Video allegedly obtained during the deadly U.S. raid in Yemen last week, the first military operation under Trump's administration, was released by the Pentagon Friday. There's just one problem with the video in question: It's 10 years old, according toBuzzFeed. Just hours after posting a link to the footage on the Defense Video Imagery Distribution System website, the clips were removed.
"Courses for Destroying the Cross" first appeared online back in 2007. The video, less than two minutes long, shows an unidentified man wearing a white robe and black mask discussing bomb-making techniques. A defense official toldBuzzFeed's Nancy A. Youssef the raid on Jan. 29 was meant as an al Qaeda intelligence gathering effort, not an attempt at preventing "a specific future attack." A Pentagon said the video was a mere “sampling” of what was captured.
The Trump team has suggested the Navy SEAL raid, which resulted in the death of Chief Petty Officer William "Ryan" Owens and multiple civilians, had been extensively planned under Obama's administration. "The raid had been planned several months and was given full consideration by the previous administration," a defense official told the Washington Post Thursday.
Former Obama security official Colin Kahl, however, has repeatedly refuted this:
"The videos released today are samples of a series of detailed, do-it-yourself lessons intended for aspiring terrorist bomb-makers and included an exhortation to use those techniques to attack the West," a statement from Central Command accompanying the video's release said. The Pentagon estimated the raid also left "14 militants" dead. But medics at the scene, according to a report from Reuters, estimated that as many as 30 people—including 10 women and children—had been killed.
