The recent death of Chief Petty officer Ryan in a commando raid in a remote village in Yemen is cause for concern. In this particular case, the Commando was killed and 3 others injured. Keeping these facts in mind the raid can best be termed as unsuccessful.
The chairman of the armed forces committee, Senator John McCain has stated that he considered the raid a failure. This was because one commando was killed and 3 injured. In addition, a helicopter had to be destroyed. The destruction of the plane cost the state 75 million dollars. it has also been pointed out that in the raid many women and children were killed.
A raid in which women and children are killed cannot be termed a success.
President Donald Trump flew down to receive the body of the fallen warrior. The father of the SEAL, when informed that the president was coming, refused to meet him.
Fathers lament
The father was clear that there was no point in meeting Donald Trump. He blamed the president for the death of his son and wondered why a raid was mounted in a remote area in Yemen in just the first week of the presidency. He felt the raid was not justified and the loss of his son was not worth the effort. The president has said that anybody who says the raid is a failure is insulting the memory of the commando who died in the battle.
The raid
The raid itself raises very important questions.
It appears that the operation was not properly planned and the terrorists heard the sound of the helicopters as they moved toward the target. The Navy SEALS got involved in a firefight that lasted 50 minutes. There was no choice but to call for aìr support. The air support came and in the bombing, many women and children were killed.
Lessons of the raid
An Osprey helicopter made a hard landing and had to be destroyed. In addition, 3 SEALS were injured. One thing is clear -- the death of the Navy SEAL could have been avoided if the raid had been planned properly. People will recollect that a similar raid on a mountain hideout in 2011 was a failure as 2 hostages who were to be rescued were killed.
The harsh fact is that fighting a group like ISIS or Al Qaeda requires more planning and greater intelligence. To lose American lives thousands of miles from home is not a cause for celebration.
