Bragging rights

The latest shot in the presidential campaign: A video called Dishonorable Disclosures, with clips of former CIA agents ripping the Obama Administration.

They believe the administration deliberately leaked details of the operation to kill Osama bin Laden so the president look could brag about it.

And he certainly took credit for giving the order. But he also said this:

“We give thanks for the men who carried out this operation for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism, and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country.”

Covert operations ought to stay covert. Keep the enemy guessing. Except, if you recall, there was a snag, one of the helicopters clipped a wall and couldn’t fly. So witnesses had to be left behind, in the custody of the Pakistanis who started telling a different story; that the Seals captured bin Laden alive and then murdered him in front of his family, that there was no armed resistance, that the president was making stuff up.

Presidents hate that. George Bush hated hearing that he somehow made up the “weapons of mass destruction” so he declassified parts of an intelligence report, which got leaked to the press and led to the outing of a CIA agent.

“I thought it made sense for people to see the truth. That’s why I declassified the document,” said Bush. “You’re not supposed to talk about classified information, so I declassified the document.”

So it’s true maybe presidents should just shut the BLEEP up, but it can be so hard.

Dave Ross Commentary: