Robert Gates: We Had Agreed We Wouldn’t Release Details About the Operation Against OBL But 'That All Fell Apart'
May 12, 2011 2:41 PM
Speaking at a town hall with Marines at Camp Lejeune on Thursday morning, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Special Forces who participated in the successful mission to kill Osama bin Laden were worried about their safety, and that he was concerned that so many details of the operation had become known to the public.
“Frankly, a week ago Sunday, in the Situation Room, we all agreed that we would not release any operational details from the effort to take out bin Laden,†Gates said. “That all fell apart on Monday -- the next day.â€
Gates’ response was prompted by a question from a Marine in a Medical Logistics Company, who asked “what measures are being taken to protect the identities and the lives of the SEAL team members, as well as the lives of military forces deployed that might have to face extreme retaliation from terrorist organizations that want to have those identities known?â€
Gates said that “there is an awareness that the threat of retaliation is increased because…of the action against bin Laden. “ He said there “has been a consistent and effective effort to protect the identities of those who participated in the raid, and I think that has to continue.â€
The defense secretary said that “when I met with the team last Thursday, they expressed a concern about that, and particularly with respect to their families…I can't get into the details in this forum, but we are looking at what measures can be taken to pump up the security.â€
Asked for further clarification of Gates’ remarks, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said that Secretary Gates was "not pointing fingers at any particular individual or any particular building" for details becoming known. "But all of a sudden airwaves and newspapers were filled with details about a covert military and intelligence operation and that's concerning because one of the reasons that these operations -- and this operation in particular -- are effective is because how they do their work, how they're equipped, how they're trained, their tactics and procedures are all secret. The more that's in the public domain the less likely we'll be able to pull these operations off in the future."
-Jake Tapper
SEALS Worried
- kantuckyII
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SEALS Worried
Well, if you didn't want the details public then why did you share it? this is a troubling breakdown here I would imagine.
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Re: SEALS Worried
What did they really expect since we now live in a world where if you fart on Monday, the entire world will know about it by Tuesday through Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and inevitably someone will have a video of it on YouTube within minutes of it happening. Nothing you or I or anyone for that matter does is safe from public scrutiny anymore.
- kantuckyII
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Re: SEALS Worried
I heard that! You know, the other day, I uploaded a couple photos to my Facebook account and I'm guessing (well, obviously) it had to be using face recognition software because it tried to tag the person without me doing it. I don't have anything to hide and I don't put anything on there I wouldn't want the world to know but I really do wonder about that bunch that run that place. I have no doubt that they use it to spy on people..not just the govt but others as well
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Re: SEALS Worried
NO! I had just uploaded them and it was asking did I want to tag anyone in my photos (you know how many pictures I put up there) and a couple of photos have had it already tagged before I done a thingBoonedawg wrote:Was someone in your friends list looking at your pics that made the tag.