The White House shared this image of President Joe Biden meeting via video conference with Vice President Kamala Harris and other national security officials to discuss the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan:
This morning, the President and Vice President met with their national security team and senior officials to hear updates on the draw down of our civilian personnel in Afghanistan, evacuations of SIV applicants and other Afghan allies, and the ongoing security situation in Kabul. pic.twitter.com/U7IpK3Hyj8
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 15, 2021
But many on Twitter noticed that the White House may have accidentally outed CIA operatives in the process in the boxes labeled “CIA” and “Doha Station”:
It sure looks like way:
CIA and Doha Station just outed by Biden on twitter https://t.co/PYkGo2Z9qL pic.twitter.com/0YXHTjGttD
— Joe Colangelo (@Itsjoeco) August 15, 2021
Whoops?
In addition to the Afghanistan disaster Biden has now blown the CIA's cover in Qatar. https://t.co/e1qTjcBnkg
— Carmine Sabia (@CarmineSabia) August 15, 2021
“You panicking amateur idiots,” wrote National Review’s Jim Geraghty:
Heck of a job, White House communications shop. I figure you would want to crop out the teleconference screens labeled "CIA" and "Doha Station." You panicking amateur idiots. https://t.co/ZFoICYYVwO
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) August 15, 2021
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It was probably the same people who thought having TikTokers in to sell vaccines would work:
Whoever Tweeted this should be fired ASAP – potentially compromising OpSec by not blurring out locations on screen. https://t.co/nLc5gbjrfH
— Kaelan Dorr 🇺🇸 (@KDORR_USA) August 15, 2021
And even if no security protocols were violated, the optics of the photo are just plain awful:
I know these photos are supposed to make it look like Biden's in control or whatever, but they're doing the opposite.
He's alone in an empty room miles from the Situation Room, removed from the chaos, looking alone and out of sorts. #Afghanistan https://t.co/FuhLasfx3x
— John Cooper (@thejcoop) August 15, 2021
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