John McCain has found himself at odds with the White House after calling the raid that took place in Yemen in late January where we lost a Navy SEAL a FAILURE. The White House vehemently disagrees, not only calling the raid a success but also saying McCain needs to apologize to the Navy SEAL who died on that mission.
McCain responded that the raid being a failure doesn’t diminish the sacrifice made by our Navy SEAL, named William “Ryan” Owens.
Watch:
Sen. McCain and the White House spar over Yemen raid https://t.co/4JCnhi6yxq
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) February 9, 2017
This morning Trump responded by tweeting out the following:
Sen. McCain should not be talking about the success or failure of a mission to the media. Only emboldens the enemy! He's been losing so….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2017
…long he doesn't know how to win anymore, just look at the mess our country is in – bogged down in conflict all over the place. Our hero..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2017
..Ryan died on a winning mission ( according to General Mattis), not a "failure." Time for the U.S. to get smart and start winning again!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2017
The White House has defended the raid calling it an intelligence gathering mission that was absolutely successful.
Even Lt. Col. Ralph Peters says the mission wasn’t a failure, but it wasn’t a raving success either. Peters points out that raids like this are often very tough as there are many moving parts and unfortunately loss of life is common in these types of raids:
It might be dumb for Trump to pick a fight on this with a former war hero on Twitter. But you can’t blame him for wanting to protect the image of our fallen Navy SEAL. I am grateful that he isn’t dismissive of that sacrifice even if he is going about this the wrong way.