White House applauds raid in Yemen despite casualties
WASHINGTON — The White House on Thursday insisted that the risky ground raid personally approved by President Donald Trump against al-Qaida targets in Yemen was a “successful operation,” despite the death of a Navy SEAL and the Pentagon’s conclusion that civilians, including children, were “likely” killed in the operation.
“This was a very, very well thought-out and executed effort,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer said as he offered an unusually detailed chronology of the mission involving members of the Navy’s SEAL Team 6 against the home of a senior al-Qaida collaborator. He called it “a successful operation by all standards.”
Mr. Spicer stressed that while the operation was the first counterterrorism raid approved by Mr. Trump, planning had occurred on President Barack Obama’s watch. He said the Defense Department had approved the raid Dec. 19 and set it to proceed on the next moonless night, which did not occur until after Mr. Trump’s inauguration.
Former Vice President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Colin Kahl, tweeted that the Trump administration’s claim that Mr. Obama cleared the operation was “false,” saying it was “deferred to Mr. Trump so he could run a deliberate process.”
The Pentagon says the operation in Yemen against alQaida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, killed 14 militants and seized “valuable and actionable intelligence,” including documents and computers.
But what was supposed to be a lightning raid led to the death of a Navy SEAL, identified as 36-year-old William “Ryan” Owens, in a nearly hour-long firefight. Three more service members were injured when an MV-22 Osprey, sent in to evacuate the wounded, crash-landed after losing power. The damaged $70 million aircraft was later destroyed by a U.S. airstrike so it would not fall into the hands of the militants, the Pentagon said.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Central Command said it had concluded that civilians “were likely killed” in the midst of the “ferocious firefight” that included an unexpected number of female combat ants.
The London-based human rights group Reprieve on Thursday said it had obtained evidence of 23 civilian casualties, including a newborn and 10 children.
Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis and Mr. Spicer disputed allegations that the mission was poorly planned and had lost the element of surprise. The New York Times reported that the SEALs learned their mission was compromised after intercepting a transmission that showed the militants were preparing for their arrival.
A Yemeni tribal sheikh said the al-Qaida fighters were perhaps tipped off by the whine of U.S. drones that he said were flying lower and louder than usual.