After President Trump said that Secretary of Defense James Mattis had confirmed that the SEAL raid in Yemen had garnered vital intelligence against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, many in the media were skeptical.
Trump said Tuesday night during his speech to the joint session of Congress that Mattis had told him Navy SEAL Ryan Owens “was a part of a highly successful raid that generated large amounts of vital intelligence that will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemies.”
The MSM was quick to contradict the president and his defense secretary: “Still no actionable intelligence,” NBC reported on Wednesday:
The Pentagon says Navy SEALs scooped up laptops, hard drives and cell phones in last month’s Yemen raid, but multiple U.S. officials told NBC News that none of the intelligence gleaned from the operation so far has proven actionable or vital — contrary to what President Trump said in his speech to Congress Tuesday.
Now, despite media reports to the contrary, CNN is reporting that the U.S. is indeed acting on intelligence gleaned from the raid targeting the al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen.
Several US officials told CNN Thursday that the US is now taking action to locate and monitor hundreds of people or “contacts” found as part the intelligence retrieved during the deadly raid last month in Yemen targeting al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
Some of these people are believed to be in the West, but not in the United States.
The government is taking action to find and monitor these AQAP-linked individuals because of the threat they may pose to Europe, the officials added.
The intelligence gathered from the computers and cell phones is being reviewed at the National Media Exploitation Center (NMEC) outside of Washington, according to CNN. The NMEC “analyzes documents, electronic media, cell phones, video and audio tapes seized on overseas missions.”
The mission to extract computers and other intelligence from the al Qaeda camp had been “well-rehearsed,” NBC News reported earlier this month, but something went wrong and all hell broke loose. The massive firefight that ensued involved “Harrier jets, helicopter gunships and gun-wielding jihadi women.” One Navy SEAL, 14 al Qaeda fighters, and a number of civilians were killed in the fight.
Multiple military and intelligence sources told NBC News “that something tipped off the terrorist targets” of the early morning raid.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member