Disputing White House’s assessment of botched attack.
Mark Makela/Reuters
Sen. John McCain, who chairs the Armed Services Committee, called the recent U.S. raid in Yemen a “failure” while speaking to reporters Tuesday. The comments came after a classified briefing on the operation. His characterization of the mission, which reportedly killed 14 members of al Qaeda, a Navy SEAL and multiple civilians, including children, is starkly different than the way in which the White House is characterizing it. “The raid that was conducted in Yemen was an intelligence-gathering raid,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday. “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.”