Irish Examiner view: A secret shared

Pentagon leaks

Federal investigators have arrested a 21-year-old member of the intelligence wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard who is linked to an online chat group where the leaked Pentagon documents first appeared Picture: WCVB-TV via AP

The old adage is that a secret shared is a secret lost. 

And whatever the provenance and impact of the mass dump of classified Pentagon documents — dismissed by US president Joe Biden on his Irish trip as being “not of great consequence” — there is at least one startling statistic that should give us all pause.

Federal investigators have arrested a 21-year-old member of the intelligence wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard who is linked to an online chat group where the leaked documents first appeared. 

But what is pertinent for allies of the US, particularly in these highly dangerous times, is how it comes to be that 1.25m employees and contractors of the US government have top secret security clearance.

Perhaps the lessons of Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden have been lost on successive incumbents of the White House?