Donald Trump took on Sen. John McCain’s status as a war hero and won the GOP nomination anyway.
Sean Spicer took on John McCain’s expertise on military matters and got this:
The White House press secretary took an extraordinary position Wednesday, saying anyone who questioned the success of the raid in Yemen that led to the death of a Navy SEAL was doing a disservice to the SEAL’s memory. The target was McCain.
Then NBC News tracked down McCain (R-Ariz.) to get his response to Spicer. And it was something.
“Many years ago when I was imprisoned in North Vietnam, there was an attempt to rescue the POWs,” McCain began, mentioning details of his biography that everyone knows but McCain included for emphasis.
He continued: “Unfortunately, the prison had been evacuated. But the brave men who took on that mission and risked their lives in an effort to rescue us prisoners of war were genuine American heroes. Because the mission failed did not in any way diminish their courage and willingness to help their fellow Americans who were held captive. Mr. Spicer should know that story.”
McCain then walked away, punctuating the comment.
Senator McCain–you go, guy! Despite what Trump says, John McCain is a war hero. Unlike Trump, he does know quite a bit about war and military raids. He is certainly not someone that either Trump or Spicer should blow off.
The arrogance and stupidity are simply amazing.
I no longer care too much for John McCain. He has turned into a Grumpy Old Man. I am glad he is standing up – and not just allowing other to get away with crap – for the parties sake.
John McCain is a war hero, an American, a Patriot. There is no denying that. Period. Full Stop.
Families of military members that were killed in action often take some comfort if the mission was viewed as a success. Even if this particular mission was not successful (which is not usually determined by the loss of an airplane or a life), it was very unkind to the family to say such a thing in public. McCain has become very negative in the last decade.
Aren’t missions defined as successful or not by whether or not the stated objective is met?
Maybe the military has changed since my dad served.
McCain has sure said some things I didnt like but…he is still a person I respect. When you are 80, you have earned the right to not have to kiss everyone’s ass before you speak.
Kelly_3406,
the fact is that the mission was not as successful as one would have hoped. Publicly saying that it was successful does not make it any better. The mission was far from successful- publicly, we recovered an old video that was well known for years.
But – as John McCain said about the failed attempt to rescue him (not this mission) – the failure of the mission is not a reflection of the failure of the individual. What a spin zone – if we cannot admit the mission failed – then what?
Navy SEAL Owens gave his life for his country – the ultimate sacrifice – mission success or failure plays no part in him being a Hero who put his life in danger and payed the ultimate price.
Totally agree, Pat.
I have no idea why your comment went to moderation, BTW.
Spicer is speaking for Trump, a chickenhawk who never served but is bold with other people’s lives.
I wish I had a like key on this blog.
Robin Hood,
There is a lot of things wrong with Trump, but chickenhawk does not appear to be one of them. He ran on a platform of ending foreign adventures and reducing troop commitments overseas. The exception seems to be the fight against ISIS. This mission was planned by the Obama Administration and executed by the Trump Administration.
As we have seen in several prior missions, the element of surprise apparently was not there. Was there a leak prior to the mission? Does the US have a mole? Was it a cyber intrusion? Has ISIS established an effective Watch system? Unlike what McCain said, these seem like the type of helpful questions that needs to be asked.
This could well be an example of how classified leaks get people killed. Despite chaos and adversity, the team accomplished its primary mission, which was to eliminate the threat. It would have been better to capture him rather than to kill him, but the enemy always gets a vote, especially when surprise is not achieved.
Trump’s military school experience is where his service stopped, but he questioned McCain’s heroism for being captured. The only thing he has done about ISIS has been to give them talking points in their recruitment pitch.
Kelly_3406,
Where was Trump? Not in the situation room. Obama wouldn’t sign off on it.
MoonHowler,
The real question is why the president had to be involved at all. A president must give the go/no-go for high-visibility ops like the Osama Bin Laden takedown or raids into non-permissive environments like Pakistan. However, an operation like this should have been delegated to the SecDef or CENTCOM combatant commander, together with specific instructions that specify under what conditions presidential approval must be requested.
Maybe neither position was in place, in quick case, perhaps it should not have happened?
Bottom line, I don’t have a clue and wondered why myself.
On the other hand, I feel Trump is clearly out of his league.