It's one of the first military actions of the Obama administration, but press secretary Robert Gibbs wouldn't say a word about it at today's briefing.

Reports indicate that a U.S. Predator drone fired three missiles in Pakistan, near the border with Afghanistan. When the subject came up, Gibbs said, "As you know, I'm not going to comment on those matters."

He moved quickly on to the second part of the reporter's question, prompting some laughter, but then serious questions from the room: would he really not comment on any military action ever?

"I'm not going to speak about these matters today," Gibbs clarified.

When told later that some U.S. officials had commented on the strikes, the press secretary simply repeated his intention not to comment.

"I think there are many things that you should be justifiably curious about, but I'm not going to get into -- talk to you about these things," he said.

Very early in his candidacy, Barack Obama gave a policy speech in which he said that if the U.S. had actionable intelligence "about high-value terrorist targets" in Pakistan, and then-President Musharraf would not act, the U.S. would. Whether today's action was a signal that he's carrying through on that promise -- we won't know from asking Gibbs.

Q: What do you mean by that?

I'm not going to speak about these matters today. I gave you my answer. My answer was I'm not going to talk about it.

Q: Other US officials have confirmed predator drone airstrikes.

I'm not going to get into these matters.

I think there are many things that you should be justifiably curious about, but I'm not going to get into, talk to you about these things.