Impulsive, tough-guy leadership in the White House—what could go wrong?
U.S. military officials told Reuters that Trump approved his first covert counterterrorism operation without sufficient intelligence, ground support or adequate backup preparations.
As a result, three officials said, the attacking SEAL team found itself dropping onto a reinforced al Qaeda base defended by landmines, snipers, and a larger than expected contingent of heavily armed Islamist extremists.
…One of the three U.S. officials said on-the-ground surveillance of the compound was “minimal, at best.”
“The decision was made … to leave it to the incoming administration, partly in the hope that more and better intelligence could be collected,” that official said [Ayesha Rascoe, “U.S. Military Probing More Possible Civilian Deaths in Yemen Raid,” Reuters, 2017.02.02].
Those aren’t toy soldiers or Tom Cruise playing at war on Groundhog Day. Those are real Americans being dropped impatiently into a firefight without proper intelligence.
Support the troops: do your intel.
So as of right now we know one SEAL was killed, two other military members injured, and at least 15 women and children were killed. We also lost a $72MM Osprey in the process.
Sounds like a complete failure. If the goal was simply to kill as many people as possible that could have been accomplished with a drone strike firing a missile from a safe distance.
I wonder how many hours of Congressional hearings the Republicans will demand for this botched operation.
Say it with me…. “BENGHAZI!”
Trump now has his own Benghazi. Only this was not his response to an attack; it was his plan. But as with Joop Bollen, the GOP will prostate themselves and lick his boots for his decisive action.
Earlier reports claimed the raid was to capture computers with bad guy plans on them. I don’t know if they got them or not. I do know the one 6 year old girl killed was an American citizen, her dad was an American who joined the bad guys and was killed along with another daughter in a raid several years ago.
There are also pics on the internet of military type vehicles sporting large Drumpf flags. They are indeed vehicles from Navy Seals heading to a training area according to the military. The flags are not authorized.
Reports like this won’t be seen again after White House censorship increases.
“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”
― George Orwell, Animal Farm
You can do this, Boswell. Let’s see how you’ve grown playing defense. Don’t back down. This is a big chance to excel, buddy.
I’m afraid this is just a preview. Does anyone think that he wants to build “his” military to only look at it? Not a chance – this ADD prez will need to play with it.
Same with you, Deplorables and what’s your name? The firefighter from Madison.
Seriously, clearly from this website stupid cannot be fixed. This operation was designed by the previous administration but because of logistics and timeline they handed it over to Trump’s group. FFS, get real.
And I hope that all of you have watched 13 hours.
Steve I agree stupid cannot be fixed, because your attention span is so short you weren’t even able to finish reading the actual article nor did you bother to read Cory’s post which quoted it directly.
Perhaps if you read this slower it will sink in: “The decision was made … to leave it to the incoming administration, partly in the hope that more and better intelligence could be collected”.
The target was previously identified yes, but the decision whether to raid or not falls squarely upon this administration. It was there decision, their desire to attack without proper intelligence, and as a result their failure.
Thanks for showing a lack of intelligence isn’t just limited to White House briefing rooms.
One of Drumpf’s closest advisers is suggesting Obama’s crew may have tipped off the enemy about the raid.
I’m sure if we still had a competent Obama in the WH the raid would have turned out much better. The dead girl was 8 years old.
“The decision was made … to leave it to the incoming administration, partly in the hope that more and better intelligence could be collected,” that [DOD] official told Reuters.
Porter, I appreciate the Orwell reference. In class we just finished Miller’s The Crucible. Already it’s starting to feel like that national whipping up of frenzy against “them”: witches, communists, terrorists, that complete lack of empathy is starting again.
How divorced will we allow policy to become from humanity? How sweeping will actions need to become to satisfy fear? How does empathy develop when decision makers isolate themselves from “them,” from “the others?” The only spark of hope was reading that so many of Trump’s appointments have been military men who had lost family themselves. But if insulated from immigrant/refugee/Muslim voices, how can a leader ever see past the ephemera of rhetoric in decisions?
Trump had better have a better plan in place when he invades Mexico, as he promised yesterday.
http://crooksandliars.com/2017/02/trumps-first-military-operation-goes
C & L sez according to officials, this was not a holdover mission. This is all on Drumpf. The dead girl’s father was born in New Mexico and joined Al-Quada and was killed 5 years ago.
Steve P reiterates the logic of the quote Craig and David Newquist highlight: the previous administration didn’t rush into the operation. They wanted to wait for more intel. Obama could have rushed it to take credit, but instead put intel and troops’ security first. Trump appears to have blundered in, thinking the operation was a ready-made, just add water and look tough opportunity to go kill terrorists. Trump apparently didn’t add any value or wait for the intel Obama had hoped he would. He just went shooting and ended up with a messed-up operation that subjected soldiers to unnecessary danger and killed civilians. Oops.
Exactly, right “o”. Good stuff, as usual.
Mr. H makes a point that reminds me of my favorite Obama trait. Patience in decision making. He rarely made a move in less than two weeks, because it wasn’t necessary to make a move in less than two weeks. Most of life’s problems disappear without action if given a little time. That means most new problems that arise are from premature action.
The Reality: Change is slow and gradual. It requires hard work, a bit of luck, a fair amount of self-sacrifice and a lot of patience.
Trump’s Credo: A sudden transformation will bring a total change in USA’s fortunes, bypassing work, luck, self-sacrifice and time in one fantastic stroke.
I realize that congressional Democrats are up to their armpits in a frothy orange goo right now, but why is nothing being said about this? Why is the PGiC* getting all this press over attending the release of this soldier’s body without anybody questioning his own role? Hopefully the Marmalade Mussolni realizes that this isn’t a game, and that the “shoot now ask questions later” philosophy that conservatives hold so dear to, doesn’t work.
Another campaign promise honored – Trump slaughters women and children who are related to terrorists.
It also strikes me that to President Trump, the US military is an abstraction. As a businessman, has he ever really had to consider the US military as people? I had been so focused on Trump’s lack of empathy for “them,” I hadn’t considered that there also might be a lack of empathy for “us.” I know that at some level a commander-in-chief has to look beyond the individual to make the greater good decision, but there has to be an element of that human cost in the weight of decisions as well.
In the current business climate, the focus seems to be only on the abstract bottom line; the cost on individuals or communities is secondary (at best) to profit. That is the environment that created this President. I shudder to think that same level of dehumanizing absolutism is the sole guiding principal of all US policy (both foreign and domestic).
I am all for piling the apparent disregard of intelligence this mission seems to demonstrate, but I don’t want to lose sight of its accompanying lack of empathy. Unlike campaign rhetoric, these are no longer intellectual only exercises.
http://theweek.com/speedreads/677637/military-officials-suggest-trump-ordered-yemen-raid-without-adequate-intel
Officials say Obama abandoned the plan and this is Drumpf’s baby.
I’m with “o”. “You’re Fired!” is way different than “You’re Dead!” My goodness, I hope I’m wrong but I believe President Trump will have to launch a nuclear armament, just to know what it feels like.
Obama’s White House worked for months on a plan to seize Raqqa. Trump’s team took a quick look and decided not to pull the trigger.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obamas-white-house-worked-for-months-on-a-plan-to-seize-raqqa-trumps-team-deemed-it-hopelessly-inadequate/2017/02/02/116310fa-e71a-11e6-80c2-30e57e57e05d_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_trumpsyria-320pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.987b8e248d35
Great article, David N. The joker in the whole deck is the mangled apricot who can’t keep a secret as long as there is a twitter account handy.
O—U.S. military as abstraction… that’s what scares me.
Benghazi? No, this isn’t Trump’s Benghazi. This is worse. Benghazi was a situation created by external forces to which we responded in a debatable fashion. The Yemen raid is a situation that did not exist, that posed no threat to U.S. personnel until Trump threw them in.
But help me out, friends. I read the Yemen story and now the joke-threat to Mexico and the reneging on the refugee deal with Australia. The President of the United States gets on the phone and jerks the chain of two of America’s closest allies. It’s not only Vox and other liberals who see that behavior as “bizarre” and “dangerous”… is it? Is there an honest, conservative, Dick Cheney/Donald Rumsfeld/Colin Powell justification for the President’s foreign impulses?
Trump is acting like a teenage binge drinker who just found Dad’s credit card and PIN. He is spending down geopolitical capital that America has spent over a century accumulating for nothing more than his own ego.
Cory, don’t forget about his mental state. People’s perception of him means everything to him. This is why he won’t show his tax returns IMO. Because he’s nowhere near the business man he is making himself out to be. What’s going to happen when he has a meltdown because nobody likes him. How long will it take to erase the damage he does when he snaps? How many soldiers will he kill? How many allies will he piss off? How many trade deals will be renegotiated without us?
Trump is becoming more delusional by the day.
In the past two days he has irritated two of America’s long time allies, Mexico and Argentina, while over the past month has been kissing the ass of Russia, one our greatest enemies.
Yesterday at the National Prayer Breakfast he prayed that Arnold would become a better host for the Apprentice, I wonder if all those religious leaders were able to eat their breakfast.
Cory, you might consider doing a daily Trump blog just to keep up with his antics.
Also of note today was Nancy Pelosi calling Steve Bannon a white supremacist serving on the National Security Council, and later publicly calling Trump’s mental illness into question.
Roger, I’m not sure what would be harder to catalog: every delusional statement and policy error committed by Trump or every bad bill coming from the Legislature. At least we only have to wait two years to vote the Legislature out… and at least the Legislature can’t start wars.
Not sure how my name got dragged into this, but I will make the same comments as Cory and I did when Obama killed her 16 yr old brother: ” ”
That is my full statement, along with Cory’s.
And I leave my final note coming from the Obama Administration: “I would suggest that you should have a far more responsible father if they are truly concerned about the well being of their children. ”
Echo chamber attendees, that is your lesson for today.
I’m very curious about how the enlistment numbers look since the election.
And wingnuts voted to slash embassy security by 50% after this dipwad got sweared in. Remember it wasn’t the lack of security funding that got 4 Americans killed. It was Ronald Raygu……it was a video tape that did the shooting. Guns don’t kill so them four Americans must still be alive and wingnuts have been lying about all these years.
Ms Rita- are you looking for Al-qada enlistments or US military personnel?
Enlistment stats are hard to find. Army said it met goal of 62000 for 2016 and expects to make goal for 2017. Didn’t see a breakdown since the election. It might be out there somewhere.
Mike– I meant US military enlistments. I haven’t found anything so far.
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/yemen-raid-video-old-234619
Pentagon shows video to prove that Yemen raid was successful. except the footage has been out on the internet for 10 years.
Appears Drumpf’s crew has their hooks clearly into the Pentagon and are making stuff up. Another Drumpf failure.
Do you think Trump even cared enough to to check each soldiers weapon load?
Point: If you honestly think Trump had anything to to with the execution of this mission other than final approval you are a fool. Yes, the “go” is on his back but the loss of our brother was a result of the battle. It’s like blaming the McDonald’s stock holder when your local McD’s runs out of fries.
sarge, are you really that much of an idiot to think that the “go” should not have went. The mission was compromised. When that kind of stuff happens, you stand down, get it. I have no idea what kind of unit you may have been in, but sop for 11b is exactly that. The idea is to hit hard and fast, not to get into a slug fest. Go back and read your manual or talk to someone who knows the drill. Been there done that.
False comparison, OldSarg: running a McDonalds is nothing like running a military operation. My Aberdeen franchise operators do not have to ask McDonalds CEO for permission to hire extra staff and order more inventory for a big tourism weekend. The military does have to ask America’s CIC for permission to engage in combat on foreign shores. The President never just blindly signs off on a military operation of this sort; if he does, that’s quite possibly an impeachable offense. The President reviews the intelligence with his advisors. The President decides if the intelligence shows the benefits are worth blood. The President owns the decision to engage in military strikes.
Soldiers aren’t hamburgers. Presidents have a duty to review the intelligence to make sure they (and civilians) aren’t needlessly turned into hamburger.