U.S. Looking To “Pump Up” Navy SEALs’ Security Following Bin Laden Strike

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that members of the Navy SEALS team that killed terrorist leader Osama bin Laden are worried about their and their families’ safety, but that the Defense Department was “looking at what measures can be taken to pump up the security.”

“There has been a consistent and effective effort to protect the identities of those who participated in the raid, and I think that has to continue,” Gates said while visiting troops at North Carolina’s Camp LeJune.

On Friday, Pentagon spokesperson Colonel Dave Lapan declined to give any details about possible security improvements, but asked members of the press to not reveal the names of the strike team if they somehow receive them.

The Defense Secretary noted Thursday that very few of the specific details surrounding the bin Laden strike were initially going to be released to the public.

“In the Situation Room, we all agreed that we would not release any operational details from the effort to take out bin Laden,” Gates said. “That all fell apart on Monday — the next day.”

There has been government-wide concern of retaliation following the strike, but U.S. security officials maintain that there are no credible threats. However, the Pakistani Taliban has claimed that suicide bombings in a Pakistani military academy Friday that left dozens dead were in response to the terrorist leader’s death.