(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) The White House may have endangered the lives of service members and compromised military strategy by sharing an Instagram photo Thursday of President Joe Biden shaking hands with the elite Delta Force, Blaze Media reported
The Whitehouse media team shared this picture last night (I added the black boxes) without blurring or censoring the faces of the “Delta Force” (CAG) operator’s faces. They deleted it an hour later after hundreds of thousands had already viewed it.
This is a massive failure on… pic.twitter.com/ROegvYWzit
— Sam Shoemate (@samosaur) October 19, 2023
It posted the photo from the official @whitehouse account while the president visited Israel in support of its forthcoming military operation in Gaza, as the longtime ally continues to reel from an Oct. 7 terrorist massacre that killed an estimated 1,300 innocent civilians.
“In Israel, President Biden met with first responders to thank them for their bravery and the work they’re doing in response to the Hamas terrorist attacks,” said the now-removed post.
Pentagon practice is to keep the identities of its elite units confidential, whether they are in the training stages or in combat.
Several Republicans slammed the president and his administration for their complete failure to protect special-forces members.
“This Biden Administration photo op compromised the safety of American special forces in Israel,” tweeted Rep. Mike Ezell, R-Miss.
“While we should all recognize and appreciate their service, we shouldn’t do so in a way that undermines their mission or puts them in additional danger,” he added.
This Biden Administration photo op compromised the safety of American special forces in Israel.
While we should all recognize and appreciate their service, we shouldn't do so in a way that undermines their mission or puts them in additional danger. https://t.co/DprjaITX3q
— Congressman Mike Ezell (@RepEzell) October 19, 2023
Rep. Diana Harshbarger, R-Tenn., called the blunder “gross incompetence.”
Gross incompetence. https://t.co/Tskgc42tT3
— Rep. Diana Harshbarger (@RepHarshbarger) October 19, 2023
In response, the White House issued a statement apologizing for the irreversible mishap.
“As soon as this was brought to our attention, we immediately deleted the photo,” the statement said. “We regret the error and any issues this may have caused.”
The administration has not publicly acknowledged any direct U.S. role in military operations in Israel.
“There’s no plans or intentions to put U.S. troops on the ground to fight in this fight between Israel and Hamas,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told Fox News’s Shannon Bream on Sunday.
However, he said it was keeping its options open in terms of hostage-recovery efforts.
“We are actively trying to find out where they are,” Kirby said of the Americans taken hostage by Hamas.
“… [But] we don’t even know how many exactly,” he added. “We have a small handful. We know there could be more than we know that could be in different groups. It could be moved around.”
Kirby went on to emphasize the importance of not being too forthcoming with information, begging the public’s forgiveness for his lack of transparency due to the high level of sensitivity.
“I hope everybody can understand—we’re gonna be careful about what we say publicly about our efforts to get those hostages home,” he said. “…We’re working this literally by the hour, but we’re not going to get ahead in where we are in policy operations since we don’t have necessarily all the information that we need to try to get them home.”
Headline USA’s Ben Sellers contributed to this report.
