Ever since the Washington Post reported last week that President Donald Trump disclosed classified information in his meeting with the Russian foreign minister and ambassador, commentators have been debating how the revelation might affect intelligence gathering and sharing among America and its allies. The data Trump divulged about ISIS plans to use bombs concealed in laptops had come from an ally—Israel, as we now know—that hadn’t given permission to pass it on to the Russians. Some experts predicted that allies would be much less willing to work with America after learning its president could be cavalier with classified information.
During a discussion in Washington on Tuesday, however, Canada’s defense minister declared there are absolutely no worries within the “Five Eyes” about sharing intelligence with the United States. The Five Eyes—so named for the classification shorthand that information was for these eyes only—refers to an intelligence-sharing agreement among five Anglophone countries with the same common law tradition: the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. It’s the most important such arrangement in the world.
“It’s a relationship that’s extremely solid. There’s no concern when it comes to working with any of our Five Eyes partners,” Harjit Sajjan said at a lunch hosted by the Canadian American Business Council on the top floor of the Hay-Adams Hotel. The defense minister spoke with a view of the White House behind him. “It saves lives. It saves the troops’ lives as well,” Sajjan continued. “It’s a wonderfully trusted relationship.”
Retired U.S. Army Major General Tim Haake asked the minister what Canada sees as the current threat landscape. Sajjan didn’t answer that question with any detail, but he did address Monday night’s terrorist attack in Manchester, England, for which ISIS has claimed responsibility: “The attack in the U.K. is an indirect attack on all of us.”
Sajjan, a former regimental commander in the Canadian Armed Forces who served in Bosnia and Afghanistan, told the crowd that he’s developed a good relationship with his American counterpart. He only met Secretary of Defense James Mattis after the retired Marine Corps general became a member of the administration. “But everyone knows who General Mattis is,” he said with a laugh. Sajjan shared some of the best advice Mattis has given him: “Don’t make any excuse that you don’t have time to read.” “You need to understand the culture, the sociology, the politics” of any place of conflict, Sajjan said. “Every time I think I don’t have time to read, I think of General Mattis.”
