The Navy Seal Book Really Getting on Panetta's Nerves...
That Navy Seal who wrote about the killing of Osama has stirred up a hornet's nest. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta seems to be the head drone leading the defense of the Defense Department. I mean, how can you run secret operations if someone involved is going to write about them? Right?
But wait. A few weeks ago Defense was saying that the Seal broke some sort of agreement that bound him not to divulge details of an operation - even after he left the military. So is that the case? Did he break some sort of agreement? Panetta's not claiming that anymore, so I'm guessing there was no such agreement.
The Seal says he's not revealing classified information, which would be a big no-no. But when you read what Panetta says, it appears that the DOD can't quite figure out whether the book does reveal anything classified. Isn't that kind of hard to believe? The books been out for over a week and they can't figure this out yet?
Lesson: Don't take government claims like this seriously unless you know they know what they're talking about. Those first comments were just blowing smoke meant to intimidate this guy who had the nerve to contradict the administration and the Defense Department's account about what really happened.
So now it seems like this Navy Seal has more gotten administration officials' noses out of joint rather than betrayed any sort of confidence. Look at how Panetta's claim has been reduced to the fact that the Seal didn't check in with the Pentagon before releasing the book. (And, by the way, if there's nothing illegal of immoral about this guy writing the book, why should he run it by Panetta?)
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta criticized a former Navy SEAL for writing a book about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, complaining the author never bothered to run it by the Pentagon before going to print.
"The fact that he did it without running it by the Pentagon so that we could take a look at it. I mean, deliberately, just basically said, 'We're not, you know, we're not gonna do this.' That's a concern," Panetta told "CBS This Morning," in an excerpt of an interview that will air on Tuesday.
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But wait. A few weeks ago Defense was saying that the Seal broke some sort of agreement that bound him not to divulge details of an operation - even after he left the military. So is that the case? Did he break some sort of agreement? Panetta's not claiming that anymore, so I'm guessing there was no such agreement.
The Seal says he's not revealing classified information, which would be a big no-no. But when you read what Panetta says, it appears that the DOD can't quite figure out whether the book does reveal anything classified. Isn't that kind of hard to believe? The books been out for over a week and they can't figure this out yet?
Lesson: Don't take government claims like this seriously unless you know they know what they're talking about. Those first comments were just blowing smoke meant to intimidate this guy who had the nerve to contradict the administration and the Defense Department's account about what really happened.
So now it seems like this Navy Seal has more gotten administration officials' noses out of joint rather than betrayed any sort of confidence. Look at how Panetta's claim has been reduced to the fact that the Seal didn't check in with the Pentagon before releasing the book. (And, by the way, if there's nothing illegal of immoral about this guy writing the book, why should he run it by Panetta?)
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta criticized a former Navy SEAL for writing a book about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, complaining the author never bothered to run it by the Pentagon before going to print.
"The fact that he did it without running it by the Pentagon so that we could take a look at it. I mean, deliberately, just basically said, 'We're not, you know, we're not gonna do this.' That's a concern," Panetta told "CBS This Morning," in an excerpt of an interview that will air on Tuesday.
More...
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