Are the administration reactions to the UK intel disclosure different?

Posted By Josh Rogin Wednesday, February 10, 2010 - 6:55 PM Share

The Obama administration is none too happy about British officials' decision to release information given to them by the U.S. about British citizen and former Guantánamo Bay inmate Binyam Mohamed. How unhappy? Depends which part of the executive branch you ask.

After losing a lengthy court battle, the UK government revealed Wednesday seven paragraphs of detail about Mohamed's seven years in custody, four of them at Guantánamo. Posted on the Foreign Office website, the main revelations are that Mohamed was shackled, deprived of sleep, and threatened with "disappearing.' "It could readily be contended to be at the very least cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by the United States authorities," the UK Foreign Office wrote.

The Brits are saying that this doesn't violate the principle that shared intelligence should only be released if both sides agree, because these seven paragraphs referred to information already released in a U.S. court hearing over another Guantánamo prisoner, Farhi Saeed bin Mohammed.

The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a statement Wednesday evening criticizing the UK decision:

"The protection of confidential information is essential to strong, effective security and intelligence cooperation among allies. The decision by a United Kingdom court to release classified information provided by the United States is not helpful, and we deeply regret it."

But ODNI was quick to add two sentences to say that the case would not significantly alter U.S.-UK intelligence sharing operations.

"The United States and the United Kingdom have a long history of close cooperation that relies on mutual respect for the handling of classified information. This court decision creates additional challenges, but our two countries will remain united in our efforts to fight against violent extremist groups," the statement said.

That's not nearly as strong as the reaction from the White House, which has been battling Republicans this week over intelligence disclosure protocol related to the underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

"As we warned, the court's judgment will complicate the confidentiality of our intelligence-sharing relationship with the UK, and it will have to factor into our decision-making going forward," Marc Ambinder quotes White House spokesman Ben Labolt as saying.

UPDATE: The full quote by Labolt, sent Thursday to The Cable, includes language similiar to the tone of the ODNI statement. It includes this line, "This just means that we need to redouble our efforts to work through this challenge, because the UK remains a key partner in our collective efforts to suppress terrorism and other threats to our national security."