UPDATE: THIS STORY WAS UPDATED ON FEB. 4, 2017, TO INCLUDE COMMENTS FROM CENTRAL COMMAND.
U.S. Central Command ate crow on Friday after releasing al-Qaida video from a raid in Yemen, only to abruptly pull the video down after learning it was older than it expected.
Thomas said he learned from a reporter and Twitter that the video was older than originally thought after it was posted. CENTCOM decided to take down the video and cancel a press briefing about the Yemen raid that had been planned for Friday afternoon.
"At that point, with all of the highly charged reporting, and the additional confusion my posting of the video caused, it was unfair and unproductive to place a subject matter expert in front of the news media, where many of the questions would have been far outside his lane," Thomas told Military Times.
Although the video has been online for years, it was part of a "big treasure trove of intel" that was recovered from the Jan. 29 raid by special operations forces in Yemen, said Defense Department spokesman Eric Pahon .
The Jan. 29 raid has become a black mark for the special operations community. One Navy SEAL was killed: Chief Special Warfare Operator William "Ryan" Owens. Six other troops were injured. An MV-22B Osprey crashed and had to be destroyed.
