WASHINGTON – In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today joined Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC to discuss foreign policy under the Trump administration, including last week’s military operation in Yemen and the recent travel ban, which Senator Coons addressed directly. “I'm gravely concerned about what it's doing to weaken or destabilize our partnerships with Muslim and Arab allies in the region,” Senator Coons said.
“Any time we send men and women in our armed forces into harm's way, we need to make certain that they have the training, the equipment, the planning and the support that they deserve before they go ahead and I think the fact that this executive order, which was rushed, and this raid, have put some real strain on our partnership with Yemen in our fight against AQAP, which is one of the most deadly terrorist organizations in the world, is something we should all regret and something the Trump administration should consider closely in the weeks ahead,” said Senator Coons.
Full video and audio available here.
Excerpts from the interview:
Senator Coons on President Trump's executive order and rollout: I think this has been unsettling. Senator Rob Portman, Republican from Ohio, said that the thing that wasn't vetted was this executive order, this travel ban, rather than the vetting of refugees from seven countries. I'm gravely concerned about what it's doing to weaken or destabilize our partnerships with Muslim and Arab allies in the region. The assault on Mosul is ongoing right now. The assault on Raqqa is beginning. And, in our fight against ISIS, I don't think we can afford to strain our partnership with Iraq. In a hearing yesterday in front of the Foreign Relations Committee, both a Republican and a Democratic witness agreed that the way this travel ban was rolled out has frankly put us more at risk in our conduct against terrorist organizations in Yemen, in Iraq, and elsewhere in the region and I frankly question the wisdom of how and why this travel ban was rolled out by this administration.
Senator Coons on conflicting reports about what happened with the raid in Yemen: First, we have to pause and be grateful to the family of SEAL Ryan Owens, whose life was lost in that raid in Yemen. I had the honor of meeting his entire extended family, his widow, his children, his parents and siblings, and I first want to stop and say how grateful we all are as a nation for his service and for his sacrifice, and I do think that, in the weeks ahead, we'll see some strains in the relationship with Yemen, as a result of civilian casualties, and I do think the Trump Administration is going to have to review more closely how they prepare for and plan for raids like this. Any time we send men and women in our armed forces into harm's way, we need to make certain that they have the training, the equipment, the planning and the support that they deserve before they go ahead and I think the fact that this executive order, which was rushed, and this raid, have put some real strain on our partnership with Yemen in our fight against AQAP, which is one of the most deadly terrorist organizations in the world, is something we should all regret and something the Trump administration should consider closely in the weeks ahead.
Senator Coons on the decision-making process of foreign policy decisions like the Yemen raid: Donald Trump as a candidate was critical of President Obama for having a thorough and detailed and, at times, lengthy review process before giving the go-ahead on raids such as this raid into Yemen, and my hunch is that the Trump administration is now reconsidering that criticism. Many of us on the Hill were concerned when the National Security Council was revised in order to include Steve Bannon, President Trump's political adviser, as one of the core members of that National Security Council. I do think that all of us owe our men and women at arms a thorough and deliberative process before we put them in harm's way. It is my hope that the Trump administration will reconsider their process and take this seriously in the weeks ahead.
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