but guess he meant exonerated.
        
           | topper-123 wrote:
           | Yes, corrected.
        
             | willhslade wrote:
             | Ah, yes, exponerated.
        
               | speed_spread wrote:
               | Innocence, squared.
        
         | tgv wrote:
         | The earlier case was about handling data of Danish citizens,
         | according to the Dutch news agency, which had been denounced by
         | the oversight authority.
        
         | SiempreViernes wrote:
         | The charges are about leaking to the media, not for breaking
         | the law when spying on Danes, the latter being what the
         | commission was set up to investigate.
        
           | vintermann wrote:
           | So they exonerated everyone for the spying, and punished the
           | guy who revealed the spying?
        
             | nerdponx wrote:
             | Seems reasonable from an "evil authoritarian" perspective.
             | Make a show of trying people for spying (but don't actually
             | convict anyone!) for the public, and then really punish the
             | person who blew the cover on the operation.
        
             | dannyw wrote:
             | Yes.
        
             | SiempreViernes wrote:
             | I guess the conclusion they only did legal spying, and that
             | any errors where accidental and not systematic breaches of
             | the law so it was ok? Don't know what the commission
             | concluded (most details are probably secret anyway).
        
       | luser007 wrote:
       | A bit of background:
       | 
       | Since WW2 Denmark has aligned itself with the US. This has been
       | the consensus since then across all the major parties
       | (Conservatives, Liberals, Social-Liberals and Social-Democratic
       | (with a noteworthy exception[1])).
       | 
       | The stance has during all those years from time to time been
       | challenged by fringe parties like the Communist Party and the
       | far-right Progress Party (who suggested that the Danish defence
       | budget should be cut entirely and replaced with a answering
       | machine saying "we surrender" in Russian).
       | 
       | The Danish populace has not always wanted this "hard alignment".
       | As an example, Denmark would not allow American bases in Denmark
       | (contrary to UK, Germany, etc). But we allowed the Americans to
       | build an Airforce Base at Thule on Greenland
       | (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thule_Air_Base).
       | 
       | The Social-Democratic prime ministers also communicated publicly,
       | that Denmark would not allow nuclear weapons in peacetime. Yet,
       | it was communicated to the American ambassador in 1960 that
       | Denmark would ignore it, if US had nuclear weapons at Thule (as
       | long as they didn't tell anyone). All was well until 1968 when an
       | American B-52 crashes near Thule with thermonuclear bombs on
       | board. It is worth noting that English wikipedia does not have an
       | account of the incident, but the Danish does:
       | https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thule-sagen_(1968)
       | 
       | Well, the cold war "won" and after 1990s aligned even more with
       | the US. In the late 90s the previously state-owned TeleDanmark
       | company (telephony monopoly) was privatized and sold to the
       | American company Ameritech beginning in 1997.
       | 
       | Around the same time the Americans approached the Danish
       | politicians again. And a deal similar to the nuclear weapons on
       | Greenland was reached: "You're allowed to use our infrastructure
       | to spy on people, but we're not going to make it official". As
       | the same time Denmark was in "the coalition of the willing"
       | sending troops to both Iraq and Afghanistan.
       | 
       | Now, it is worth noting, that this is not a partisan issue within
       | the Danish political elite. We've had Conservative, Liberal and
       | Social-Democratic Ministers of Defence the last twenty years and
       | they have all been briefed about this cooperation. The same goes
       | for their permanent secretaries.
       | 
       | Snowden revealed a lot about this cooperation back in 2015. The
       | "nifty" part from the American perspective is, that they can tell
       | the Danish "We won't spy on Danish people, only foreigners". They
       | then approach Britain and says: "We won't spy on British people,
       | only foreigners". The do the same with Norway, The Netherlands
       | etc. and... well, suddenly they're able to spy on all Europeans.
       | Denmark has a great position for spying because a lot of traffic
       | from Eastern Europe travels through Denmark (and Sweden, but they
       | are not part of NATO). Also, hearsay is that the spying on German
       | Chancellor Merkel was done from Denmark.
       | 
       | Around 2014 the Danish politicians decided to establish "Tilsynet
       | med EfterretningsTjenesterne" (TET) aka. "Supervisory Authority
       | on the Intelligence Agencies" to keep an eye on the intelligence
       | agencies replacing some toothless organisation that previously
       | had the task.
       | 
       | In 2020 TET made a press release: "We cannot get the information
       | we require from the intelligence agencies". The Minister of
       | Defence at this time is Trine Bramsen, who is most known for
       | complaining about nerds being hard to approach and understand for
       | her friends and it is impossible to understand why they all wear
       | white tennis socks (I kid you not:
       | https://www.version2.dk/blog/opraab-til-it-noerderne-smid-te... -
       | use Google translate for a cringe experience).
       | 
       | She is totally clueless.
       | 
       | But that was great in this situation, because as any politician
       | she wants to show how she can solve issues in a resolute manner.
       | So she sends home a bunch of civil servants (including head of
       | the Defence Intelligence Agency, a previous permanent secretary,
       | etc. The top brass). Apparently she didn't get (or understand)
       | the verbal memo about: "Don't ask and don't tell about our
       | cooperation with the Americans".
       | 
       | Like an elephant in a porcelain store.
       | 
       | And retired Ministers of Defence were all gunning at her for
       | "ruining the cooperation with our greatest allies" etc. They, of
       | course, do not want it to be revealed, that they had this
       | information.
       | 
       | Well. Time passes. And just before Christmas it was announced
       | that the matter has been investigated. The public are not allowed
       | to hear, what has been investigated. Or who. But the conclusion
       | is that the intelligence agencies has done nothing wrong. Nothing
       | to see here. Move along.
       | 
       | A couple of days later, the directors (not the editors!) at a
       | couple of major newspapers are called to a meeting with the head
       | of the Police Intelligence Agency and the Defence Military Agency
       | (temp head) where they are politely told: "We just want to let
       | you know, that harming our cooperation with foreign powers carry
       | a 12 year sentence" (it's a very long sentence in Danish terms).
       | 
       | The Police Intelligence Agency has been playing "whack a mole",
       | literally, for some time: Who leaked to TET? Who leaked to the
       | press?
       | 
       | We are currently in a situation, where the state-sponsored
       | national Danish broadcaster (DR) is reporting, that the Police
       | Intelligence Agency (PET) has been surveilling, including wire-
       | tapping, the head of the Defence Intelligence Agency:
       | https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/hemmelig-pet-taskforce-afl...
       | (again, Google translate).
       | 
       | I hope this provides some context. There has since the 1960s been
       | an understanding in the top of Danish society that "The Americans
       | are our friends, we cannot say 'no'.". Even if the Danish
       | population has been kept in the dark. A clueless Minister of
       | Defence by accident kicks the hornet's nest and now somebody must
       | take the fall. But be aware that they're all in on it. No
       | minister (left or right) is innocent and the same goes for the
       | civil servants at the very top.
       | 
       | But it is not all bad! Whereas Germany was earlier our primary
       | trading partner, Denmark nowadays export more to the US than to
       | our neighbouring country. A few dead soldiers and no privacy for
       | your population was totally worth it.
       | 
       | [1] During the 1980s some parts of the Social-Democrats wanted
       | Denmark to re-align. This caused the so-called "footnote
       | politic". Whenever NATO wanted to take some initiative, the
       | Danish foreign minister had to negotiate footnotes saying
       | "Denmark is not part of this and that".
        
         | shantara wrote:
         | Thank you! This was a very enlightening comment, which adds a
         | lot more context to this news story.
        
         | jollybean wrote:
         | So before the tiny Danish nation of just few million people was
         | allied with the US, you were occupied by the Germans, your Jews
         | exported and murdered, many citizens dead.
         | 
         | And the Americans (and English, Canadians etc.) liberated you.
         | 
         | And then for decades, you were up against the Soviet Empire
         | where the Americans provide a pillar of security.
         | 
         | And somehow this relationship with the Americans is bad,
         | exactly how?
         | 
         | You haven't provided any evidence of wrongdoing in terms of
         | cooperation with the Americans.
         | 
         | The US collects intelligence on everyone - so does Germany. And
         | the UK. And ... Denmark. That's normal in 2021.
        
           | luser007 wrote:
           | Arguing that "it's okay to do it because the others do it as
           | well" is kindergarten-level argumentation.
           | 
           | A key factor in a friendly relationship is to be able to tell
           | your friend "no" without him/her getting angry. If one of the
           | people in a relationship is forced to be subservient at all
           | times we normally call it an abusive relationship.
           | 
           | And I think you kinda missed the point: Danish politicians
           | have done everything in their power to please the US since
           | the 1960s and have done so increasingly since Bill Clinton
           | was president. That's fine, if they told the populace that is
           | what they're doing. Instead what they're doing is making
           | hidden agreements with the US, that includes spying on our
           | closest allies and neighbours
           | (https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/us-security-agency-
           | spie...) all the while they tell the Danish people that it is
           | impossible to say if Americans are spying in Denmark.
           | 
           | If it is such a great benefit to Denmark to act as a lap dog
           | for the US, you would think the Danish politicians was proud
           | of it, wouldn't you?
        
         | znd wrote:
         | The english Wikipedia seems to have the article of the
         | B52-crash in Thule here:
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Thule_Air_Base_B-52_crash
        
           | luser007 wrote:
           | Thanks for the correction! Didn't find it at first.
           | 
           | It supports my assertion that the Danish politicians
           | "indicated" something to the Americans and told the Danish
           | public something else:
           | 
           | " Denmark's nuclear-free zone policy originated in 1957, when
           | the coalition government decided in the lead-up to the Paris
           | NATO summit not to stockpile nuclear weapons on its soil in
           | peacetime.[77][78] The presence of the bomber in Greenland
           | airspace in 1968 therefore triggered public suspicions and
           | accusations that the policy was being violated.
           | 
           | [...]
           | 
           | The report blamed Danish Prime Minister H. C. Hansen for
           | intentionally introducing ambiguity in the Danish-U.S.
           | security agreement: he was not asked about, nor did he
           | mention, the official Danish nuclear policy when meeting with
           | the United States ambassador in 1957 to discuss Thule Air
           | Base. Hansen followed up the discussion with an infamous
           | letter pointing out that the issue of "supplies of munition
           | of a special kind" was not raised during the discussion, but
           | that he had nothing further to add.[87] In doing so, the
           | report concluded, he tacitly gave the United States the go-
           | ahead to store nuclear weapons at Thule.[88]
           | 
           | [...]
           | 
           | The report also confirmed that the United States stockpiled
           | nuclear weapons in Greenland until 1965, contradicting
           | assurances by Danish foreign minister Niels Helveg Petersen
           | that the weapons were in Greenland's airspace, but never on
           | the ground."
        
       | lloydjones wrote:
       | Borgen prophesised this!
        
       | csa wrote:
       | My guess is that this guy said "no" to the wrong person, and this
       | is payback.
       | 
       | I will also guess that this chief is probably on the ethically
       | correct side of the situation.
        
         | hutzlibu wrote:
         | Do you have more information, than what is written in that
         | article?
         | 
         | Because I see your conclusion only as a vague possible
         | hypothesis among many other options.
         | 
         | And intelligence services are by default usually into very
         | grey, if not dark areas of ethics. So all this might just as
         | well be an internal power struggle of which the public will
         | only get to view a very distorted picture, of what was actually
         | going on.
        
           | vintermann wrote:
           | Not really. He's charged with leaking to the media. There's
           | only one story that's been recently leaked to the media: The
           | one about helping NSA to spy on domestic and allied political
           | leaders.
           | 
           | Intelligence agencies can only wish they were able to distort
           | the picture for the public reliably, and frequently mess
           | things up.
           | 
           | So the most likely explanation is the obvious, apparent one:
           | He was shocked at the extent of the friendly spying, and
           | leaked it to the media once it became clear it would be
           | buried.
           | 
           | The interesting thing is how Denmark will handle this.
        
           | csa wrote:
           | > Do you have more information, than what is written in that
           | article?
           | 
           | No specifics, and I doubt that there will ever be any more
           | unclassified specifics.
           | 
           | That said, this is SOP for some sectors of the world.
           | 
           | > Because I see your conclusion only as a vague possible
           | hypothesis among many other options.
           | 
           | Sure. That is probably how it will remain.
           | 
           | > And intelligence services are by default usually into very
           | grey, if not dark areas of ethics.
           | 
           | Yep.
           | 
           | > So all this might just as well be an internal power
           | struggle of which the public will only get to view a very
           | distorted picture, of what was actually going on.
           | 
           | Yep.
        
         | beebeepka wrote:
         | I was going to say "that's what you get" which would be pretty
         | much the same.
         | 
         | An interesting case indeed. I hope more info surfaces. We know
         | things are bad, question is in what exact ways. Maybe something
         | of substance will trickle down to us mortals.
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | irthomasthomas wrote:
       | Is this related to "Major Danish newspaper apologises for only
       | covering government Covid narrative "
       | 
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29872162
        
         | kzrdude wrote:
         | I don't see any connection at all
        
         | mrweasel wrote:
         | It should be noted to our American friends that their reasoning
         | isn't some anti vaccine agenda, but the lack of critism of a
         | government exibiting a more totalitarion retroric than Denmark
         | is acustom to. There has been little critisim of the Covid
         | handling until late last year, but a series of logical failures
         | between the presented policies and actual implementation are
         | now being reported on.
        
         | neom wrote:
         | He allegedly leaked information to their domestic media about
         | the NSA working with the Danish on spying missions.
        
       | [deleted]
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2022-01-10 23:01 UTC)