- Moderator
- #1
How on earth can anyone tolerate the level of sheer outright lies coming from this Administration? Lies that are so easily refuted. And, once again - this issue goes down to Trump's foundation: the world is composed of winners and losers. A world where win-win can not exist. And a mission where a caveliear disregard to careful planning cost lives. But does he take responsibility...uh...no. He goes off on another Twitter War against critics.
FACT CHECK: Trump's Yemen Raid — 'Winning Mission' Or 'Failure'? It's Not So Simple
FACT CHECK: Trump's Yemen Raid — 'Winning Mission' Or 'Failure'? It's Not So Simple
The tweets come after almost a week of debate on the success or "failure" of the raid. U.S. officials say they were able to gather helpful intelligence and that 14 al-Qaida militants were killed. But there were also multiple problems:
The operation, the first authorized of the Trump presidency, also raises serious questions about the planning and decision-making of the current occupant of the Oval Office, as well as the truthfulness of information coming out of the White House.
Sean Spicer said the raid was planned last November — under the Obama administration — and that the goal of the mission was to get information.
But neither is true, NPR's Tom Bowman reports.
Rather, the specific place of this eventual raid was identified in November as one to focus on. (Other potential places were also identified.)
"The goal of the raid was intelligence-gathering," Spicer said Tuesday, "and that's what we received, and that's what we got. That's why we can deem it a success."
But the U.S. would not send in SEAL Team Six, the premiere anti-terrorist commandos, to pick up some cellphones and computers, a U.S. official told Bowman.
Part of the effort was to get top al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, leaders. While more than a dozen militants were killed, a top target, Qassim al-Rimi, either slipped away or was not at the location.
Rimi is the leader of AQAP, seen as a top recruiter and the third-most-dangerous terrorist in the world. Bowman confirmed that Rimi was "one of the objectives," along with disrupting planning and plotting, in addition to collecting material.
What's more, a U.S. official expressed concern that Trump made the decision over dinner. This should have been decided with rigorous debate in the Situation Room, the official said.
Many remember the iconic photo released by the White House of former President Obama surrounded by advisers during the raid in Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden. The concern with the Yemen raid is the impression that this decision was made too cavalierly.
- the death of an elite U.S. Navy SEAL, Ryan Owens;
- 23 civilians were killed, including the 8-year-old daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki (Awlaki was an American-born cleric and inspirational leader for al-Qaida who was killed in a drone strike in 2011); and
- a $90 million Osprey, a tilt-rotor aircraft, was destroyed after a crash landing.
The operation, the first authorized of the Trump presidency, also raises serious questions about the planning and decision-making of the current occupant of the Oval Office, as well as the truthfulness of information coming out of the White House.
Sean Spicer said the raid was planned last November — under the Obama administration — and that the goal of the mission was to get information.
But neither is true, NPR's Tom Bowman reports.
Rather, the specific place of this eventual raid was identified in November as one to focus on. (Other potential places were also identified.)
"The goal of the raid was intelligence-gathering," Spicer said Tuesday, "and that's what we received, and that's what we got. That's why we can deem it a success."
But the U.S. would not send in SEAL Team Six, the premiere anti-terrorist commandos, to pick up some cellphones and computers, a U.S. official told Bowman.
Part of the effort was to get top al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, leaders. While more than a dozen militants were killed, a top target, Qassim al-Rimi, either slipped away or was not at the location.
Rimi is the leader of AQAP, seen as a top recruiter and the third-most-dangerous terrorist in the world. Bowman confirmed that Rimi was "one of the objectives," along with disrupting planning and plotting, in addition to collecting material.
What's more, a U.S. official expressed concern that Trump made the decision over dinner. This should have been decided with rigorous debate in the Situation Room, the official said.
Many remember the iconic photo released by the White House of former President Obama surrounded by advisers during the raid in Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden. The concern with the Yemen raid is the impression that this decision was made too cavalierly.