President Joe Biden arrived in Israel on Wednesday, Oct. 18, to express the United States' support for the country amid the ongoing conflict with Hamas and other Palestinian militant organizations in the Gaza Strip. While there, Biden met with several U.S. Armed Forces personnel operating in the country and posted about the meeting on the White House's official Instagram account. (Related: Biden leaves Americans trapped in Israel to fend for themselves as war breaks out.)
In the White House photo from Israel, Biden is seen shaking hands with one of six men wearing combat gear and camouflage. Only some of the six faces are clearly visible, however, other clearly identifying features are unblurred, including how the men have tattoos and are unshaven, sporting beards or long hair, which could indicate past service with U.S. special operations forces in other conflicts in the Middle East such as in Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan.
Intelligence analyst Sam Shoemate pointed out that the soldiers in the picture were Delta Force special operations personnel, a claim the White House has not confirmed.
The photo's caption reads: "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."
Official Department of Defense policy regarding photos and videos of service members indicates the need to blur the faces and other identifying features of special forces personnel. This policy applies to all special operations members whether they are in training or deployed to a combat zone.
The White House's photo garnered thousands of likes and comments and was potentially viewed by hundreds of thousands of people before it was eventually deleted.
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
White House quickly apologizes for "error," gets harshly criticized
A spokesperson for the White House immediately apologized for the "error," claiming in a statement to the media: "As soon as this was brought to our attention, we immediately deleted the photo. We regret the error and any issues this may have caused." This quick apology did not prevent the Biden administration from being harshly criticized for its error.
"Biden just doxxed the special forces team he sent to Israel to help free the hostages," said Jack Posobiec, editor of Human Events, referring to the act of providing personally identifiable information on people in a harmful way online.
"So funny that the 'adults in charge' are so on top of things they doxxed one of our most elite fighting forces in the midst of their deployment to the Middle East," commented Republican National Committee Social Media and Digital Strategist Alec Sears.
"Holy God. Biden doxed Delta," commented U.S. military veteran and author Sean Parnell. "This without question puts a target on them and their families."
"This is totally unacceptable," noted Fox News contributor Sara Carter. "These operators are required to maintain a level of discretion that this administration has completely disregarded."
Watch this clip from "No Spin News" on Newsmax as host Bill O'Reilly questions what, if anything, Biden will really be able to accomplish for Israel.
This video is from the News Clips channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
GOP congressmen introduce GAZA Act to stop Biden from importing Palestinian refugees into the USA.
Biden's $6 billion ransom payment to Iran motivated Hamas to take more American hostages.
Hostages held by Hamas in Gaza will be almost impossible to rescue, warns counterterrorism expert.
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