The People of Al-Ghayil Tell Their Story of the SEAL Raid in Yemen - Polidicks

[URL]https://theintercept.com/2017/03/09/women-and-children-in-yemeni-village-recall-horror-of-trumps-highly-successful-seal-raid/[/URL] [QUOTE]ON JANUARY 29, 5-year-old Sinan al Ameri was asleep with his mother, his aunt, and 12 other children in a one-room stone hut typical of poor rural villages in the highlands of Yemen. A little after 1 a.m., the women and children awoke to the sound of a gunfight erupting a few hundred feet away. Roughly 30 members of Navy SEAL Team 6 were storming the eastern hillside of the remote settlement.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE]Nesma al Ameri, an elderly village matriarch who lost four family members in the raid, described how the attack helicopters began firing down on anything that moved. As she recounted the horror of what happened, Sinan tapped her on the arm. “No, no. The bullets were coming from behind,” the 5-year-old insisted, interrupting to demonstrate how he was shot at and his mother gunned down as they ran for their lives. “From here to here,” Sinan said, putting two fingers to the back of his head and drawing an invisible line to illustrate the direction of the bullet exiting her forehead. His mother fell to the ground next to him, still clutching his baby brother in her arms. Sinan kept running. His mother’s body was found in the early light of dawn, the front of her head split open. The baby was wounded but alive. Sinan’s mother was one of at least six women killed in the raid, the first counterterrorism operation of the Trump administration, which also left 10 children under the age of 13 dead. “She was hit by the plane. The American plane,” explained Sinan. “She’s in heaven now,” he added with a shy smile, seemingly unaware of the enormity of what he had witnessed or, as yet, the impact of his loss. “Dog Trump,” declared Nesma, turning to the other women in the room for agreement. “Yes, the dog Trump,” they agreed.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE]According to White House press secretary Sean Spicer, the al Ghayil raid “was a very, very well thought out and executed effort,” planning for which began under the Obama administration back in November 2016. Although Ned Price, former National Security Council spokesperson, and Colin Kahl, the national security adviser under Vice President Biden, challenged Spicer’s account, what is agreed upon is that Trump gave the final green light over dinner at the White House on January 25. According to two people with direct knowledge, the White House did not notify the U.S. ambassador to Yemen in advance of the operation.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE]According to a current U.S. special operations adviser and a former senior special operations officer, it was not intelligence the Pentagon was after but a key member of al Qaeda. The raid was launched in an effort to capture or kill Qassim al Rimi, the leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, according to the special operations adviser, who asked to remain anonymous because details behind the raid are classified. Villagers interviewed by The Intercept rejected claims that al Rimi was present in al Ghayil, although one resident described seeing an unfamiliar black SUV arriving in the village hours before the raid. Six days after the operation, AQAP media channels released an audio statement from al Rimi, who mocked President Trump and the raid. The White House and the military have denied that the AQAP leader was the target of the mission, insisting the SEALs were sent in to capture electronic devices and material to be used for intelligence gathering. A spokesperson for CENTCOM told The Intercept the military has not yet determined whether al Rimi was in al Ghayil when the SEALs arrived.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE]According to those present, the firefight quickly escalated around the al Dhahab house, halting the SEALs’ advance. As the U.S. forces fought from the lower ground and more men descended the mountainside to join the shootout, airstrikes obliterated Mohammed al Ameri’s house on the hill above, killing three of his children, ages 7, 5, and 4, and seemingly destroying any possibility of retrieving laptops, hard drives, or other intelligence material from inside without digging through piles of rubble in the dark. With one Navy SEAL dead and two others seriously wounded, the special operations forces began to withdraw. But before they departed, according to local witnesses, the MV-22 Osprey used to extract the retreating soldiers crash-landed, forcing another aircraft to land to pull out the operators. Airstrikes then deliberately destroyed the abandoned Osprey.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE]THE ONLY EVIDENCE released so far to back up Sean Spicer’s claim that “the goal of the raid was intelligence gathering, and that’s what we received” was a video posted by U.S. Central Command on February 3. CENTCOM presented the clip as confirmation of the “valuable” material collected during the raid and labeled the video as an “AQAP course to attack the West.” But it was quickly taken down after it was discovered that the footage was 10 years old — pre-dating the existence of AQAP in Yemen — and was readily available online. The U.S. government has yet to produce any further proof of intelligence collected from the raid.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE]Meanwhile, the villagers of al Ghayil are not calling for the usual tribal standard of compensation for the families of victims. Few wanted to be named saying so, but all expressed the same sentiment less than two weeks after the raid: This time, they want revenge, not a payout. While President Trump continues to hail the mission as a success, quoting Defense Secretary James Mattis in Congress last week that intelligence gathered “will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemy,” in Yakla, the clearest outcome appears to be lengthening the list of America’s adversaries beyond al Qaeda. Mohammed al Taysi, the tribesman who tried to join the fight in al Ghayil, put it succinctly as we parted company at dusk along the track out of Yakla. “If they come back,” he said, referring to the SEALs, “tell them to bring their caskets. From now we are ready for any fight with the Americans and the dog Trump.”[/QUOTE] You really should read the whole article, there's a lot of important information that can't be packed into the OP without breaking the "don't quote the entire article" rule.

Shit, if Trump and the GOP consider this debacle a "success" I'd hate to see what they consider a failure.

[QUOTE=Luni;51935784]Shit, if Trump and the GOP consider this debacle a "success" I'd hate to see what they consider a failure.[/QUOTE] Implying they'd ever publicly say some act of theirs ended up as a failure.

It still sickens me to think that orange pig authorized this while gorging himself over dinner. Could he be any more of a stereotypical "evil politician"?

[QUOTE=Dom Pyroshark;51935798]Implying they'd ever publicly say some act of theirs ended up as a failure.[/QUOTE] They'll blame everyone who isn't themselves.

[QUOTE=New Cidem;51935818]It still sickens me to think that orange pig authorized this while gorging himself over dinner. Could he be any more of a stereotypical "evil politician"?[/QUOTE] It's not Trumps fault lmao.

[QUOTE=ejonkou;51935830]It's not Trumps fault lmao.[/QUOTE] Not directly, but he didn't even have the decency to be in the situation room while it was happening.

[QUOTE=ejonkou;51935830]It's not Trumps fault lmao.[/QUOTE] How is it not? He gave the order to run the operation, he's the commander in chief, he's responsible for the actions of his troops.

[QUOTE=ejonkou;51935830]It's not Trumps fault lmao.[/QUOTE] being sworn in as the supreme commander of the most powerful military in the world means you have to take responsibility for your actions and the actions of your subordinates if you can't handle that then don't take the fucking job

[QUOTE=ejonkou;51935830]It's not Trumps fault lmao.[/QUOTE] He's at the top of the chain of command and he gave the go-ahead. It's his fault. He even tried to pass the blame DOWN the chain of command, to boot. What a wanker

[QUOTE=ejonkou;51935830]It's not Trumps fault lmao.[/QUOTE] You didn't address his issue.

[QUOTE] Mohammed al Taysi, the tribesman who tried to join the fight in al Ghayil, put it succinctly as we parted company at dusk along the track out of Yakla. “If they come back,” he said, referring to the SEALs, “tell them to bring their caskets. From now we are ready for any fight with the Americans and the dog Trump.” [/QUOTE] Wow Wow look at that Things everyone but warmongers like trump knew would happen. Multiply this by a million and you get the minimum impact of trumps foreign policy. But hey what do i know, its only been a month and change...

[QUOTE=ejonkou;51935830]It's not Trumps fault lmao.[/QUOTE] Yes it is lmao.

[QUOTE=ejonkou;51935830]It's not Trumps fault lmao.[/QUOTE] The president is the first person you should be looking at after something like this

We ought to just dump 'ol donny boy over there in that village alongside bannon and let them receive the consequences of their choices in person.

[QUOTE=New Cidem;51935818]It still sickens me to think that orange pig authorized this while gorging himself over dinner. Could he be any more of a stereotypical "evil politician"?[/QUOTE] Hey now, don't compare him to a pig. That's insulting to pigs. At least they have value to the world and are enjoyable creatures to keep around.

It's good to be angry about this attack, and for now it's good to hold Trump responsible for it, but at the end of the day people have to move past the individual failure of judgement made by Trump and understand that this kind of senseless killing has been part of US foreign policy for years. And let's be honest, if a SEAL didn't get killed and Obama was still in office, there's a good chance that none of us would have even heard about this.

People around here are pretty disgusting. They can excuse the war crimes committed under Barack Obama, but they'll take any opportunity no matter how small or big to try to shit on Trump. [QUOTE=MissZoey;51935893]Not directly, but he didn't even have the decency to be in the situation room while it was happening.[/QUOTE] Yeah, I do agree that he should have been in the situation room. But at the end of the day it wouldn't have made a difference at all. [QUOTE=TacticalBacon;51935900]How is it not? He gave the order to run the operation, he's the commander in chief, he's responsible for the actions of his troops.[/QUOTE] The operation was pretty much entirely planned under the Obama adminstration, and the odds are that if Donald Trump didn't win the election, whomever became president would have signed off on it. [QUOTE=Jund;51935927]being sworn in as the supreme commander of the most powerful military in the world means you have to take responsibility for your actions and the actions of your subordinates if you can't handle that then don't take the fucking job[/QUOTE] Again, it's not his fault.

[QUOTE=ejonkou;51937900]People around here are pretty disgusting. They can excuse the war crimes committed under Barack Obama, but they'll take any opportunity no matter how small or big to try to shit on Trump. Yeah, I do agree that he should have been in the situation room. But at the end of the day it wouldn't have made a difference at all. The operation was pretty much entirely planned under the Obama adminstration, and the odds are that if Donald Trump didn't win the election, whomever became president would have signed off on it. Again, it's not his fault.[/QUOTE] So is Eisenhower to blame for the Bay of Pigs invasion? Is Kennedy absolved of all fault with the execution of it? Is Trump protected from any fault even though he's the head-of-state and commander-in-chief?

[QUOTE=ejonkou;51937900]Again, it's not his fault.[/QUOTE] How is it not his fault? As outlined by the constitution, it IS his fault since he accepted the responsibilities of the position when he was sworn in. The reason explicit levels of responsibility exist is to have accountability in the system, and when its your job to make the decision in acts like these, whatever the outcome, good or bad, is YOUR FAULT. If what you are saying is true, and the previous administration drew up this plan, it still doesn't excuse Donald Trump. Advisors draw up all sorts of plans of varying risk and feasability levels, and in the end its the responsibility of the President to stamp one or dismiss them all. Also, I'll speak for most of the people I have seen criticizing Trump that we aren't ignoring Obama's faults. Its just even more atrocious when Trump is doing worse than Obama's 8 years off of the get go.

[QUOTE=ejonkou;51937900]The operation was pretty much entirely planned under the Obama adminstration, and the odds are that if Donald Trump didn't win the election, whomever became president would have signed off on it.[/QUOTE] Don't be so certain of that. Was it not revealed after the operation went through that Obamas administration refused to sign off on it because it had an incredibly high risk attached to it (as evidenced by the colossal clusterfuck that was the operation in practice!)? I'm sure any president of a similar leaning to Obama wouldn't have signed off on something like this either. Just because an administration plans something doesn't mean they are held responsible, once they act on that plan then you can blame them. (also fyi nobody is "excusing war crimes" apparently committed by the Obama administration, so knock that shit off)

[QUOTE=ejonkou;51935830]It's not Trumps fault lmao.[/QUOTE] Who's fault is it?

[QUOTE=hexpunK;51937941]Don't be so certain of that. Was it not revealed after the operation went through that Obamas administration refused to sign off on it because it had an incredibly high risk attached to it (as evidenced by the colossal clusterfuck that was the operation in practice!)?[/QUOTE] No, that wasn't true. The operation was waiting for the next moonless night so that it would be dark. "President Barack Obama’s national security aides had reviewed the plans for a risky attack on a small, heavily guarded brick home of a senior Qaeda collaborator in a mountainous village in a remote part of central [URL="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/yemen/index.html?inline=nyt-geo"]Yemen[/URL]. But Mr. Obama did not act because the Pentagon wanted to launch the attack on a moonless night and the next one would come after his term had ended." ([URL]https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/01/world/middleeast/donald-trump-yemen-commando-raid-questions.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=a-lede-package-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1[/URL]) There was nothing inherently wrong with the plan. It just went badly, as these types of things sometimes do.

[QUOTE=ejonkou;51937900] The operation was pretty much entirely planned under the Obama adminstration, and the odds are that if Donald Trump didn't win the election, whomever became president would have signed off on it. [/QUOTE] Yeah, and then whoever became president would have been in the wrong to do it, just like Trump is now. If Obama had signed off on it then he would have been wrong to do so.

[QUOTE=ejonkou;51935830]It's not Trumps fault lmao.[/QUOTE] It's 100% the orange fuck's fault [editline]10th March 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=ejonkou;51937900] Again, it's not his fault.[/QUOTE] How is it not his fault. Explain. [editline]10th March 2017[/editline] Use your big words, if you're able.

[QUOTE=ejonkou;51937900] Again, it's not his fault.[/QUOTE] holy fuck you're right. it's not his fault because you said it's not his fault how could i have been so blind [editline]10th March 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=ejonkou;51937900]People around here are pretty disgusting. They can excuse the war crimes committed under Barack Obama, but they'll take any opportunity no matter how small or big to try to shit on Trump.[/QUOTE] lmao who the fuck in this thread said anything remotely related to this??

[QUOTE=ejonkou;51937900]People around here are pretty disgusting. They can excuse the war crimes committed under Barack Obama, but they'll take any opportunity no matter how small or big to try to shit on Trump.[/QUOTE] Can we stop with this bullshit line of thinking? No one is excusing Obama's many fuckups when talking about Trump fucking up, and suggesting that we are as a form of defense for Trump makes it seem like you're suggesting that Obama having done bad things makes it okay for Trump to do it too. Trump pulled the trigger here, he's to blame, period. Suck it up.

If Obama was in office there would be tons of investigations and outrage coming from the Republicans. Trump should 100% take fault.

[QUOTE=ejonkou;51937900]People around here are pretty disgusting. They can excuse the war crimes committed under Barack Obama, but they'll take any opportunity no matter how small or big to try to shit on Trump.[/QUOTE] Are you even trying to defend Trump?

This isn't Trump's fault alone. The whole gang who obeys that commands are equally guilty. Just goes to show what the majority stance of US is against fellow humans. Hope justice will come soon.