Special Ops and Intelligence professionals to Obama: “Shut up!”

**Posted by Phineas

Several times in the past, I’ve gone off on the Obama administration for seeking domestic political advantage by revealing military and intelligence secrets: when it comes to our struggles with al Qaeda and Iran, national security takes a back seat to the president’s reelection efforts. Spiking the ball after bin Laden’s assassination was only the most famous (and shameful) example.

But, hey, who am I to be advising the fourth greatest president ever on matters of national security? I’m just a guy behind a keyboard.

But maybe he should listen to those who know the value of keeping secrets and know the harm that can be caused by revealing them. A group of retired military and intelligence professionals have come out into the light to tell Obama to stop acting like a pol and start acting like a commander-in-chief. And if he won’t listen to them, they’ll make sure we know the danger, too, starting with this short video. Twenty-two minutes long, watch the whole thing; it’s powerful:

A few months ago, I wrote the following about keeping secrets secret:

One of the greatest secrets you can have in intelligence work –especially when dealing with a deadly enemy– is that you’ve compromised their security. That you’ve cracked their codes, found their safe houses, planted a bug in their meetings, slipped a mole deep inside… so many things. You want them kept secret because you can exploit the advantage again and again, disrupting and demoralizing your enemy because they can’t figure out how you’re always one step ahead. These are secrets you go to your grave with, because, once blown, they’re useless.

And the same goes for the methods we use and the “rough men” who do the work. Revealing secrets makes future missions riskier and endangers lives — not just those of the special forces soldiers and intelligence operatives, but those of their family and friends, because of the danger of retaliation. To reveal those secrets for personal political gain is incredibly childish, venal, and shortsighted.

I’m sure we’ll be seeing excerpts from this video and others to follow in commercials in battleground states a lot between now and November. Meanwhile, memo to Team The One:

Shut. Up.

LINK: The Opsec Team’s web site.

PS: Romney 2012, because I want an adult in charge of our secrets, not an attention-seeking man-child.

PPS: Eric Boehlert of the leftist, Soros-funded Media Matters for America calls the Navy SEALS in this group “gutless.” Eric, dude, I dare you to say that to a SEAL’s face.

(Crossposted at Sister Toldjah)

Comments are closed.