Over the weekend, Donald Trump approved a military raid on a complex in Yemen which was designed to kill or capture senior leaders of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). In the process, a Navy SEAL and 8-year-old girl also lost their lives. And now it turns out the deaths of the SEAL and innocent child might have been avoided if Trump hadn’t acted on insufficient intelligence.
Additionally, U.S. military officials also report that Trump approved the raid without providing for ground support or adequate backup preparations.
U.S. Navy SEAL William “Ryan” Owens and the 8-year-old daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki– a militant who was killed by a 2011 U.S. drone strike–both perished in the raid.
While 14 militants were reportedly killed in the raid, three separate U.S. officials are now saying that on-the-ground surveillance of the compound was “minimal, at best.”
In addition to the SEAL and child, there are reports that 30 people, including 10 women and children, were killed in the raid.
A Diversion By Trump?
The raid had originally been planned by the Obama Administration, but was not put into action. A senior American official told Reuters:
“The decision was made…to leave it to the incoming administration, partly in the hope that more and better intelligence could be collected.”
Instead, Trump, in a desperate attempt to divert attention away from historically low poll numbers and massive protests around the country, went ahead with the raid, even though there wasn’t adequate preparation or human intelligence to assure the raid would be successful.
Spicer Brags About Raid
Despite the massive loss of human life and death of a U.S. service member, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer claimed the Yemen raid to be a huge victory:
“Knowing that we killed an estimated 14 AQAP members and that we gathered an unbelievable amount of intelligence that will prevent the potential deaths or attacks on American soil – is something that I think most service members understand, that that’s why they joined the service.”
Spicer did not bother to address the “collateral damage” as innocent civilians are called in the bizarre lingo of politics.
Preparing For War?
In the days since the raid, the Trump administration has threatened Iran and Mexico. Trump also managed to alienate one of our closest allies in a phone call with the Prime Minster of Australia.
This article was originally published by the same author at LiberalAmerica.org