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DOSSIER – In this photo of August 21, 2014, Admiral of the Navy, William McRaven, addresses the Texas Board of Regents in Austin, Texas. President Donald Trump is hotly criticized for blaming a war hero for failing to capture al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden earlier. In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, November 18, 2018, Trump fired at the retired admiral, in which he also claimed that the former Navy SEAL was a "support" from Hillary Clinton (AP Photo / Eric Gay), his rival. , File) The Associated Press
By ROBERT BURNS, AP National Security Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has launched a wave of criticism and accused of politicizing the army by blaming a war hero for failing to capture earlier al-Qaeda leader Osama bin. Laden.
Trump shot retired Admiral William McRaven in a Fox News weekend interview in which he also claimed that the former Navy SEAL and former commander of the US Special Operations Command was a "support "Hillary Clinton's rival, Hillary 2016, and President Barack Obama.
"Disgusting," said Monday on Twitter the anti-terrorist advisor to the White House of George W. Bush administration, Fran Townsend.
Leon Panetta, director of the CIA during the raid on Bin Laden, then secretary of defense, said Trump was to apologize to McRaven and all members of the armed forces and intelligence services who played a role. role in the hunt for bin Laden and his execution. the risky raid in Pakistan. He called Trump's remark "obviously ridiculous".
"This demonstrates a profound lack of understanding of the functioning of our intelligence agencies and the military and undermines the status of the commander-in-chief of the president," Panetta said in a statement.
The controversy follows a series of concerns raised by former senior army officers regarding Trump 's understanding of the role of the military. Some say his decision to send thousands of soldiers on active service to the US-Mexico border shortly before the mid-term elections on November 6 was a real political coup.
Trump was also criticized for his decision not to travel to Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day last week, as a result of his trip to Europe. He would then have had to "visit" the cemetery, but was too busy with official business.
McRaven told CNN that he was a fan of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, having served under their orders. "I admire all the presidents, regardless of their political party, who defend the dignity of the office and use it to bring the country closer to hard times," he said.
McRaven had previously attracted worldwide attention for accusing Trump of repeatedly calling the news media "the enemy of the people". McRaven said the president's words were "the biggest threat to democracy" in his lifetime. When this was evoked in the interview with Fox News, Trump criticized McRaven, who organized and executed bin Laden's raid on Pakistan in May 2011 as head of the secret command of the special operation joint.
"It would not have been nice if we had Osama bin Laden much earlier than that, would not it be nice?" Trump said.
When asked if the military leaders were not credited with killing the al-Qaeda leader, Mr. Trump said, "They shot him, but – look, look, there's news here, he lived in Pakistan, we support Pakistan, we are giving them $ 1.3 billion a year, which we do not give them, by the way, I ended because they do nothing for us they do not do anything for us. "
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