It is a common belief that if not for civilian control of the military, then dictatorship will surely follow

However, what about the level of competence of civilian control over the military

Let's assume a high value terrorist target has been located and special forces are ready and most likely to succeed in extracting this terrorist from foreign soil with no foot print 

The target is high value but secrecy is essential as experience has shown that civilians often can not be trusted to keep the operation secret. Even the military keeps a tight circle of who knows what

So: Even closed door briefings have been comprimiced in the past, leading the military to not trust anybody except on a "need to know' basis, within the military

Should civilian control be followed regardless or does the military have a reasonable reason to not inform civilian over sight

What if the military commanders in the know risk jail time if their military actions become public after the fact, or if civilian briefing causes loss of life

Sort of a catch 22 and is there a good answer???

In Canada, the minister of defense is usually the only person with a deep briefing, of military operations and then carries the responsibility of the good or bad for the gov't.  If he/she fails then he/she is replaced, but all others defer to that one person to be in the know, and make good decisions or else be gone. Good decisions usually mean debriefing by the military, and then getting clearance to proceed, unless there is reason to object. This may only  happen when the military wants to buy equipment and spend huge amounts of money. On special ops the defense minister usually defers to military expertize

Do you like your system better than our system???..