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Gates: We Agreed We Wouldn’t Release Details About Operation Against OBL But 'That All Fell Apart'
ABC News ^ | May 12, 2011 2:41 PM | Jake Tapper

Posted on 05/13/2011 10:03:28 AM PDT by newzjunkey

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.”

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?”

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.”

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.”

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."


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 2012; binladen; gates; obama; obl; osama; spikingtheball
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To: Steel Wolf

you can bet if any of these Seals get hurt, we’ll never know about it...they’ll never be identified as the Seals that were on the raid and it’ll be swept under the rug by the SCM just like everything else...


41 posted on 05/13/2011 11:37:29 AM PDT by cherry
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To: grumpygresh
Is Gates part of the problem?......I often wonder why these military guys even are in this administration....promotions?....post military lobbiest gigs?....

zero is anti American and is seeking to destroy our country .....what patriotic military man would be a part of that....

42 posted on 05/13/2011 11:40:47 AM PDT by cherry
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To: newzjunkey
Robert Gates is doing the cya:
Outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates is giving his boss President Obama strong reviews for ordering the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

"This is one of the most courageous calls -- decisions -- that I think I've ever seen a president make," Gates tells CBS' 60 Minutes in an interview to air Sunday night.

In excerpts released today, Gates said it was a "gutsy call" because so much could have gone wrong.

"This was a very risky operation," Gates said. "So, I was very concerned. So was the president."

Then there was the fact that Obama and his aides could not be certain bin Laden was even in the compound in Pakistan that was the object of the raid. "There was a lot of uncertainty about whether he was there," Gates said. "And that was my principal concern."


43 posted on 05/13/2011 3:13:32 PM PDT by vrwc54
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To: newzjunkey
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. That all fell apart on Monday, the next day.

Hey, Barry is taking a page from Jesse Jackson who got everyone present at the murder of MLK, Jr. to agree to stonewall the press and then rushed back to Chicago, stopped by the local Moo and Oink or its equivalent for some blood to spatter his shirt, and then called the press to hear him lie about holding the dying MLK, Jr. in his arms as though MLK, Jr. was passing him the civil rights baton.
44 posted on 05/14/2011 8:13:31 AM PDT by aruanan
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To: Outlaw Woman

Nothing wrong with saying it as it is OW...Barry will of course not stop regardless who might be in the way of this next election. He has done so much damage thus far...imagine what the democrates intend to do if he wins again?...Four more years to completely “transform” this country to the Obama State! Frightening to imagine but the commies are certainly on a roll now.


45 posted on 05/14/2011 8:23:56 AM PDT by caww
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To: caww

I can’t/won’t even entertain the idea.


46 posted on 05/14/2011 10:37:45 AM PDT by Outlaw Woman ("...; because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee,... "Hosea 4:6)
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To: caww
Actually I hadn't completed the thought before hitting post. Like I said I can't (won't) entertain the thought of the marxist being in 4 more years. The damage that has been done to our nation to this point is still repairable imo. Four more years will destroy that hope and possibility.

We have documentation, via articles written, government logs etc of what has been done so far. I've been saving documentation on various issues (Obamacare, oil, immigration, defense, FCC, payoffs, kickbacks etc. etc. etc.etc.) so that when we get our government back, as a citizen, I plan on petitioning representatives, hopefully with other connected citizens (because I am not well connected), to immediately start reversing some of the most damaging legislation. And we'll have to have hard documentation so that no one can pull the wool over our eyes on these things.

I'm more focused on thinking about how to repair. It may sound Pollyannish, but it's all my mind can focus on: how are we going to compel our government to fix and reverse the disastrous legislation that has slipped through.

47 posted on 05/14/2011 10:55:56 AM PDT by Outlaw Woman ("...; because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee,... "Hosea 4:6)
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To: SMARTY
I keep seeing this picture. Who IS this guy?

His friends call him "Mongo".

48 posted on 05/14/2011 12:45:08 PM PDT by End Times Sentinel (In Memory of my Dear Friend Henry Lee II)
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