WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS
The Signalgate affair, as the American media has already dubbed it, is taking on new dimensions by the day. After the White House reacted fiercely to the story of The Atlantic, whose editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was mistakenly added to an encrypted conversation on the Signal application, where the highest state officials exchanged messages about the attack on the Houthi rebels in Yemen, the answer came - and in the form of new conversations.
Goldberg, let us recall, first said that he would not publish the most interesting, technical details of the attack because he believed that it would endanger American soldiers and because it was not information of public interest.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has done everything it can to discredit Goldberg and the Atlantic, with Trump's national security adviser and the main culprit in the affair, Mike Walz, saying that Goldberg has a "terrible reputation," while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called him a "so-called trash-peddling journalist."
The Atlantic has now published a key part of the communication, the one detailing the attack, in order to expose the lies coming out of the White House.
"The conditions are favorable, we are ready..."
"The statements by Hegseth, Gabbard, Ratcliffe, and Trump, combined with the allegations by numerous administration officials that we are lying about the content of the Signal articles, have led us to believe that people should see the articles in order to come to their own conclusions," the introduction reads.
They have also sent a request to the White House, the CIA, and the Department of Defense to ask if they object to publishing the entire texts from the Signal group. Spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt responded that "there was no classified information in the group chat, as we have reiterated," but that "that does not mean we are encouraging its release."
She did not, however, specify which parts the White House considers sensitive or how their release more than a week after the first airstrikes could jeopardize national security.
A CIA spokesperson asked them only to omit the name of their official mentioned in the conversation, and that was the only place where the Atlantic editorial team decided to intervene.
They write that most of the communication was limited to the timing and justification of the attack on the Houthis, but on the day of the attack, Saturday, March 15, the discussion turned to operational details. The message sent by Hegseth at 11:44 reads:
"Update: 11:44, THE TIME IS NOW. Weather conditions are FAIR. Just confirmed with CENTCOM that we are ready to launch the mission. The plan is: 12:15 F-18 LAUNCH (first strike package). 13:45 First F-18 strike series begins. Target terrorist is at his known location, SHOULD BE ON TIME. Also, strike drones (MQ-9) are being launched."
Vance: I will pray for victory
So, the Atlantic notes here, two hours before the expected attack on the main target, the Houthi terrorist, began, the US Secretary of Defense sent the plan for that attack to a man whose phone number he did not know. If the plan had reached someone hostile to the US, the Houthis would have had time to prepare for the attack, and the consequences for the American pilots would likely have been catastrophic.
They also conveyed the continuation of Hegset's message.
"14.10 Launch of the next F-18s (second strike package). 14.15 Drone attack on the target (this is the time when the first bombs will definitely fall, based on previous targets and triggers. 15.36 Start of the second attack package with F-18s - also, launch of the first Tomahawks from the sea. More on the mission soon. We are currently in the OPSEC (operational security) clean. God bless our warriors."
After that, US Vice President J.D. Vance also spoke in the group, with the message "I will pray for our victory". A little later, Volz announced that the building where the target was staying had been demolished and that he had confirmation, congratulating everyone involved on the success.
Vance, however, did not understand his message and replied "What?". Volz replied: "I'm typing too fast. Our first target, we have confirmation that he is entering his girlfriend's building and that building is now demolished."
Vance replied: "Excellent".
Volz let's recall, after the affair broke out, he replied that he didn't know why the journalist Goldberg ended up in the group and that he was investigating "how the hell he got into that conversation".
