McCain Calls Yemen Raid a Failure

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) called the recent U.S. raid in Yemen a “failure” following a classified briefing on the operation, which ended in the death of a Navy SEAL and an unconfirmed number of civilians, BuzzFeed reports.

McCain said that the military’s decision to continue the mission despite “significant opposition” and the enemy being tipped off “was one of the aspects of this that made it — turned it into a failure.”

McCain’s characterization stands in stark contrast to that of the White House, which is calling the operation a success.

Said White House press secretary Sean Spicer: “The raid that was conducted in Yemen was an intelligence gathering raid. It was highly successful. It achieved the purpose it was going to get, save the loss of life that we suffered and the injuries that occurred.”