OFF THE WIRE
William Wallace
Last week saw US Military Special Forces be raised to the forefront of the political picture. Retired Navy Seal Commander Ryan Zinke stepped up and says that the Special Operations Assault on President Obama has just begun.
Last week it seemed like your typical week in the saga of President Obama accusing Republicans of unfairly criticizing him over the Benghazi situation and leaked classified information. Trouble is, it wasn’t the pesky Republicans he should have been blaming for the attack on his presidency. It is not an unfair assessment either, considering the sources.
Ryan Zinke is a retired Navy Seal Commander. He wasn’t the commander of just any Seal Team, he was the commander of Seal Team Six. He is now a Montana State Senator and has launched his own personal finances at starting the new Super Pac, Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund Inc. Along with the now fired Generals that say they are watching President Obama, his new organization is doing more than saying that President Obama leaked National Security information and unfairly took credit for killing Osama Bin Laden, they intend to prove it.
In a fired up interview with Politicker, Mr. Zinke spoke rather candidly about the feelings of many former military and Special Operations members.
“There’s a number of groups out there. I think what it demonstrates is, there’s a lot of anger, there’s a lot of concern among the former military community.”~Ryan Zinke
He stated that a lot of the anger stemmed from a lot of White House leaks of classified information that got people killed and a television add by former President William J. Clinton that questioned if Mitt Romney would have made the call to get Bin Laden. He said it has snow balled from there.
Here is the add he said started a lot of military anger back in 2012.
“I think there is huge concern that the administration is using and continues to leak class documents for less than–well, for political gain,” said Mr. Zinke. “I think when the commercial came out with President Clinton and President Obama, and they talked about the political ramifications of failure, they didn’t talk about the families that would be left without a father. They talked about political consequences—that was a bridge too far.”~Last Great Stand
He also criticized the leaking of classified information to make the film Zero Dark 30.
There’s a lot of reasons you can release classified information, a lot of justifiable reasons, but making a movie for political gain isn’t one of them,” Mr. Zinke said.According to Mr. Zinke, there are currently at least four other anti-Obama groups made up of former elite military operatives: Special Operations Speaks, Veterans for a Strong America, Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund Inc. and his group, Special Operations for America. He said he expects that number to climb. Because active-duty soldiers are barred from engaging in political activity, Mr. Zinke believes it is especially important for retired military personnel to speak up.“It’s really incumbent upon the retired guys to articulate a message. You look at the approval ratings of the president, Congress is in single-digits, the president is not far behind, and I think Americans still appreciate the credibility of our military,” he said.~ Last Great Stand
As for Obama calling for everyone making “swift boat” attacks on his administration, Mr. Zinke had something to say about that too.
There’s going to be attempts to discredit,” Mr. Zinke said. “I guess when you take a stand, you expose yourself to rocks. And so be it.”For his part, Mr. Zinke said his organization is “not swift boat.”“I can speak for SOFA—we are not swift boat in that what we are articulat[ing] is factual, and we’re very careful not to make personal attacks. We are making a complete argument of why the administration’s actions and policies are not in the best interests of national defense and national security,” said Mr. Zinke.Special Operations for America’s upcoming plans include a television commercial. Mr. Zinke said the ad would be “edgy,” but wouldn’t be “a personal attack.”“I don’t stoop to personal attacks,” he said. “You know, I’m not from Chicago. In Montana, we do things a little differently.”~ Last Great Stand
Special Operations movie about leaking classified information from this administration for personal gain has had over 53 million views. You can see it here.