Report: Leon Panetta revealed classified SEAL unit info

  

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By JOSH GERSTEIN | 6/5/13 9:38 AM EDT Updated: 6/6/13 12:04 AM EDT


Former CIA Director Leon Panetta revealed the name of the Navy SEAL unit that carried out the Osama bin Laden raid and named the unit’s ground commander at a 2011 ceremony attended by “Zero Dark Thirty” filmmaker Mark Boal.
Panetta also discussed classified information designated as “top secret” and “secret” during his presentation at the awards ceremony, according to a draft Pentagon inspector general’s report published Wednesday by the Project on Government Oversight.  Continue Reading


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/leon-panetta-seal-leak-92263.html#ixzz2VRC7owly

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Ryan won’t call for Rice’s resignation

By Justin Sink - 10/01/12 02:03 PM ET

 

GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan said Monday that he would "let other people speak on" whether U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice should resign, after some of his Republican colleagues in the House called for her to step down.

"We're making these judgments after we have all the facts," Ryan said of the Romney campaign during an interview on the Laura Ingraham Show. "We don't have all of the facts surrounding this particular person, but we do know the administration has been extremely inconsistent, we do know that was a pre-planned terrorist attack, and the point I'm trying to make is we need to get all the facts to prevent it from happening again."

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Pete King (R-N.Y.) told CNN on Friday that he believed Rice should resign after the ambassador said that an amateur anti-Islam video posted to YouTube had sparked deadly attacks on U.S. installations throughout the Middle East. 

GOP lawmakers questioned that explanation and called on the administration last week to provide more details about the violence at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that left four American foreign service officers dead. On Friday, the administration said that new information suggested that the assault was a "deliberate and organized terrorist attack."

In his interview with CNN, King said Rice's explanation was "a failure of foreign policy message and leadership" and "a misstatement of facts."

Ryan also blasted Rice's initial explanation in the interview, but repeatedly stopped short of calling for the ambassador's resignation.

"Hey look, I mean, we've seen a confused, slow, inconsistent response to what is now very clearly known as a terrorist attack. To simply conclude right away it was a spontaneous mob is in the face of the facts," Ryan said. "The key is that we get the full story so we can make sure something like this never happens again."

And the Wisconsin lawmaker said Rice's case differed from that of Attorney General Eric Holder, whom he has previously called on to resign. Ryan said that unlike the Justice Department's botched "Fast and Furious" gun-tracking program, the administration response to the violent protests in the Middle East had not been thoroughly investigated.

Democrats have defended Rice from Republican calls for her resignation.

“I’m deeply disturbed by efforts to find the politics instead of finding the facts in this debate,” Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) said in a written statement. “I’m particularly troubled by calls for Ambassador Rice’s resignation. She is a remarkable public servant for whom the liberation of the Libyan people has been a personal issue and a public mission. She’s an enormously capable person who has represented us at the United Nations with strength and character.”

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Sheila Jackson Lee’s Theatrics

March 10, 2011 12:02 P.M.
By Robert Costa

Washington — Sheila Jackson Lee (D., Texas) took the spotlight at the Homeland Security Committee’s hearing today, railing against Rep. Peter King, the GOP chairman, and describing his effort to investigate radical Muslims as “playing into al-Qaeda” and “going the same route as Arizona.”



In a bit of political theater, she held up a copy of the Constitution and continued to speak, even as King banged his gavel. “I will tell you today that this breathing document is in pain,” she said. The ruckus caused light laughs throughout the hearing room, as onlookers wondered whether Jackson Lee would yield the floor.

“There is no redeeming or factual information that we can receive today,” Jackson Lee said, her voice rising. “We don’t disrespect the witnesses, but it has already been tainted.” She asked the committee to look into those who oppose the “Jewish community” and complained that Muslim Americans are now “scared,” thanks to King. “This is an outrage,” she concluded.

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WikiLeaks 'Should Be A Terror Organisation'

6:58am UK, Monday November 29, 2010

Rob Cole, Sky News Online

An American politician has called for WikiLeaks to be designated a terrorist organisation following the release of the latest batch of leaked documents.

The White House said the leaks would hit counter-terrorism efforts

New York Republican Peter King said the organisation was a "clear and present danger" to the US.

"WikiLeaks presents a clear and present danger to the national security of the United States," he said. "I strongly urge you (Foreign Secretary Hillary Clinton) to work within the Administration to use every offensive capability of the US government to prevent further damaging releases by WikiLeaks."

The Foreign Office said the actions of WikiLeaks risked British lives and security.

WikiLeaks presents a clear and present danger to the national security of the United States.
New York Republican Peter King on WikiLeaks

"We condemn any unauthorised release of this classified information, just as we condemn leaks of classified material in the UK," a spokesman said.

"They can damage national security, are not in the national interest and, as the US have said, may put lives at risk."

The White House was also critical of the leak of US cables.

"These cables could compromise private discussions with foreign governments and opposition leaders, and when the substance of private conversations is printed on the front pages of newspapers across the world, it can deeply impact not only US foreign policy interests, but those of our allies and friends around the world," a spokesman said.

"Such disclosures put at risk our diplomats, intelligence professionals, and people around the world."

Roger Cressey, a former US cyber and counter-terrorism official, said the leaks would have a "devastating" effect on diplomatic relations and on the fight against al Qaeda.

"The essence of our foreign policy is our ability to talk straight and honest with our foreign counterparts and to keep those conversations out of the public domain," he said.

"This massive leak puts that most basic of diplomatic requirements at risk in the future."


The really secret information, I would suggest, is still pretty safe and probably won't end up on WikiLeaks.

Prof Michael Cox, associate fellow of the think-tank Chatham House
He added: "Think of relations with Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Afghanistan, governments who we need to work with us in defeating al Qaeda.

"This kind of leak will seriously hinder our ability to persuade these governments to support our counterterrorism priorities in the future."

However, Professor Michael Cox, associate fellow of the think-tank Chatham House, said the political fallout had been exaggerated.

"As to whether it's going to cause the kind of seismic collapse of international relations that governments have been talking about, I somehow doubt," he said.

"The really secret information, I would suggest, is still pretty safe and probably won't end up on WikiLeaks."

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