Republican infighting continues over what to call the botched operation ordered by Republican president Trump in Yemen 10 days ago:
McCain initially referred to the raid as “a failure” but later dialed back his criticism, saying in a statement Tuesday that some objectives were fulfilled in the mission but that he would “not describe any operation that results in the loss of American life as a success.” [...]
Last week, Spicer stopped short of calling the raid an unqualified success, telling reporters: “I think it's hard to ever say something was successful when you lose a life.” — WaPo
It’s clear the only “life” Spicer thought worth mentioning is the Navy Seal who died during the operation. No Republican politician has the courage to confront the killing of civilians in the operation.
Republican president Donald Trump called it a “winning mission”. What exactly was “won” by sending these nine children to an early grave? One of them was a US citizen who’s 16 year old half-brother (also a US citizen) had previously been killed in a drone strike.
"But I think when you look at the totality of what was gained to prevent the future loss of life ... it is a successful operation by all standards," Spicer added. — LA Times
Yes, I’m certain the families of these children will consider it a “successful operation by all standards” and take comfort in Sean Spicer’s assurances that they were killed to “prevent the future loss of life”. What does that even mean?
|
Name |
Age |
1. |
Asma Fahad Ali al Ameri |
3 months |
2. |
Aisha Mohammed Abdallah al Ameri |
4 years |
3. |
Halima Hussein al Aifa al Ameri |
5 years old |
4. |
Hussein Mohammed Abdallah Mabkhout al Ameri |
5 years old |
5. |
Mursil Abedraboh Masad al Ameri |
6 years old |
6. |
Khadija Abdallah Mabkhout al Ameri |
7 years old |
7. |
Nawar Anwar al Awlaqi |
8 years old |
8. |
Ahmed Abdelilah Ahmed al Dahab |
11 years old |
9. |
Nasser Abdallah Ahmed al Dahab |
12 years old |
The list above was tabulated by journalists who interviewed a number of villagers. A 17 year old child, Abdallah Ahmed Abad al Zouba, also died in the shootout, and the total civilian death count stands at 25.
His son Ahmed was the first casualty. According to al Dahab the 11-year-old was woken by the commotion outside and went to see what was going on. “When my son Ahmed saw them, he couldn’t tell that they were soldiers because it was dark,” he said. “He asked them ‘Who are you?’ but the men shot him. He was the first killed. No one thought that marines would descend on our homes to kill us, kill our children and kill our women.” [...]
Three witnesses said the commandos shot at everyone who left their homes. In these lawless parts of Yemen every home has a Kalashnikov and the residents reached for their guns “to defend their homes and their honour,” Abdelilah al Dahab said.
The villagers say 38-year-old mother of seven, Fatim Saleh al Ameri was fatally shot by special operators while trying to flee with her two-year-old son Mohammed. “We pulled him out from his mother’s lap. He was covered in her blood,” said 11-year-old Basil Ahmed Abad al Zouba, whose 17-year-old brother was killed.
— The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
The al-Ameri family had previously lost fourteen members (including three children under the age of eight) in a drone strike on a wedding party. The US has yet to formally acknowledge that error.
Villagers say the bombardment from the air continued after the soldiers had withdrawn. The Pentagon initially published a video of a man making bombs which it claimed had been recovered during the raid, but it was later revealed that the video had been published online in 2007.
Newsweek and the Mirror are carrying the BIJ piece. The Yemeni government, responding to outrage at the civilian deaths, suspended authorization for future US ground operations, though they have backtracked after being threatened with loss of all funding/armaments from the US.