The White House confessed this week that it unintentionally doxxed U.S. Special Forces members in Israel by releasing a picture of their faces on Instagram, putting their lives in danger. Following President Biden’s trip to Israel, the White House shared an Instagram picture of Biden speaking with special operators that has 7.6 million followers.
The Special Forces’ faces were not blurred or otherwise hidden by the White House. This meant that enemies could see who they were, which put their missions, lives, and the lives of their families at risk. They also had other marks that could be used to recognize them, like tattoos.
The picture’s description said, “President Biden visited with first responders in Israel to express gratitude for their bravery and the excellent job they are doing in response to the terrorist attacks by Hamas.”
The White House removed the image and issued an apology after retired Army Chief Samuel Shoemate brought the error to the public’s attention and after hundreds of thousands of people had already viewed it.
“As soon as we learned about this, we deleted the picture right away.” According to Bill Melugin from Fox News, the White House stated, “We’re sorry for the mistake and any trouble it may have caused.”
There was no word from the White House about who made the mistake. When pressed about it, the Pentagon told people to ask the White House.
“For that, I need to send you to the White House.” At a press meeting this week Brig. General Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s press officer, said, “I just do not currently have any information to give.”
Using the picture to get political points goes against what Biden said he would never do: use soldiers for political gain. Breitbart News said that Biden had said, “I won’t ever dishonor you, on his first trip to the Pentagon as president. I will not ever treat you badly. I will never make the work you do about politics.”
But Biden has a history of using the armed forces as props in politics. In September 2022, Biden gave a very partisan speech in which he called Republicans “extremists.” Two Marine sentries stood directly behind him, and the speech was met with critique from Republican officials, right commentators, Marine veterans, military wives, and even corporate news reporters.
