The father of a National Guardsman has blamed White House leaks about the Osama bin Laden raid in Afghanistan that led to his son's death.
The claim was made by Douglas Hamburger, whose son was killed in the August 6, 2011, crash of Extortion 17, citing former Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates memoir.
Hamburger filed a statement with a House oversight subcommittee quoting Gates as telling White House aides that he feared the Taliban would use military tactics contained in administration leaks to target Americans in Afghanistan, the Washington Times reports.
The Taliban shot down a transport helicopter that killed his son, 17 members of SEAL Team 6 and 12 other U.S. troops.
According to the report, Hamburger quoted a passage from Gates' memoir, "Duty," in which the former defense chief wrote that he had a pledge from White House aides that they would not release details about the SEAL Team 6 raid that killed bin Laden.
Gates said the aides broke their promise and began "pouring out" tactics and methods just hours later, the report added.