[Peace-discuss] Ask Congress for hearings into botched raid in Yemen

[Carl G. Estabrook]

<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/02/trump-approved-yemen-raid-five-days-after-inauguration <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/02/trump-approved-yemen-raid-five-days-after-inauguration>>

Was the US military's primary purpose in this action to enmesh the new administration into the murderous (and illegal) policies of the old one?

"Both the New York Times and Reuters carried quotes from unnamed military officials that seemed to shift blame for the mission to Trump and his inner team. It would be an extraordinary development for a president, who is commander-in-chief, to be briefed against in such detail...

"US military officials told Reuters that Trump approved his first covert counterterrorism operation without sufficient intelligence, ground support or adequate backup preparations.

"The mission had been prepared under the Obama administration but it had not been approved.

"The civilian dead included an eight-year-old girl, Nawar al-Awlaki, according to her family, who may have been an US citizen. Her father was al-Qaida propagandist and US citizen Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in a September 2011 US drone strike in Yemen.

"The Centcom statement, said: 'A team designated by the operational task force commander has concluded that civilian noncombatants likely were killed in the midst of a firefight during a 29 January raid in Yemen, and that casualties may include children.

“'The known possible civilian casualties appear to have been potentially caught up in aerial gunfire that was called in to assist US forces in contact against a determined enemy that included armed women firing from prepared fighting positions and US special operations members receiving fire from all sides, including from houses and other buildings.'

"Centcom insisted the raid resulted in the seizure of material and information that is providing valuable intelligence.

"US Air Force colonel John Thomas said: 'Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has a horrifying history of hiding women and children within militant operating areas and terrorist camps, and continuously shows a callous disregard for innocent lives. That’s what makes cases like these so especially tragic' [sic]…"

—CGE


> On Feb 2, 2017, at 6:44 AM, Debra Schrishuhn via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
> 
> Done without sufficient intel, support, or backup plan, T-Rump ordered counter-terrorism raid that killed one American soldier and several Yemeni civilians. 
> 
> Ask Congress to hold hearings and hold POTUS responsible. 
> 
> Deb
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
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