Bill Owens, the father of the Navy SEAL killed in Donald Trump's first approved military mission wants answers.
It was the first military counter-terrorist operation approved by the new president, who signed the go-ahead Jan. 26 — six days into his term.
"Why at this time did there have to be this stupid mission when it wasn’t even barely a week into his administration? Why? For two years prior, there were no boots on the ground in Yemen — everything was missiles and drones — because there was not a target worth one American life. Now, all of a sudden we had to make this grand display?" [...]
“Don’t hide behind my son’s death to prevent an investigation,” said the elder Owens, pointing to Trump’s sharp words directed at the mission’s critics, including Sen. John McCain.
“I want an investigation. … The government owes my son an investigation,” he said.
Owens refused to meet with Trump when his son's body was returned to the United States. The mission was almost immediately the subject of criticism, after it became public; Trump apparently approved the raid during dinner after being briefed on it by the now-departed Flynn, and critics have charged Trump approved it with only cursory consideration to the complexities and risks involved.
But Bill Owens wants answers, and Bill Owens is willing to say so publicly. This goes directly against the whines of Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who snuffed that anyone who questioned the "success" of the raid was doing a "disservice" to the man that died. That mean-spirited dodge isn't going to fly.