Who benefits from these leaks? Who benefits from wounding
French credibility?
The Human Rights argument falls flat. France is by no means
the only nation arming Saudi Arabia and thus helping them to perpetuate the
Yemen conflict. As long as the United States is doing the same, there's little
to criticise and France knows this. This aspect of the story strikes me as
specious. Any of the Western powers engaged in proxy wars, counterinsurgency
and in many cases military 'humanitarian' interventions will fall prey to these
charges. Why is France being singled out?
The UN all too often functions as a creature of US power and
influence. That may be the case here, or it may be as simple as the fact that
going after the US is a waste of time.
As far as the security breach... who would want this
information out there?
Terrorists? Possibly. France has been the target of terrorism
as of late and security specs on high-tech military armaments hardly helps the
terrorists, unless their intention is to embarrass France in the eyes of
clients. The proliferation of these systems will not affect them either way.
There is the possibility that this could be directed against
India via France, since India is a purchaser of French products. At that point
the source could be ISI or an affiliated group. Beijing is also a possibility
though more distant.
More likely this leak is a result corporate espionage and
competitive rivalry. France's credibility has been wounded and they're getting
bad press. Any other military that might be 'shopping around', might be more
inclined to look elsewhere for the products they seek.
Perhaps they'll look to some American manufacturers?
This sort of thing is far more common than people realise. In
the realm of espionage fiction, most of the book and movie fare focuses on
government agencies. And yet most of the real-world intrigue is outside of
government in the corporate world.
Here's where it gets blurry. The corporate world (today more
than ever) has blurred with the intelligence sector. Or to put it another way,
the intelligence agencies have heavily infiltrated the corporate worlds of
banking, finance, insurance, defense contracting, industry, technology and
trade. State agencies working through sub-contractor private sector agents and
assets are carrying out their agendas. Weapons sales in particular carry
geopolitical implications and intelligence agencies will zealously intervene to
ensure sales go to the desired company.
And of course the companies themselves are staffed with
former and still connected military and intelligence assets.
Here's a related post that may shed a little light on what
may indeed be happening with this French leak. Perhaps more will be revealed in
time.
Additional reading:
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