網友披露新華網篡改了蓋茨的原話。據新華網快訊：美國國防部長羅伯特•蓋茨27日說，美國反對在利比亞出現「政權改變」。
蓋茨的原話：
"So why not have, as part of the mission, regime change, removing Gadhafi from power?" Tapper asked the Secretary of Defense.
"Well, first of all, I think you don't want ever to set a set of goals or a mission -- military mission where you can't be confident of accomplishing your objectives," he said. "And as we've seen in the past, regime change is a very complicated business. It sometimes takes a long time. Sometimes it can happen very fast, but it was never part of the military mission."
美國廣播公司記者問蓋茨：「軍事行動的部分任務，是否改變政權，推翻卡扎菲？」
蓋茨：「首先，當你不確定能達到某種目標時，你不會為軍事行動設立這種目標， 正如我們過去所見，政權改變是一件很複雜的事，有時它會花很長時間，有時它又很快發生， 不過這（指政權改變）決不是軍事行動的一部分。」
利比亞的人民打出的「法蘭西萬歲」的法語標語