Conan gets ‘medal’ at The White House
Conan, the military working dog wounded in a US special forces raid in which ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed on 26 October 2019, yesterday visited the White House.
CAPTION: President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and First Lady Melania Trump [and, probably, a Secret Serviceman holding the leash] present Conan to the media outside the White House, while the dog’s special-forces handlers maintain their anonymity by staying in the Oval Office. White House photo.
Conan is a Belgian Malinois and a four-year veteran of the US Special Operations Command K-9 program.
He is credited with more than 50 combat missions, but was electrocuted during the Baghdadi raid by wires made bare in the tunnel when Baghdadi detonated his suicide vest.
Conan has since recovered and gone back to work.
During yesterday’s White House visit, President Trump introduced Conan to a large media scrum as ‘probably the world’s most famous dog’ and joked that if they opened their mouths, he would attack them.
“We’re very honoured to have Conan here and to have given Conan a certificate and an award that we’re going to put up in the White House,” President Trump said.
“I actually think Conan knew exactly what was going on.
“Conan was very badly hurt [in the Baghdadi raid], as you know – and they thought maybe he was not going to recover.
“[But he] recovered, actually very quickly, and has since gone on very important raids.”
President Trump said Conan had just arrived from the Middle East, with some of the great people from the special forces who carried out the incredible flawless attack on Baghdadi’s compound, and he spent some time with them and the dog before fronting the media.
The SF handlers remained in the Oval Office while the president and vice president presented Conan, who remained calm throughout.
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