Robert Gates Admits That Info Leaks Has SEAL Team 6 Fearing For The Safety Of Their Families

Source: Mediaite/CNN

Defense Secretary Robert Gates made a fairly startling admission while speaking at Marine Corp base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina yesterday. When asked about the how government was protecting the men who carried out the mission to kill Osama bin Laden, Gates admitted that there were deep concerns.

Read more: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/robert-gates-admits-that-info-leaks-has-seal-team-6-fearing-for-the-safety-of-their-families/

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I've been looking for info about Gates' claim on sane news sites but all I'm finding is spittle-spewing outrage from ignorant amateur wingnuts. My searching on DU hasn't been productive either (although that could just be me).

So here's the question: What operational info, if any, has been released that would make service members and their families any more worried about retaliation than they ordinarily are, given the nature of their jobs? Or is this just the latest wave of swamp fever sweeping through the wingnut camp?

(PS: Apoligies for exposing folks to Mediaite, which is a bit of a fever swamp itself. I go there precisely because it's a target-rich environment of ignorant blowhards that I enjoy tormenting, but that sort of environment might not be to everyone's taste.)

may have mentioned not wanting info to leak. Or some "troops" as is written in that piece. And whatever was said has been spun into an attempt to insinuate real information having actually leaked.

I haven't read any information about members of whatever team was used. No names.

This could easily be an attempt to start a smear.

Video.

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2011/05/12/exp.arena.gates.navy.seals.cnn

"At a visit to Camp Lejeune, N.C., on Thursday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates was asked by a Marine if the military was taking steps to protect the lives of the SEAL team members involved in the raid.

Mr. Gates said that “the threat of retaliation is increased” in the aftermath of bin Laden’s death. He expressed disappointment that so many details of the operation had become public, but said the identities of the assault team must remain confidential.

“I think 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. We are very concerned about the security of our families — of your families and our troops, and also these elite units that are engaged in things like that.

Mr. Gates said that when he was with the team members expressed concern about the safety of their families."

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/05/13/military-to-media-dont-name-special-ops-forces/

OPSEC comes down the individual. How would anyone know if I was on team 6?

organized into about 11 "teams." I don't think it's possible to keep all of their identities a secret. For example, I used to work with a woman who would proudly tell everybody who listened that her brother was a Navy SEAL. Whether true or not, that would potentially put him in danger. (Although, not much, I would imagine.) So, I would guess that they were probably referring to the fact that terrorists and terrorist sympathizers are going to try and declare open season on SEALS for awhile. Any and all SEALS that they can find out anything about. Not necessarily the 30 or so who were on this mission. I'm pretty sure their identities will be kept as secret as possible.

That being said, NOTHING this high profile is kept secret for long, and the U.S. government is notoriously bad at keeping secrets. It's no wonder nobody wants to cooperate with U.S. intelligence agencies. Look what happened after the fall of Saigon. The north vietnamese overran the evacuated U.S. Embassy, and the buttheads who'd been working in it hadn't even bothered to destroy the ID cards of their Vietnamese spies and cooperators, who were all promptley slaughtered. Same thing with the Wikileaks scandal. All it takes is one kid with a CD burner, and all of our collaborators in Afghanistan are exposed. Or, one jackass in the state department with a big mouth, like Richard Armitage, and a guy with a big ear like Robert Novak, and suddenly Valarie Plame is outted, the fake company she works for is exposed, and everybody else who works for that fake company, and everybody associated with her or anybody who works for that fake company is in danger.

Bah! You can say what you like about the old KGB, but at least they could keep secrets. Everybody wasn't willing to jump at the chance to endanger the country in exchange for the thrill of being interviewed by Anderson Cooper on TEE VEE.

Which would definitely paint a target on an entire base...

Not with the west coasts largest Naval station less than a mile away, and a Naval Air Station on island, and Marine Corps Air Station 18 miles away.

it's kind of sad that Gates decided to go out as a stinkin' Repig. good riddance.