What allies are supposed to do

[Berkut]

I wrote "suggest", not "provide evidence". It might turn out to be Zimbabwe, that's not my point.

There are certain ways or etiquette that is generally agreed upon when dealing with allies or their military technology. This story was just a nice reminder of that.

It could turn out to be France, and it would still be a shit article that you fell for, hook, line, and sinker.

[Josquius]

So let's say it's France. If French officials cooperated with the FBI on this matter, it must have been particularly galling when the Biden administration then struck a deal to share nuclear technology with Australia, thus squelching a contract that France had negotiated long ago. This is the same nuclear technology that the Toebbes thought they were providing to France. If France had taken the Toebbes up on their offer, it might have been able to save the contract with Australia. Instead, the French notified the FBI—and for their trouble, they got screwed. This may be the backstory on why French President Emmanuel Macron was particularly peeved.

They seem to know a lot about this spy case but they don't seem very well informed about the troubles of the French /Australian deal.
And I say this as somebody who has only skimmed that saga.

[Berkut]

So let's say it's France. If French officials cooperated with the FBI on this matter, it must have been particularly galling when the Biden administration then struck a deal to share nuclear technology with Australia, thus squelching a contract that France had negotiated long ago. This is the same nuclear technology that the Toebbes thought they were providing to France. If France had taken the Toebbes up on their offer, it might have been able to save the contract with Australia. Instead, the French notified the FBI—and for their trouble, they got screwed. This may be the backstory on why French President Emmanuel Macron was particularly peeved.

They seem to know a lot about this spy case but they don't seem very well informed about the troubles of the French /Australian deal.
And I say this as somebody who has only skimmed that saga.

They definitely could have saved the Australia deal, but sacrificed it for the greater good of co Franco-American cooperation. Because that is just what France does!

[The Minsky Moment]

The linked articles set forth a plausible case that COUNTRY1 is France.  However, a key premise in the Guardian article is that the universe of prospects consist of countries that already deploy nuclear subs, as opposed to countries that are seeking or considering such a capability.

It has also been disclosed that Toebbe wrote a letter stating: "Please have your experts examine the documents.  I think they would agree that your country's attempt to develop a [redacted] would be greatly aided."

My question is this: if France is COUNTRY1, then what was the redacted word or phrase?

[Berkut]

This shit is really delicious.

In April 2020, Jonathan Toebbe sent a letter to a foreign government—which the complaint refers to as "Country1," but it seems to be France (for reasons I'll explain later)—containing some fairly routine manuals on the nuclear propulsion system of the U.S. Navy's Virginia-class submarine and promising much more if the recipient sent him a down payment.

That's already where he went wrong. In December (it's unclear why this took so long), the foreign government turned over the package to the FBI,

It is unclear why it took so long.

If this was France, I wonder why it took them seven months to decide to be such stand up allies, and let the US know about this?

Could it be because, I don't know...it took them that long to vet the information and decide that there was nothing that useful to actually learn from this low level scrub?

Hard to say, but I would surmise that there is better reason to believe that handy interpretation then to hang your hat on it must be France because, you know, the guy wanted to have a glass of wine, and we all know that Paris is the best place for that!

[mongers]

The linked articles set forth a plausible case that COUNTRY1 is France.  However, a key premise in the Guardian article is that the universe of prospects consist of countries that already deploy nuclear subs, as opposed to countries that are seeking or considering such a capability.

It has also been disclosed that Toebbe wrote a letter stating: "Please have your experts examine the documents.  I think they would agree that your country's attempt to develop a [redacted] would be greatly aided."

My question is this: if France is COUNTRY1, then what was the redacted word or phrase?

[spoiler]"a 'Hunt for Red October'-like super fast nuclear propulsion system." [/spoiler]

[grumbler]

The linked articles set forth a plausible case that COUNTRY1 is France.  However, a key premise in the Guardian article is that the universe of prospects consist of countries that already deploy nuclear subs, as opposed to countries that are seeking or considering such a capability.

It has also been disclosed that Toebbe wrote a letter stating: "Please have your experts examine the documents.  I think they would agree that your country's attempt to develop a [redacted] would be greatly aided."

My question is this: if France is COUNTRY1, then what was the redacted word or phrase?

Unknown, but if the country is Israel, [redacted] is "nuclear powered submarine."  I'm not completely sold on Israel even wanting some, but they'd certainly like to see plans for compact nuclear power plants, which they can't get openly because they are not part of the NPT.

[grumbler]

Of course, if France is country1, then [redacted] might be "next generation nuclear reactor."

I'm not sure France is in the market for such, and just doubt that they'd take seven months to decide not to buy from this guy.  I'm also not sure why Toebbe would think that France, already possessing this technology, would want more of it.

[Zoupa]

I wrote "suggest", not "provide evidence". It might turn out to be Zimbabwe, that's not my point.

There are certain ways or etiquette that is generally agreed upon when dealing with allies or their military technology. This story was just a nice reminder of that.

It could turn out to be France, and it would still be a shit article that you fell for, hook, line, and sinker.

It's ok. I know it's hard to deal with when you're confronted with how unreliable an ally your country has become. It goes against everything your tribe taught you growing up, so I understand when you lash out like this. Just remember to breathe through your outrage fit, don't give yourself an aneurysm. 

[Berkut]

I wrote "suggest", not "provide evidence". It might turn out to be Zimbabwe, that's not my point.

There are certain ways or etiquette that is generally agreed upon when dealing with allies or their military technology. This story was just a nice reminder of that.

It could turn out to be France, and it would still be a shit article that you fell for, hook, line, and sinker.

It's ok. I know it's hard to deal with when you're confronted with how unreliable an ally your country has become. It goes against everything your tribe taught you growing up, so I understand when you lash out like this. Just remember to breathe through your outrage fit, don't give yourself an aneurysm. 

LOL. You keep on being you Zoupa. Don't ever change.

[grumbler]

It's ok. I know it's hard to deal with when you're confronted with how unreliable an ally your country has become. It goes against everything your tribe taught you growing up, so I understand when you lash out like this. Just remember to breathe through your outrage fit, don't give yourself an aneurysm. 

I love how you attack the messenger and his country instead of addressing the actual meat and potatoes of the post, while still managing to make yourself seem smart AND condescending.

I salute you. A true Languish post.

[The Brain]

Even the article literally says "it could be anywhere" about the café and wine stuff.

Better luck next time.

[DGuller]

LOL. You keep on being you Zoupa. Don't ever change.

With all due respect, Berkut, you're giving Zoupa an awful advice.

[grumbler]

LOL. You keep on being you Zoupa. Don't ever change.

With all due respect, Berkut, you're giving Zoupa an awful advice.

[Josquius]

So let's say it's France. If French officials cooperated with the FBI on this matter, it must have been particularly galling when the Biden administration then struck a deal to share nuclear technology with Australia, thus squelching a contract that France had negotiated long ago. This is the same nuclear technology that the Toebbes thought they were providing to France. If France had taken the Toebbes up on their offer, it might have been able to save the contract with Australia. Instead, the French notified the FBI—and for their trouble, they got screwed. This may be the backstory on why French President Emmanuel Macron was particularly peeved.

They seem to know a lot about this spy case but they don't seem very well informed about the troubles of the French /Australian deal.
And I say this as somebody who has only skimmed that saga.

They definitely could have saved the Australia deal, but sacrificed it for the greater good of co Franco-American cooperation. Because that is just what France does!

My point is France already has nuclear technology and wasn't willing to sell it.
Its simply mad to think getting access to some American secrets would somehow change this.