Yup. It sounds like he caught in a honeypot. There doesn't seem to be anything yet that supports the idea that he was "planted by China".
Naval Officer charged with Espionage
- Thread starter Gunz
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I was assuming based on the fact he was born in Taiwan, naturalized to the U.S. and than achieved leadership in Navel signal intelligence and apparently was giving classified information to both China and Taiwan. In a geographical area where our navel intelligence is very important, it just seems a bit odd?
But than of course maybe he joined the navy to gain citizenship, was in signal intelligence because of his native tongue, and got caught in a honey pot.
Time and a trial will tell, my only point is if he is a plant, who infiltrated our ranks within our military, became an officer and worked in one of the more important fields of the Intel community, it makes us look like fools and our vetting system look like a joke, and when you are made to look that weak, a harsh punishment tothe person caught is fitting. Hints my original comments.
But than of course maybe he joined the navy to gain citizenship, was in signal intelligence because of his native tongue, and got caught in a honey pot.
Time and a trial will tell, my only point is if he is a plant, who infiltrated our ranks within our military, became an officer and worked in one of the more important fields of the Intel community, it makes us look like fools and our vetting system look like a joke, and when you are made to look that weak, a harsh punishment tothe person caught is fitting. Hints my original comments.
His cultural norms made it easy for the Chinese to exploit him, so the honeypot was either a setup, or a lucky hit for the PRC; either way they took it and ran with it.
Which may explain why they target naturalized citizens or others who are Chinese.
Finally, how do you keep a guy (whose has family) locked up for 8 months without anyone finding out?
I was wondering the same thing. Family quarantine? It's possible considering the seriousness of the offense. They might've locked up the family in on-base housing somewhere and kept them under "house arrest" or "protective custody" or whatever. Does Habeas Corpus apply to the UCMJ?
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I think the plant angle is far-fetched as @Ocoka One says but not impossible. I think the more likely scenario - in addition to the honeypot - is the danger of close and continuing association with foreign nationals, especially family. The vast majority of immigrants serve faithfully and patriotically but there is a vulnerability in having relatives abroad within the scope of influence of a foreign power.
It's an extraordinary effort and sacrifice to become a "plant." Your entire life becomes a lie and a deception that you must maintain at all times and requires an exceptionally motivated and dedicated individual and it's quite rare. Usually plants have some unique emotional drive that they can tap into, like the need for revenge, etc. In contrast, blackmail is a staple of tradecraft.
Absolutely, sir. Example: "Do this for us because we have your parents."
Grunt
Verified Military
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Yep...one of the oldest forms of power and coercion...threats against the family.
Possibly preceded only by the threat of pain...and followed by the allure of money.
It's an especially acute problem in the IC. NSA is famous/notorious for kicking servicemembers with valid clearances out of the building - or out of specific TOPIs - for family associations. It makes for a tough cut when the most reliable way to get 3/3 or better linguists is recruiting heritage speakers.
Brill
SOF Support
Interesting connections.
http://www.newsweek.com/edward-lin-...eath-penalty-447598?google_editors_picks=true
http://www.newsweek.com/edward-lin-...eath-penalty-447598?google_editors_picks=true
Being prior Navy, what do you make of this?
He goes to Nuke School and whether he graduates or not he starts OCS his last month in the program and he isn't commissioned as a SWO or Sub officer? If he passes the course why does the Navy allow him to leave an undermanned program and if he fails out how does he fail into an OCS billet? It isn't like he did time in the fleet. He finished an arduous program or failed at the only thing he did in the Navy, so he goes immediately to OCS? Did the Navy need a Mandarin speaker THAT bad?
Lots of those "sensitive contacts" are hardly surprising considering the amount of time he spent in the Navy. I think if you spend enough time in the government in general you end up with mates all around the place and in different jobs, sensitive or not.
Some of the other foreign contacts have some red flags, though.
Some of the other foreign contacts have some red flags, though.
I'm not sure how much can be gleaned from a guy's linkedin profile. What I thought was most interesting is we have a Newsweek article - a reasonably respected publication - publishing an entire article that just recounts which of this dude's linkedin contacts 'endorsed' him on certain skills. Just some interesting implications about the role and relative importance of a social media profile.
On a related note I think this touches on an area where our intelligence capabilities are vastly inferior to our adversaries - open source intelligence (OSINT). When I was coming up OSINT meant searching publicly available news articles. I think the new internet environment makes OSINT an extraordinarily broader medium for a host of intelligence applications. State-sponsored activities in Russia, Iran, China, and North Korea are decades ahead of what the USG does and in some applications I think non-state actors like ISIS and it's affiliates are comparable.
There was a Southpark episode several years ago where the boys were running circles around the USG using social media hunting down terrorist that I thought laid out the situation very clearly. Wish I could remember what season that was.
On a related note I think this touches on an area where our intelligence capabilities are vastly inferior to our adversaries - open source intelligence (OSINT). When I was coming up OSINT meant searching publicly available news articles. I think the new internet environment makes OSINT an extraordinarily broader medium for a host of intelligence applications. State-sponsored activities in Russia, Iran, China, and North Korea are decades ahead of what the USG does and in some applications I think non-state actors like ISIS and it's affiliates are comparable.
There was a Southpark episode several years ago where the boys were running circles around the USG using social media hunting down terrorist that I thought laid out the situation very clearly. Wish I could remember what season that was.
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