Israeli Officials reject Obama's Stuxnet account

Back in 2010, when news surfaced that Iran's nuclear program had been targeted by the very crippling Stuxnet virus, the origin of Stuxnet remained a mystery, though the U.S. and Israel were primary suspects. Now, thanks to the Obama administration seemingly wanting to take credit for the cyber attack in a way similar to how it has milked the bin Laden raid for political advantage, much of that mystery is gone. At least some Israeli officials feel that it would be better that the truth be known than to let Obama use the virus as a political weapon on the eve of an election.

Via Israel Spy:

They (Israeli officials) said that it was Israeli intelligence that began, a few years earlier, a cyberspace campaign to damage and slow down Iran’s nuclear intentions. And only later they managed to convince the USA to consider a joint operation — which, at the time, was unheard of. Even friendly nations are hesitant to share their technological and intelligence resources against a common enemy. In our book, Spies Against Armageddon, we will reveal much more about the special strategic relations and cooperation between the CIA and the Mossad and the importance given by the Aman (military intelligence) to cyberspace warfare.

Yet my Israeli sources understand the sensitivity and the timing of the issue and are not going to be dragged into a battle over taking credit. “We know that it is the presidential election season,” one Israeli added, ”and don’t want to spoil the party for President Obama and his officials, who shared in a twisted and manipulated way some of the behind-the-scenes secrets of the success of cyberwar.”

Obama is getting sloppy and desperate. Unfortunately, national security is being sacrificed in the process.

h/t GWP