Military pilots are worried their political masters don’t have their best interests at heart in light of the revelation that top U.S. officials were group chatting about timing and weapons load before a raid on Yemen earlier this month. The revelation that Atlantic Magazine Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg had been included on the Signal group electrified the Washington political establishment for much of the week but the young men and women who carry out their wishes were “angered and bewildered” by the peril they say the leak put them in. “We intentionally don’t share plans with people who don’t need to know,” a Navy F/A-18 pilot, who has flown frequently in missions in the Middle East told the New York Times. “You don’t share what time we’re supposed to show up over a target. You don’t want to telegraph that we’re about to show up on someone’s doorstep; that’s putting your crew at risk.” The Times said it spoke with several active duty pilots and granted them anonymity.
The Times report said the young officers were further upset by the apparent lack of accountability and attempts to minimize the significance of the gaffe. “The whole point about aviation safety is that you have to have the humility to understand that you are imperfect, because everybody screws up. Everybody makes mistakes,” Lt. John Gadzinski, a retired Navy F-14 pilot told the Times. “But ultimately, if you can’t admit when you’re wrong, you’re going to kill somebody because your ego is too big.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth repeatedly downplayed the incident insisting no classified information was released in the group chat thread, which was published by the Atlantic after his assertions that no secrets were revealed. Hegseth began the thread with three-hour advance warning of the first strikes targeting Houthi rebel leaders inside Yemen and called the posts a “heads-up” for senior officials of the government. Later in the week National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said it was he who added Goldberg to the chat by mistake after Goldberg’s contact information was somehow “blown in” to the contact list in his phone. Goldberg said Sunday Waltz had intentionally added him as a contact.
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