Yemen raid was success, gathered vital intelligence, says Trump
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump insisted on Tuesday that a January raid in Yemen was a success and gathered vital intelligence against the Al Qaeda affiliate there, despite questions raised about the effectiveness of the mission.
In his first nationally televised speech to Congress since taking office on January 20, Trump acknowledged in the audience the widow of US Navy SEAL William “Ryan” Owens, who was killed in the operation. Tears streamed down her face as she rose and lawmakers gave her a standing ovation.
The White House has pushed back against criticism of the raid, the first of its kind authorised by Trump as commander in chief. Owens’ father, in a newspaper interview over the weekend, called for an investigation.
Owens, 36, was killed in the raid on a branch of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, in Al Bayda province on January 29. US officials said 14 militants were killed as well as some civilians. Medics at the scene said about 30 people, including 10 women and children, died.
Addressing a joint session of Congress, Trump said he had just spoken with Defence Secretary Mike Mattis “who reconfirmed that, and I quote, ‘Ryan was a part of a highly successful raid that generated large amounts of vital intelligence that will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemies’.”
Though Trump provided no specifics, a senior US official said earlier that the intelligence included the group’s explosives manufacturing, targeting, training and recruitment practices. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stressed that such insight was particularly important given the threat that AQAP has long posed.
The group boasts one of the world’s most feared bomb makers, Ibrahim Hassan al Asiri, and AQAP has been a persistent concern to the US government since a 2009 attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day.
The White House had initially insisted that questioning the success of the raid did a disservice to the Navy SEAL who was killed.