Politico "Gates, who does appear prominently in that photo, "was asked and declined" to appear in the NBC program, a source close to the former defense secretary said Thursday. "You'll learn more of his thoughts about the raid (many of his views are well-documented) and all the subsequent talk of it in his book, which he is hard at work on now," said the source, who asked not to be named."
....Gates declining to appear could be traceable to the irritation he expressed publicly last May about what he indicated was the White House's failure to abide by a pledge to limit disclosures about the operation.
....Gates declining to appear could be traceable to the irritation he expressed publicly last May about what he indicated was the White House's failure to abide by a pledge to limit disclosures about the operation.
"Frankly, a week ago Sunday, in the Situation Room, we all agreed that we would not release any operational details from the effort to take out bin Laden,” Gates said then, as POLITICO's Jennifer Epstein and Chuck Hoskinson reported. “That all fell apart on Monday — the next day."
Oh, by the way: Obama’s Afghanistan Visit Timed Conveniently for Campaign Impact
"This week, the President marked the death of Osama bin Laden with a self-congratulatory campaign ad. If Lincoln had spent the entire Gettysburg Address talking about himself, it wouldn’t have been quite that crass. Now, the President zips to Afghanistan—coincidentally on the anniversary of the Seal Team Six raid."
American Glob: Obama’s Political Fate Could Be SEALed "An increasing number of reports suggest the US Navy SEALs are unhappy about Barack Obama’s use of the Osama Bin Laden raid for his own political gain. Who could blame them?
"The fact that the ever left leaning BUZZFEED is taking the story seriously speaks volumes. According to their report, more SEALs are planning to come forward…
Turning the Bin Laden raid into a story about Obama’s ego would break one of the biggest arrows in his electoral quiver. And needless to say, the optics of SEALs criticizing O for making the OBL raid all about him are … not so good for the White House. Are they worse, though, than Obama having to defend eight-plus percent unemployment? He’d much rather have an argument with conservatives over the OBL raid than the economy since every minute spent talking about Bin Laden is (a) a reminder that O did in fact give the order to liquidate the bastard, however shoddy his behavior might have been afterward, and (b) a minute not spent talking about the thoroughgoing crappiness of, oh, pretty much every other part of his record.
