Welcome to The World In 10.
In an increasingly uncertain world,
this is the Times' daily podcast dedicated to global security.
Today with me, Alex Dibble and Stuart Willey.
the result had been virtual obliteration.
The White House hit back at reports of that assessment and now the FBI is investigating the leak.
It appears therefore that there are disagreements between the White House,
the US intelligence community and the Pentagon.
With us to dig into what's going on is Jim Townsend who spent decades at the Pentagon including eight years as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence.
Jim,
the White House spokeswoman says this leak is down to what she called an anonymous famous low-level loser in the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency.
What did you make of the leak?
You know, leaks are, and particularly with this administration,
leaks happen all the time, it seems.
And getting the FBI to track down the leaker is something that's a little unusual,
at least in past administrations.
This one seems very quick to turn to the FBI, which is a heavy-handed hammer to use.
but to turn to the FBI to go after a leaker, which could be a low-level person.
But in the past, you know, leaks weren't necessarily dealt with that way.
But I think under Hegseth, as the Secretary of Defense, he seems very serious about that.