Bipartisan group of senators wants classified briefing on Yemen raid
By KYLE FELDSCHER
2/9/17
A bipartisan group of four senators want the Trump administration to give a classified briefing into the raid in Yemen that left a Navy SEAL and several civilians dead.
Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Rand Paul, R-Ky., Al Franken, D-Minn., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Michael Dempsey, acting director of national intelligence, asking for a classified briefing on the Jan. 28 raid.
The operation has received bipartisan criticism due to the amount of American casualties — four SEALs were wounded, in addition to the death of Senior Chief Petty Officer William "Ryan" Owens, and an Osprey tilt-rotor had to be destroyed after it crashed — in order to gather intelligence on al Qaeda in Yemen.
"We write today with serious concerns about U.S. policy in Yemen and to urgently request a classified briefing regarding our actions and objectives there," the senators wrote in a letter. "The situation in Yemen remains complex, with an ongoing civil war and humanitarian crisis — further complicated by U.S. support for Saudi Arabia's bombing campaign there — as well as a growing terrorist threat from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula."
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