Daily Mail: Top Pentagon general says soldiers ambushed in Niger didn't call for help for an hour – and their families will find out what happened to them before anyone else
* Three weeks after an ISIS ambush that killed four U.S. soldiers, the Pentagon knows little about what went wrong
* Joint Chiefs chair Gen. Joe Dunford said Monday that the 12 Americans and 30 forces from Niger didn't request support until an hour after they were attacked
* He also pledged to get answers for the fallen men's families
* President Trump is in a war of words with the family of one dead serviceman over his tone during a condolence call, and with a congresswoman supporting them
* U.S. senators are claiming they didn't know the U.S. had hundreds of soldiers in the African nation of Niger
* But the White House outlined the troop levels in a June letter to leaders of both houses of Congress
The American people and the fallen soldiers' families deserve answers about a deadly ambush in the African nation of Niger, the top U.S. general said Monday, without being able to provide many himself.
Three weeks after the attack by presumed ISIS forces, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, said the Pentagon doesn't know if the U.S. had adequate intelligence and equipment for its operation, whether there a planning failure, and why it took so long to recover one the bodies.
What has been determined is that a group of 12 American forces accompanied 30 Nigerien forces to an area about 85 kilometers north of the capital Niamey on Oct. 3. When they sought the next day to return, they encountered about 50 enemy fighters traveling by vehicle, carrying small arms and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: Aside from the Chairman's explanation on what happened in Niger that killed 4 US soldiers, what caught my eye was the Chairman's remark that military operations will continue .... US military to pursue Niger operations after deadly attack (AFP).
Update: Villagers Suspected of Luring US Soldiers into Niger Ambush (VOA)
More News On The Pentagon Revealing Additional Details On The Niger Ambush That Killed 4 U.S. Special Forces Soldiers
Troops Ambushed in Niger Waited an Hour to Call for Help, Pentagon Official Says -- New York Times
New details emerge on ambush in Niger that killed 4 US soldiers -- CBS News
Top US general reveals new info on Niger ambush -- CNN
Nation's top general says US troops in Niger were ambushed on way back to base -- Los Angeles Times
US Revises Timeline on Niger Battle -- Wall Street Journal
Joint Chiefs Chairman Dunford Speaks Out on Deadly Niger Attack -- US News and World Report
Timeline: Top US General Lays Out Timeline of Deadly Niger Attack -- U.S. News & World Report
Dunford Explains US Presence in Niger: 'We're Dealing With Global Threats' From ISIS -- Washington Free Beacon
All The New Details We Learned About The Ambush In Niger From America's Top General -- The Drive
The Four Biggest Questions About the Deadly Niger Firefight -- Daily Beast
7 comments:
4 death are horrible and even only one is too. That said, the war in Syria did more. Why this difference? Iraq was worse, Vietnam over worse, WWII ...no comment. This is just politicizing a very bad event. Sad, and shame.
Think you miss the point Jac.
4 deaths in a senseless region such as Niger raises questions as to what they were doing there, and why.
John Kelly remarked, when asked that very question, that US troops are deployed all around the world to assist in the training of other forces, and that was the case here, he said. That seemed more like a deflection than anything else.
And it's the fact that those 4 deaths happened in such an unexpected way. Casualties in the likes of Vietnam, Syria, WW2, don't need comments, do they?
What do we know about Army Special Forces? They normally take an advisory role in training indigenous forces, that's pretty much always been their role. How does this conflict with what happened in Niger, or what raises the red flag on this ambush that makes anyone suspicious? I'm not sure what kind of transparency everyone is looking for, why was there no air support, or why do we have troops in this region, both valid questions, but hardly as scandalous as the current media narrative. I think things will change when people dig a little bit and find out who put US troops there in the first place...the timeline shouldn't be that hard to piece together.
"4 deaths in a senseless region such as Niger raises questions as to what they were doing there, and why."
Senseless region?
Wow, what a blasé way to write of geography, peoples and initiative.
If the Eastern 1/2 of Mali had gone over to ISIS what then? More pressure on Libya, Nigeria, Chad, Algeria, etc.
With that type of blasé, one could say so Isis as Niger and Mali and southern Algeria, how could it get worse?
"Wow, what a blasé way to write of geography, peoples and initiative." - Nothing biased about it. It is senseless. What were they doing there? And why? You believe the official line that they were training others, don't you? So yes, senseless deaths in a senseless place.
If they had died on the streets of Dublin, I would have said the same thing. Senseless. Don't try and turn it into something it isn't.
Niger isn't the only 'senseless' place US troops are deployed in.
You can talk about Ifs and What-Ifs all you want. I'm talking about reality.
Plowman,
Here is your answer in two parts.
1)
http://warnewsupdates.blogspot.com/2017/10/isis-and-al-qaeda-want-to-make-africa.html
2)
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007392
Domino theory is Real
Hitler did it and he almost won.
Sargon did it and he did win. His city state was weaker than the one to the south. The southern city state was his nominal overlord. Sargon campaigned North and then east into the mountains. Then he moved south. He swept all before him. He blooded his army. His army became veterans. Finally he turned west and took on his former overlord and won.
Now people will point to Vietnam and claim the Domino theory is not real. There are counter- arguments to that.
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