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‘Shut up,’ Gates tells DoD leakers

ABOARD THE DEFENSE SECRETARY’S PLANE — In very blunt language, a visibly irritated Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that he is “appalled by the amount of” information government officials have leaked to the press during the president’s Afghanistan strategy review.

Talking with reporters aboard his jet en route to a military vehicle factory in Wisconsin, the secretary said such disclosures of sensitive information on any “options under consideration” does not serve the nation well. Nor are they in the military’s strategic interests, he added.

If Gates learns of any Defense Department employees who have leaked information about the war strategy review, he warned, “That would probably be a career ender.”

He showed the same irritation over leaks about the Fort Hood, Texas, shootings. All individuals involved in or privy to the ongoing investigation into the killing spree “should just shut up,” Gates told reporters.

Leakers need to realize they only have “one piece” of the picture about why 13 soldiers were killed and dozens more were wounded last week.

He said it is best to let investigators handling the mass murder probe and collect all possible data before reaching conclusions about the alleged shooter’s intentions, motivations or associations.