Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Trump Uses Seal Team Six in Daring Yemen Raid

By Douglas V. Gibbs
AuthorSpeakerInstructorRadio Host

The operation targeted al Qaeda in Yemen.  During the mission an "aircraft was unable to fly after the landing, [and] the aircraft was then intentionally destroyed in place."  As a result, one of the members of the special operations team was killed, and four others were injured.  The raid was designed to kill or capture members of the al Qaeda cell known as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and obtain data to assist in the war against Islamic terrorism.

14 AQAP operatives are dead according to command officials.

“Americans are saddened this morning with news that a life of a heroic service member has been taken in our fight against the evil of radical Islamic terrorism,” Mr. Trump said in a statement.

Mr. Trump was repeatedly updated on the progress of the operation as it was underway, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Sunday.

“He extends his condolences. But more importantly, he understands the fight that our servicemen and women conduct on a daily basis to keep this country safe,” Mr. Spicer said during an interview with ABC’s “This Week.”

During the interview, Mr. Spicer argued that the Yemeni incident was one reason Mr. Trump’s travel ban from a string of Muslim-majority nations was justified in keeping the American homeland safe.

“That’s why this order is so important,” Mr. Spicer said, referring to the Yemen operation.

The countries listed on President Trump's executive order include Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Libya.

“If [U.S. forces] are going to go out there and put their lives on the line every day to fight ISIS, to fight other people who are seeking to do us harm … we do our part to make sure that we’re not having an open door to allow [those] people to march right into our country,” Mr. Spicer said.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

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