The Yemen Raid: Botched and Purposeless

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androbot01
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03 Feb 2017, 5:53 pm

Reuters: U.S. military releases, withdraws Islamist video from fatal Yemen raid

Quote:

U.S. Navy SEAL William "Ryan" Owens was killed in the raid, which the Pentagon said also killed 14 militants. Medics at the scene said about 30 people, including 10 women and children, also died.

U.S. military officials told Reuters this week that the operation went ahead without sufficient intelligence, ground support or adequate backup preparations.

As a result, three officials said, the attacking SEAL team found itself dropping onto a reinforced al Qaeda base defended by landmines, snipers, and a larger than expected contingent of heavily armed Islamist extremists.

The video gained from the raid was 10 years old and already known.

JohnPowell
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03 Feb 2017, 6:55 pm

Have you posted about Yemen before?

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androbot01
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03 Feb 2017, 7:04 pm

JohnPowell wrote:

Have you posted about Yemen before?

This incident or Yemen in general?

Lukeda420
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03 Feb 2017, 7:15 pm

"US military officials: Trump-ordered raid in Yemen that killed US Navy SEAL was approved 'without sufficient intelligence'"

http://www.businessinsider.com/us-milit ... nce-2017-2

Somehow I doubt this will get the same scrutiny that Benghazi got.

"White House says Yemen raid that killed Navy SEAL 'is a successful operation by all standards'"

http://www.latimes.com/politics/washing ... story.html

So Trump's administration considers an operation that caused the death of a Navy seal and multiple civilians including women and children a "successful operation by all standards?"

JohnPowell
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03 Feb 2017, 7:30 pm

androbot01 wrote:

JohnPowell wrote:

Have you posted about Yemen before?

This incident or Yemen in general?

Yemen in general, over the last year or so.

androbot01
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03 Feb 2017, 8:11 pm

JohnPowell wrote:

androbot01 wrote:

JohnPowell wrote:

Have you posted about Yemen before?

This incident or Yemen in general?

Yemen in general, over the last year or so.

Nothing springs to mind; was it a specific topic? And why the curiosity?

Kraichgauer
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04 Feb 2017, 7:05 pm

What a waste of lives and money.

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JohnPowell
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05 Feb 2017, 1:31 pm

androbot01 wrote:

JohnPowell wrote:

androbot01 wrote:

JohnPowell wrote:

Have you posted about Yemen before?

This incident or Yemen in general?

Yemen in general, over the last year or so.

Nothing springs to mind; was it a specific topic? And why the curiosity?

Just cause I knew the media would start mentioning Yemen now that Obama's out and Trump is in. The US has been selling the weapons to the Saudis that they have used to blow up schools and hospitals.

Dox47
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05 Feb 2017, 5:25 pm

http://www.vox.com/world/2017/2/2/14485 ... d-al-qaeda

Even Vox says you can't pin this one on Trump.

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Raptor
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05 Feb 2017, 9:28 pm

A few paragraphs from that Vox story:

Quote:

Presidents do not plan individual military operations. That is what the military is for. What presidents do is authorize or reject the plans that are presented to them by military planners.

Quote:

But that framing is suspect. Because, as the Times report itself states, Obama rejected the plan not because it was too risky, but because he wanted Trump to be able to make the final call on an operation that would take place on Trump’s watch.

Ducking back under my bridge...

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jrjones9933
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06 Feb 2017, 7:11 am

Raptor wrote:

A few paragraphs from that Vox story:

Quote:

Presidents do not plan individual military operations. That is what the military is for. What presidents do is authorize or reject the plans that are presented to them by military planners.

Quote:

Ducking back under my bridge...

Thank you.

I flinched at realizing that the Obama administration actually had the military working on plans to escalate in Yemen. However, if I had the job of coming up with plans, I'd come up with all the plans, and just do my best with each one. People have to take some responsibility for what decision makers do with their plans, so comments are important, but once you get the instructions, you make the plan or resign.

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androbot01
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08 Feb 2017, 11:39 am

Wasington Post: Yemen reviews deadly U.S. raid on al-Qaeda, but stops short of issuing ban

Quote:

Yemen’s top diplomat said the country has called for a “reassessment” of a Jan. 28 raid that left multiple civilians and a U.S. service member dead, but Yemen did not issue an outright ban on future American-led missions, a report said Wednesday.

Quote:

Yemeni officials said the operation killed 15 women and children, including the 8-year-old daughter of the Yemeni American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in 2011 in a U.S. drone strike. Photos of the dead civilians were posted on social media following the raid. Though the Pentagon initially denied reports of civilian dead, officials acknowledged in the days following the raid that some had been killed and that they were “assessing reports” on casualties.

The White House has defended the operation, calling it a success despite the loss of a Navy SEAL and civilian deaths.

JohnPowell
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08 Feb 2017, 2:03 pm

The drone campaign is sheer terrorism.

Raptor
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08 Feb 2017, 7:27 pm

JohnPowell wrote:

The drone campaign is sheer terrorism.

Drones are only the latest improvement of the proverbial mousetrap. They probably said the same about the Gattling gun in the mid-late 19th century.
And so it goes...

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diablo
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08 Feb 2017, 10:46 pm

It's not good for Trump. But are there are any presidents in modern times that don't have some conflict like this on their record?

Its hard for me to believe that Obama deliberately wanted Trump to embarrass himself and at the same time was willing to risk the lives of military and innocent as a result.
Could be he didn't want to end his presidency with a major catastrophe.

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Kraichgauer
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08 Feb 2017, 11:07 pm

diablo wrote:

Maybe Obama wouldn't have gone through with it, were it still on his watch.

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