President Trump paid tribute to Ryan Owens, the SEAL killed during a mission in Yemen in his first address to a joint session of Congress, singling out Owens’s widow, Carryn.
Pointing to the grieving widow, Trump repeated the lie that, "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."
Success has many fathers, failure is an orphan
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., called the operation "a failure" because the terrorists were allegedly tipped off in advance. “When you lose a $75 million airplane and, more importantly, American lives are lost and wounded, I don’t believe that you can call it a success,”
In addition to the death of Ryan Owens, six other U.S. service members were wounded. And at least 25 civilians were killed, including nine children under the age of 13, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. One of them was the 8-year-old daughter of U.S.-born al Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.
According to NBC News, senior officials are saying that they don’t know of any so-called “actionable intelligence” gathered by the raid. Others have questioned why al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was even targeted by the raid.
US military sources told Reuters that the fledgling Trump administration executed the raid "without sufficient intelligence, ground support, or adequate backup preparations."
A day after the raid, the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, admitted that the president was not in the situation room as the raid progressed.
The White House has repeatedly insisted that the raid was a success. On February 8, Spicer told reporters the raid was, “absolutely a success, and I think anyone who would suggest it’s not a success does disservice to the life of Chief Ryan Owens”.
In other words, if you question the results of the raid you are disrespecting a hero's sacrifice. However, if this mission was such a great success, Trump would be taking full credit for it. Instead he has repeatedly attempted to shift the blame to others.
In a Feb. 28 interview with Fox and Friends, Trump attempted to avoid all responsibility by claiming that the operation was previously approved by Obama and blessed by his generals.
"Well, this was a mission that was started before I got here," Trump said. "This was something that was, you know, just they wanted to do. And they came to see me and they explained what they wanted to do, the generals, who are very respected. My generals are the most respected that we've had in many decades, I believe. And they lost Ryan."
Ryan Owens' father, who served in the military himself, called for a full investigation into the circumstances that led to his son’s death. "Why at this time did there have to be this stupid mission when it wasn't even barely a week into his administration?” he said. “Why?
The answer is obvious. Trump wanted to let the world know that there was a new sheriff in town. Instead, he proved himself to be a bumbling "Barney Fife" who can't be trusted with a loaded weapon.
