Obama Leaks Risk National Security For Political Gain
The fact that the Allies in World War II had the ability to intercept and decode German and Japanese military transmissions, leading to critical military victories at Midway and elsewhere, remained a secret until long after World War II was over, and it didn't matter who knew it. "Loose lips sink ships" was then more than a clever wartime slogan.
The pattern of national security leaks under this administration and its political exploitation of what should be secret has even liberal media flagship CNN wondering if "President Barack Obama's administration can keep a secret — or in some cases even wants to."
With a collapsing economy, rampant joblessness and mushrooming debt, foreign policy seemingly is the only place Obama can boast of any accomplishments.
Yes, Osama bin Laden was killed on his watch. Yet even there, critics say with much merit that the world's most wanted man was killed while Obama was president, not because he was president.
We're all too familiar with Obama's very public celebration after the bin Laden kill, to the point of giving tours of the Situation Room and granting special access to information and people to Hollywood filmmakers. A 17-minute campaign flick was even made.
"Too many people in too many places are talking too much about this operation," Robert Gates said last year when he was defense secretary, adding that the level of disclosures and blabbing violates an agreement reached in the White House Situation Room on May 8, 2011, to keep details of the raid private.
"That lasted about 15 hours," Gates said sourly.
In a letter obtained by CNN, Leon Panetta, who was CIA director during the bin Laden hit, wrote that the operation "led to an unprecedented amount of very sensitive — in fact, classified — information making its way into the press." Leaks, he noted, "endanger lives."
A recent Associated Press story exposed the penetration of al-Qaida in Yemen by a mole who had uncovered plans to bring down an airliner with a new and improved, less detectable underwear bomb.
AP's story, which revealed sources and methods, ran after the White House said the operation was complete and would be publicly announced the next day. The question is why announce anything at all?
Last week, the New York Times published insider accounts of Obama-administration policies, one involving "kill lists" of terrorists being targeted by drones. The other exposed our involvement in cyberwarfare attacks against Iran to disrupt its nuclear program.
The computer virus program, dubbed "Olympic Games," along with many counterterrorism policies and programs, was inherited from the administration of President George W. Bush.
But Bush knew how to keep a national secret and, unlike the incumbent, was aware that national security is more important than the next election.
Thanks to the Times article, details of the previously unknown operation are now known, including how the program was supposed to operate and the involvement of Israeli intelligence in it.
"It's a pattern that goes back two years, starting with the Times Square bomber, where somebody in the federal government, probably the FBI, leaked his name before he was captured," said Rep. Pete King, the GOP chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.
"That's why he tried to leave the country — he knew they were on to him." Calling the episode "amateur hour" at the White House, King said: "It puts our people at risk and gives information to the enemy."
Speaking before Congress on Sept. 20, 2001, President Bush spoke of a "lengthy campaign" after 9/11 that would "include dramatic strikes visible on TV and covert operations secret even in success."
Under Obama, no success will be a secret to our enemies.
http://news.investors.com/article/613662/201206041921/obama-leaks-war-on-terror-secrets.htm?p=full
The pattern of national security leaks under this administration and its political exploitation of what should be secret has even liberal media flagship CNN wondering if "President Barack Obama's administration can keep a secret — or in some cases even wants to."
With a collapsing economy, rampant joblessness and mushrooming debt, foreign policy seemingly is the only place Obama can boast of any accomplishments.
Yes, Osama bin Laden was killed on his watch. Yet even there, critics say with much merit that the world's most wanted man was killed while Obama was president, not because he was president.
We're all too familiar with Obama's very public celebration after the bin Laden kill, to the point of giving tours of the Situation Room and granting special access to information and people to Hollywood filmmakers. A 17-minute campaign flick was even made.
"Too many people in too many places are talking too much about this operation," Robert Gates said last year when he was defense secretary, adding that the level of disclosures and blabbing violates an agreement reached in the White House Situation Room on May 8, 2011, to keep details of the raid private.
"That lasted about 15 hours," Gates said sourly.
In a letter obtained by CNN, Leon Panetta, who was CIA director during the bin Laden hit, wrote that the operation "led to an unprecedented amount of very sensitive — in fact, classified — information making its way into the press." Leaks, he noted, "endanger lives."
A recent Associated Press story exposed the penetration of al-Qaida in Yemen by a mole who had uncovered plans to bring down an airliner with a new and improved, less detectable underwear bomb.
AP's story, which revealed sources and methods, ran after the White House said the operation was complete and would be publicly announced the next day. The question is why announce anything at all?
Last week, the New York Times published insider accounts of Obama-administration policies, one involving "kill lists" of terrorists being targeted by drones. The other exposed our involvement in cyberwarfare attacks against Iran to disrupt its nuclear program.
The computer virus program, dubbed "Olympic Games," along with many counterterrorism policies and programs, was inherited from the administration of President George W. Bush.
But Bush knew how to keep a national secret and, unlike the incumbent, was aware that national security is more important than the next election.
Thanks to the Times article, details of the previously unknown operation are now known, including how the program was supposed to operate and the involvement of Israeli intelligence in it.
"It's a pattern that goes back two years, starting with the Times Square bomber, where somebody in the federal government, probably the FBI, leaked his name before he was captured," said Rep. Pete King, the GOP chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.
"That's why he tried to leave the country — he knew they were on to him." Calling the episode "amateur hour" at the White House, King said: "It puts our people at risk and gives information to the enemy."
Speaking before Congress on Sept. 20, 2001, President Bush spoke of a "lengthy campaign" after 9/11 that would "include dramatic strikes visible on TV and covert operations secret even in success."
Under Obama, no success will be a secret to our enemies.
http://news.investors.com/article/613662/201206041921/obama-leaks-war-on-terror-secrets.htm?p=full
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