Is Obama leaking our national secrets?

New York Times headline: Secret Order Lets U.S. Raid Al Qaeda

From the article, dated November 9:

WASHINGTON — The United States military since 2004 has used broad, secret authority to carry out nearly a dozen previously undisclosed attacks against Al Qaeda and other militants in Syria, Pakistan and elsewhere, according to senior American officials.

So… this carefully-guarded government secret – one that has STAYED a secret since 2004 – comes out now? Literally DAYS after Obama starts receiving Top Secret national security briefings?

Hmm.

And yesterday, just hours after meeting privately face-to-face with President Bush, the contents of that conversation were leaked to the Herald Tribune and the Associated Press? The Drudge Report is reporting that Bush is outraged by this breach of protocol.

Leaking the details of a private political conversation is one thing. Sure, it’s juvenile, tacky and sends a highly disconcerting message to other world leaders who probably wouldn’t want their private conversations with the United States President immediately leaked to the press, but President-Elect Obama is certainly entitled to wield his lapdog media relations however he sees fit.

No, what’s much more disconcerting is the leaking of military tactics in the War on Terror.

The leaks aren’t going to stop, folks. Early in the Presidential campaign, the media forfeited its traditional role of political watchdog, opting instead to be knee-jerk advocates for Barack Obama. And as for Obama, when you’re the beneficiary of a friendly press, you’re prone to reward your friends and cohorts by perpetually feeding them delicious news scoops. That’s how the game is played; keep the press happy, and the press will keep you happy.

But if Obama and his advisors don’t consider the government secrets that directly impact the military’s capacity to prevent terrorist attacks to be sacred… then what is?

Just something to keep in mind as you peruse all the juicy New York Times headlines we’ll be seeing over the next four years.

-JKD