Obama shrugs off attacks on his national security record

U.S. President Barack Obama is seen on a television monitor as he speaks in the press briefing room at the White House in Washington, August 20, 2012.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Monday dismissed attacks about his national security record from a group of former U.S. spies and commandos who have accused him of taking too much credit for the death of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

The Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund Inc, which says it is a non-partisan group, launched a media campaign accusing Obama of leaking information to "the enemy" and taking undue credit for the May 2011 operation in which U.S. Navy SEALs killed bin Laden.

Reuters reported that the group has extensive links to the Republican Party.

"I don't take these folks too seriously," Obama told the Virginian-Pilot newspaper. "One of their members is a 'birther' who denies I was born here, despite evidence to the contrary. You've got another who was a Tea Party candidate in a recent election.

"This kind of stuff springs up before election time."

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Paul Simao)