Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
While addressing critics of the botched U.S. raid on al Qaeda militants in Yemen, Sean Spicer on Wednesday deployed an Iraq War throwback concept: if you criticize the mission, you don’t support the military. The January 29 raid resulted in numerous civilian deaths—including the 7-year-old daughter of the late U.S.-born al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki—as well as one U.S. Navy SEAL named William “Ryan” Owens. Asked whether the White House can still consider the raid a success—despite Yemen no longer granting permission to the U.S. to do ground-ops in the country—Spicer replied: “It’s absolutely a success. And I think anyone who suggests it’s not a success does disservice to the life of Chief Ryan Owens.” He added: “Anybody who undermines the success of the raid owes an apology and a disservice to the life of Chief Owens.” Asked if that “anybody” includes prominent critics like Sen. John McCain, Spicer reiterated that his words were a “message to anybody.”