• Guests may view all public nodes. However, you must be registered to post.

A PLEA FOR DISCRETION... Regarding U.S. Military Movements in the Event of Strikes on Iran

  • Thread starter Thread starter NuclearID
  • Start date Start date

NuclearID

Guest
I want to make clear that what I’m saying here is done entirely of my own volition and does not reflect official policy from the @DEFCON Warning System or its Director, and that I am not staff. In fact, it may be in direct contradiction to the Director’s standing policy on open discussion and free speech.

But I feel I must speak up.

Should the United States initiate a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities or enter into direct military engagement I will refrain from posting any open-source, first-hand reports of U.S. or allied military movements during the initial phase of the operation. Even if such information is technically public, even if it’s circulating on social media, I believe there is too great a risk of amplifying data that could endanger lives or compromise operational integrity.

I urge others to consider doing the same.

I am not calling for censorship. I am calling for discretion. This is not about politics. This is about safety. Not everything that is visible must be shared. Not everything that is legal is right in the moment.

You are free to disagree. You are free to post. But I ask you to weigh the potential consequences not just the facts but the impact.

I love this country, and I take these matters seriously. That’s why I’m speaking now before the first missile flies.

—DarkNoon
 
DarkNoon said:
I want to make clear that what I’m saying here is done entirely of my own volition and does not reflect official policy from the @DEFCON Warning System or its Director, and that I am not staff. In fact, it may be in direct contradiction to the Director’s standing policy on open discussion and free speech.

But I feel I must speak up.

Should the United States initiate a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities or enter into direct military engagement I will refrain from posting any open-source, first-hand reports of U.S. or allied military movements during the initial phase of the operation. Even if such information is technically public, even if it’s circulating on social media, I believe there is too great a risk of amplifying data that could endanger lives or compromise operational integrity.

I urge others to consider doing the same.

I am not calling for censorship. I am calling for discretion. This is not about politics. This is about safety. Not everything that is visible must be shared. Not everything that is legal is right in the moment.

You are free to disagree. You are free to post. But I ask you to weigh the potential consequences not just the facts but the impact.

I love this country, and I take these matters seriously. That’s why I’m speaking now before the first missile flies.

—DarkNoon
Click to expand...
This either has to apply to all US allies or nobody though. The implication of being able to share this stuff for eg. Ukrainians and not Americans is that American lives are inherently more valuable than Ukrainian lives and that we have no obligation to our ally to give them the same courtesy, if this problem applies to everyone and we acknowledge that it could get Americans killed then we must also acknowledge that current reporting could get Ukrainians killed and it should have roughly the same weight as a human life is a human life


Honestly, breaking first hand open source reports of things like hyper specific movements of individual troops and whatnot aren't even that useful for keeping track of the direction of a conflict, this would not be bad to just apply universally for the sake of avoiding getting people killed.
 
Winnitude said:
Honestly, breaking first hand open source reports of things like hyper specific movements of individual troops and whatnot aren't even that useful for keeping track of the direction of a conflict, this would not be bad to just apply universally for the sake of avoiding getting people killed.
Click to expand...
You would be correct if we were talking about a country with proper intelligence gathering and institutions, much like the rest of the developed world. But Iran would likely find social media posts about U.S. troop locations highly useful. Now, if this were against any developed country with a high-tech, well-established intelligence apparatus, I’d agree with you. Iran doesn't even possess spy satellites capable of relying real-time information to them from space... which is why this is critical.

👉 That’s why I strongly encourage everyone to hold back on posting hyper-specific U.S. or allied troop movements during active operations. Even if it seems minor or already public, you never know how it might fill in a gap for someone watching on the other side. When in doubt, hold the line. Lives could depend on it.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
DarkNoon said:
You would be correct if we were talking about a country with proper intelligence gathering and institutions, much like the rest of the developed world. But Iran would likely find social media posts about U.S. troop locations highly useful, in my opinion. Now, if this were against any developed country with a high-tech, well-established intelligence apparatus, I’d agree with you.

👉 That’s why I strongly encourage everyone to hold back on posting hyper-specific U.S. or allied troop movements during active operations. Even if it seems minor or already public, you never know how it might fill in a gap for someone watching on the other side. When in doubt, hold the line. Lives could depend on it.
Click to expand...
I think you misunderstood the paragraph you quoted. I meant it's not useful for us tracking the direction of things and how its unfolding on a macro scale, not that it's not useful for them to find targets on a micro scale. Thus it serves only Iran, Russia etc when we post US or US allies' direct movements, so I think you are right, but it should apply to all conflicts.
 
Winnitude said:
I think you misunderstood the paragraph you quoted. I meant it's not useful for us tracking the direction of things and how its unfolding on a macro scale, not that it's not useful for them to find targets on a micro scale. Thus it serves only Iran, Russia etc when we post US or US allies' direct movements, so I think you are right, but it should apply to all conflicts.
Click to expand...
Ah, I see what you meant and I completely agree. During the early stages of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, I promptly asked everyone not to share sensitive military information or first-hand open-source intel regarding the Ukrainian army and its assets. The staff and others here can attest to that. So yes, I’m totally in agreement with you.
 
DarkNoon said:
You would be correct if we were talking about a country with proper intelligence gathering and institutions, much like the rest of the developed world. But Iran would likely find social media posts about U.S. troop locations highly useful, in my opinion. Now, if this were against any developed country with a high-tech, well-established intelligence apparatus, I’d agree with you. Iran doesn't even possess spy satellites capable of relying real-time information to them from space... which is why this is critical.

👉 That’s why I strongly encourage everyone to hold back on posting hyper-specific U.S. or allied troop movements during active operations. Even if it seems minor or already public, you never know how it might fill in a gap for someone watching on the other side. When in doubt, hold the line. Lives could depend on it.
Click to expand...
when you mention countries with proper intelligence gathering and institutions, what countries would qualify that aren't in NATO / the West?
 
7gtz said:
when you mention countries with proper intelligence gathering and institutions, what countries would qualify that aren't in NATO / the West?
Click to expand...
Good question!

China, India, Russia though their performance in Ukraine with intelligence is really subpar, maybe North Korea soon since they been launching satellites, and more countries I am probably not thinking of.

But Iran does not have a hyper developed high tech intelligence apparatus that can give them real time info. Even with some Russian help feeding them some info.

👉 That’s why I strongly encourage everyone to hold back on posting hyper-specific U.S. or allied troop movements during active operations. Even if it seems minor or already public, you never know how it might fill in a gap for someone watching on the other side. When in doubt, hold the line. Lives could depend on it.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Exactly right. As with the Palantir in Lord of the Rings, we do not know who else may be watching. Best not to give away any information to the enemy that could be used to hurt people!
 
⚠️
(THREAD BUMP)
With things heating up, just a reminder: If conflict with Iran breaks out, posting US hyper-specific info—even from OSINT—can be damaging. Assume adversaries are watching. Don’t be the reason something gets compromised or worse risking real lives.

I’m posting this again because I know many, if not most OSINT accounts on Twitter monitor these forums. If you’re one of them, please do the right thing when the time comes. Spread this message before the conflict, not after.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
DarkNoon said:
⚠️
(THREAD BUMP)
With things heating up, just a reminder: If conflict with Iran breaks out, posting US hyper-specific info—even from OSINT—can be damaging. Assume adversaries are watching. Don’t be the reason something gets compromised or worse risking real lives.

I’m posting this again because I know many, if not most OSINT accounts on Twitter monitor these forums. If you’re one of them, please do the right thing when the time comes. Spread this message before the conflict, not after.
Click to expand...
WHY? this isnt a high traffic web site. i guessing at this point this site is just for debates and nothing more or to full fill someone's reading necessities cause what we talk about here wont effect the planet AT ALL!.
 
DEFCON Warning System said:
During crisis, we do see a significant spike in traffic, even if the number of posters remains low.
Click to expand...
Not to mention simply sharing 'data' anywhere even here, amplifies it, a chance an algorithm, Google bot, or the enemy will pick it up.

Iran doesn't have real-time intelligence, any hyper specific US locations shared online anywhere can and will be used against US/allies by Iran.

It is a very real danger for operational security for the US against actors like Iran who do not have real time intelligence via satellite imagery, ect.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
DEFCON Warning System said:
During crisis, we do see a significant spike in traffic, even if the number of posters remains low.
Click to expand...
Yes, so much traffic it crashes the website durring times of crisis. As many who have been here long enough will know the forums "pings-out" unable to load durring a crisis due to the sheer volume of traffic.

All the more reason why I ask people to do the right thing when the time comes.

👉 When in doubt, hold the line. Lives could depend on it.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom