SPECIAL OPERATIONS SPEAKS
Sign the Petition - Demand Panetta's
Immediate Resignation
http://specialoperationsspeaks.com/petition/panetta
“Leon Panetta is covering up for an Administration
that has compromised national security for cheap
political theater.” – CAPT Larry Bailey
SOS calls on Panetta to resign for claiming Obama
has special right to release classified information
about SEAL take down of bin Laden
Action comes in response to Defense Secretary
threats to punish Navy SEAL for bin Laden book
while defending Obama release of classified
information to Hollywood movie crew
WASHINGTON, DC – Special Operations Speaks (SOS) today called upon Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to resign from office for his claim that Barack Obama had special authority to provide classified information about the Navy SEAL attack on Osama bin Laden to Hollywood filmmakers and others with no security clearance.
Panetta made the claim in a September 10th interview on CBS This Morning. As he threatened to punish former Navy SEAL “Mark Owen” for revealing details about the assault on the bin Laden compound in his book No Easy Day, he stated that Department of Defense release of top secret information to Hollywood filmmakers “…were authorized by the President of the United States, who has that authority…”
“Mr. Panetta's claim reveals a profoundly disturbing sense of his role – and that of the President – in protecting both national security and the lives of our soldiers,” said SOS co-founder and chairman CAPT Larry Bailey, USN (Ret). “If he really believes that the President is justified in handing out classified information to his Hollywood cronies, his ignorance of the both the letter and the spirit of the law requires he resign. And if he doesn't, his duplicity disqualifies him from office.
“He is clearly putting his allegiance to the man who appointed him above his loyalty to the office he holds. And for that, he should forthwith resign from office.”
According to government documents obtained by the legal watchdog group Judicial Watch, beginning in mid-2011, the Obama/Panetta Defense Department begin providing special access to individuals and information involved in the bin Laden assault to Kathryn Bigelow, the director of The Hurt Locker, and screenwriter Mark Boal. Bigelow and Boal are making a film expected to be laudatory of the President's role in the assault.
The White House has denied that the filmmakers were given classified information. But, government emails and transcripts obtained by Judicial Watch under the Freedom of Information Act suggest that is not the case. The documents show that Hollywood film crews were given exclusive access to classified facilities and were allowed to meet with top administration officials.
SOS is not alone in its strong reaction to the Obama/Panetta revelations. Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, called the special treatment given to the filmmakers “outrageous,” adding, “If these filmmakers got access that trained national security and military reporters did not, then it’s telling the public: ‘We are not going to allow trained journalists to tell this story. If you want to know what happened, go buy a ticket to a movie.’”
Steven Aftergood, the director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists said, “The whole interaction with the filmmakers appears to be self-serving and self-aggrandizing [attempts] in an election year to glorify the administration.”
According to the Judicial Watch FOI documents, one of those to whom the Obama/Panetta DOD provided the filmmakers exclusive access was the “planner, SEAL Team 6 Operator and Commander.” In confirming the set-up, Under-Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers appears to acknowledge the top-secret nature of the information being revealed saying, “The only thing we ask is that you not reveal his name in any way as a consultant because . . . he shouldn’t be talking out of school.”
Also according to the FOI documents, the filmmakers were provided rare access to “The Vault” – which is described in the documents as the CIA building where some of the tactical planning for the bin Laden raid took place. So sensitive is “The Vault” that the actual location of the building has been redacted in the documents provided Judicial Watch.
The documents further reveal that according to DOD officials, the DOD was “basically using W[hite] H[ouse]-approved talking points we used the night of the operation.” Significantly, those talking points called the raid “a gutsy decision” by the President, adding that “WH involvement was critical.”
“The bottom line,” Bailey said, “is that, at the behest of the Obama White House, Leon Panetta knowingly allowed classified information to be given to left-leaning Hollywood filmmakers. And he is now launching an attack on a brave Navy SEAL simply for revealing where bin Laden was shot, while covering up for an Administration that has compromised national security for cheap political theater. It is time for him to go.”
Special Operations Speaks (SOS) is a nationwide organization led by highly decorated Special Operations veterans. Among its stated goals is a commitment “to illuminate the failed operational security environment of the Administration and to provide the public with accurate information about these repeated releases of highly classified information.
The group's website is www.specialoperationsspeaks.com.
Grassroots petition to demand Panetta's resignationhttp://specialoperationsspeaks.com/petition/panetta
Read the original article at SOS
Bee's note:
This is what should have been done to Obama a long time ago! No one in Washington had the courage to speak up, even though this administration by-passed Congress numerous times! Remember when he announced to Congress as he was leaving on a fast plane out of the country (to Brazil) that he had sent troops into Libya?! (On a Friday, as is his normal day to announce matters that should have first been discussed with Congress).
Everyone in Washington has given a free pass to this president, unlike the days of Nixon.
Let us hope that change takes place on November 6th.
PETITION
Please sign the SOS petition to call for Leon Panetta's immediate resignation as Secretary of Defense. There is no question that Leon Panetta is using a Nixonian defense of unbridled executive privilege, which was proven unconstitutional long ago, to justify the Obama administration’s abhorrent actions. HE MUST RESIGN.Sign the Petition - Demand Panetta's
Immediate Resignation
http://specialoperationsspeaks.com/petition/panetta
RELEASE: Special Operations Speaks Calls For Panetta's Resignation
| For Immediate Release | Contact: Alex Rosenwald |
| September 17, 2012 | (571) 282-7954 alex@politicalmedia.com |
“Leon Panetta is covering up for an Administration
that has compromised national security for cheap
political theater.” – CAPT Larry Bailey
SOS calls on Panetta to resign for claiming Obama
has special right to release classified information
about SEAL take down of bin Laden
Action comes in response to Defense Secretary
threats to punish Navy SEAL for bin Laden book
while defending Obama release of classified
information to Hollywood movie crew
WASHINGTON, DC – Special Operations Speaks (SOS) today called upon Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to resign from office for his claim that Barack Obama had special authority to provide classified information about the Navy SEAL attack on Osama bin Laden to Hollywood filmmakers and others with no security clearance.
Panetta made the claim in a September 10th interview on CBS This Morning. As he threatened to punish former Navy SEAL “Mark Owen” for revealing details about the assault on the bin Laden compound in his book No Easy Day, he stated that Department of Defense release of top secret information to Hollywood filmmakers “…were authorized by the President of the United States, who has that authority…”
“Mr. Panetta's claim reveals a profoundly disturbing sense of his role – and that of the President – in protecting both national security and the lives of our soldiers,” said SOS co-founder and chairman CAPT Larry Bailey, USN (Ret). “If he really believes that the President is justified in handing out classified information to his Hollywood cronies, his ignorance of the both the letter and the spirit of the law requires he resign. And if he doesn't, his duplicity disqualifies him from office.
“He is clearly putting his allegiance to the man who appointed him above his loyalty to the office he holds. And for that, he should forthwith resign from office.”
According to government documents obtained by the legal watchdog group Judicial Watch, beginning in mid-2011, the Obama/Panetta Defense Department begin providing special access to individuals and information involved in the bin Laden assault to Kathryn Bigelow, the director of The Hurt Locker, and screenwriter Mark Boal. Bigelow and Boal are making a film expected to be laudatory of the President's role in the assault.
The White House has denied that the filmmakers were given classified information. But, government emails and transcripts obtained by Judicial Watch under the Freedom of Information Act suggest that is not the case. The documents show that Hollywood film crews were given exclusive access to classified facilities and were allowed to meet with top administration officials.
SOS is not alone in its strong reaction to the Obama/Panetta revelations. Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, called the special treatment given to the filmmakers “outrageous,” adding, “If these filmmakers got access that trained national security and military reporters did not, then it’s telling the public: ‘We are not going to allow trained journalists to tell this story. If you want to know what happened, go buy a ticket to a movie.’”
Steven Aftergood, the director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists said, “The whole interaction with the filmmakers appears to be self-serving and self-aggrandizing [attempts] in an election year to glorify the administration.”
According to the Judicial Watch FOI documents, one of those to whom the Obama/Panetta DOD provided the filmmakers exclusive access was the “planner, SEAL Team 6 Operator and Commander.” In confirming the set-up, Under-Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers appears to acknowledge the top-secret nature of the information being revealed saying, “The only thing we ask is that you not reveal his name in any way as a consultant because . . . he shouldn’t be talking out of school.”
Also according to the FOI documents, the filmmakers were provided rare access to “The Vault” – which is described in the documents as the CIA building where some of the tactical planning for the bin Laden raid took place. So sensitive is “The Vault” that the actual location of the building has been redacted in the documents provided Judicial Watch.
The documents further reveal that according to DOD officials, the DOD was “basically using W[hite] H[ouse]-approved talking points we used the night of the operation.” Significantly, those talking points called the raid “a gutsy decision” by the President, adding that “WH involvement was critical.”
“The bottom line,” Bailey said, “is that, at the behest of the Obama White House, Leon Panetta knowingly allowed classified information to be given to left-leaning Hollywood filmmakers. And he is now launching an attack on a brave Navy SEAL simply for revealing where bin Laden was shot, while covering up for an Administration that has compromised national security for cheap political theater. It is time for him to go.”
Special Operations Speaks (SOS) is a nationwide organization led by highly decorated Special Operations veterans. Among its stated goals is a commitment “to illuminate the failed operational security environment of the Administration and to provide the public with accurate information about these repeated releases of highly classified information.
The group's website is www.specialoperationsspeaks.com.
Grassroots petition to demand Panetta's resignationhttp://specialoperationsspeaks.com/petition/panetta
###
Read the original article at SOS
Bee's note:
This is what should have been done to Obama a long time ago! No one in Washington had the courage to speak up, even though this administration by-passed Congress numerous times! Remember when he announced to Congress as he was leaving on a fast plane out of the country (to Brazil) that he had sent troops into Libya?! (On a Friday, as is his normal day to announce matters that should have first been discussed with Congress).
Everyone in Washington has given a free pass to this president, unlike the days of Nixon.
Let us hope that change takes place on November 6th.
