On the approval of two military generals as well as the Chief of Staff, Donald approved a raid on a supposed terror safe house in Yemen. The raid was not an unqualified success, and one commando was killed and another three injured.
Worse one aircraft an Osprey helicopter made a hard landing and was lost. There were four casualties during the raid. It is learned that the Seals came under intense fire from militants who were holed up on the roofs of adjacent buildings.
In all probability, the raid would have collapsed, but the seals asked for air support. This came, but the result was that 22 civilians were killed.
The Pentagon claimed that 11 militants had also been killed. A fact not given much publicity is that the seals were opposed by women fighters who fought with tenacity. All were killed, and no prisoners were taken. The AQAP, the Al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen, has put women through combat training and used them for battle.
Seal killed
The fact that four seals were injured or killed, the attack was not an unqualified success. John McCain, a war hero who was captured in Vietnam and spent time as a POW was quick to point out that he did not consider the raid a success.
He pointed out that there were 4 casualties and one commando was killed as well as loss of a plane costing $75 million. He concluded that the operation could in no way be considered an unqualified success. Donald Trump was quick to take umbrage at this assessment and tweeted his opposition.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer also joined issue and criticized McCain.
Military action under Donald
This was the first military raid after Donald Trump took over as president. Donald did a fine thing in attending the funeral of the fallen Seal. He also made an impassioned speech. The fact is that despite part of the aim of the raid being achieved, the attrition rate was high and cannot be sustained.
This is food for thought as Donald and theChiefs of staff plan their next operation.
Last word
The battle in Yemen is on for the last 2 years and the Houthis have not been defeated. They are supported by Iran. A Saudi-led coalition with support from the USA is battling the terror group in Yemen, but so far they have not achieved success.