(RepublicanDaily.org) – The White House press team has been slammed for breaching national security protocols after the official White House Instagram account posted a photo of President Joe Biden shaking hands with members of the U.S. special operators.
The photo, which has now been deleted, showed the faces of the operators as well as other distinctive markings like tattoos, which could ostensibly identify them to the enemy. The identities of special operators are always held in the closest secrecy.
Spokespeople for the White House were quick to trivialize the incident, saying that they “immediately deleted the photo” as soon as the matter was brought to their attention.
“We regret the error and any issues this may have caused,” added the White House’s press office.
However, as many observers pointed out, the post had already been up for at least an hour and was viewed “hundreds of thousands” of times already before it was deleted.
Sara Carter, a contributor for Fox News and who is married to a retired operator, called the mistake “stupid” and “unacceptable,” as she pointed out that not only the operators become targets, but their families as well.
“These operators are required to maintain a level of discretion that this administration has completely disregarded,” she said.
Carter was certainly not alone in her assessment of the sheer magnitude of the blunder the White House made, as Republican Tennessee Representative Diana Harshbarger called the slip-up a “gross incompetence.”
The U.S. Department of Defense was mum on the massive faux pas, with Brigadier General Pat Ryder, press secretary for the department, referring inquiries on the matter to the White House.
“I’d have to refer you to the White House on that,” he told reporters.
The Pentagon was also tight-lipped on even whether there were U.S. special forces operators in Israel, only saying that the U.S. was providing planning and intelligence support to Israeli forces.
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