Dear Secretary Clinton,

I read with interest your claims that technology specialists from the State Department have hacked servers used by al Qaeda and changed ads recruiting jihadists to reflect the death toll terrorists have had on Muslims.  I applaud their efforts to demoralize the enemy and inform the Muslim world about how much damage is done to them by those who use terror to control them.  I have always agreed that it is better, although usually harder, to convince someone not to fight than it is to kill them.  I wish them and others like them who serve in our government success in the future.

However, Madam Secretary, I have one thing to say to you and other members of the administration who publicize these crucial, but sensitive, ways we are fighting against terrorists who want to harm us:

Shut up.  No, please, shut the F!@#$! up.

I’m sorry for using such harsh language, but I feel it is necessary to break my habit of not cussing on this site in order to convey the strength of my convictions on this matter.  You see, every time you all open your mouth to chat up the latest operation or break through, you alert the enemy to our activities and capabilities.

Examples:

• When you talk about how easy it is for our special operations forces to HALO jump into a normally denied area and attack a terrorist stronghold, you make it more likely that the enemy will pay attention to airplanes that are flying miles away or be more vigilant on guard duty.
• When you talk about efforts by the U.S. government to penetrate, exploit, and disrupt enemy computer systems, you remind the enemy that they need to upgrade, patch, secure, and more closely monitor their systems.
• When you televise animations, or sometimes actual footage, of strikes against terrorist targets, you teach our enemies how to better prepare for them.

I’m sure there are other examples, but I think you get the idea.

When you discuss the details of how you find, fix, and confirm high value targets, you put the assets we use in danger, and you show the enemy where his infrastructure, tactics, and strategies have weaknesses.  Every time you take a victory lap in front of the news cameras, you are putting real people in danger.  Usually it’s either an American in uniform, but it can also be a person who is putting his or her life in danger to help us.  If it becomes known that we do not keep the identities of our allies a secret, we lose the ability to recruit new ones when your loose lips lead to the murder of the current ones.

In short:  The enemy may know what happened to them, but we don’t have to confirm to them that it was us who did it, and we certainly shouldn’t be telling them how we did it.  Shut.The.F!@#$!.Up.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t do these things.  We should be doing them and more.  However, please consider how much damage you do to our cause before you use things that should be kept in the shadows to promote yourself and the administration.  The blood of our people is too precious to be hawked on the street in exchange for political points.

Respectfully,

Daddy J. Bear

Louisville, Kentucky