His remarks made clear that the spread of information about the raid made future operations more difficult: “My concern is that there were too many people in too many places talking too much about this operation. “That all fell apart on Monday - the next day.” ( here ). On May 12, then Defense Secretary Robert Gates expressed concern about the safety of the members who participated in the raid and their families. At a town hall meeting in Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps base in North Carolina, Gates said: “There is an awareness that the threat of retaliation is increased because of the action against bin Laden.” ( here ).Īccording to the Christian Science Monitor, when Gates met with SEAL Team Six he said, “team members expressed concern for their continued anonymity and their safety, ‘particularly with respect to their families.’”Īt the time Gates also expressed frustration with information leaks: “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. On May 5, Reuters reported that al Qaeda had vowed revenge against the West for bin Laden’s killing ( here ). ( here )ĭuring his address, however, Biden did not provide further details about the identities of the team’s members. Later that evening, Biden said that he was in: “absolute awe of the capacity and dedication of the entire team, both the intelligence community, the CIA, the SEALs, it just was extraordinary.” Biden also noted that despite the briefings with members of Congress that occurred prior to the operation, not a “single, solitary thing leaked”. “He could tell you more about and understands the incredible, phenomenal, just almost unbelievable capacity of his Navy SEALs and what they did last Sunday,” Biden said referring to the attack against bin Laden ( here ). ![]() ![]() This is presumably the “national event” the posts on social media refer to at which Biden supposedly revealed the identities of the SEAL Team Six members.ĭuring his remarks, Biden praised the operation against bin Laden and one of the dinner’s honorees, James Stavridis, at the time a United States Navy Admiral. ![]() On May 3, Vice President Joe Biden provided the Distinguished International Leadership keynote address at the Atlantic Council Awards Dinner. The following day, the Washington Post identified the operatives who had carried out the mission as an “elite team of Navy SEALs” known as “Team 6” ( here ). operatives” after approval from the President ( here ). The New York Times reported in an article carrying a May 1 date stamp that the operation had been executed by “members of the Navy Seals and C.I.A. On the late evening of May 1, 2011, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), then President Barack Obama announced that the U.S. had killed Osama bin Laden in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan ( here ). In his remarks, Obama noted that the attack, which occurred in the early hours of May 2, Pakistan Standard Time, had been carried out by “ small team of Americans” who worked “with extraordinary courage and capability.” ![]() There is no evidence to corroborate that Biden publicly revealed the names of SEAL Team Six members or of their families. soldiers in Afghanistan in August, 2011 that killed 31 personnel, including 25 Navy SEALs. Examples of the post can be seen here, here. The post makes the further claim that Biden’s remarks put the lives of SEAL Team Six at risk of retaliation by “the Taliban”, “jihadists” and “al Qaeda sympathizers” and implies he is responsible for the attack against U.S. REUTERS/Scott Morgan -/File PhotoĪ lengthy post on social media makes the claim that on then Vice President Joe Biden publicly revealed the identities of the Navy SEAL Team Six, a special operation unit responsible for the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the Presidential Gun Sense Forum in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., August 10, 2019.
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