This Week's Deadly Ambush That Killed 3 Army Green Berets In Niger Raises Questions On The Pentagon's Training Operations

A U.S. Army Special Forces weapons sergeant observes a Nigerien soldier during training in Diffa, Niger, on March 11, 2017. (Spc. Zayid Ballesteros/U.S. Army)

Washington Post: A deadly ambush in Niger raises tough questions for Trump’s Pentagon

Caskets with the remains of three Army Green Berets will arrive in coming days at the military’s mortuary in Dover, Del.

That much is certain.

Less clear are the circumstances surrounding their deaths Wednesday in an ambush in the Western African country of Niger and the precise nature of their mission. The Pentagon and the White House have long sought to frame the U.S. military’s activities there, and elsewhere on the African continent, as providing support for American allies battling extremists throughout the region — and being removed from direct combat with those groups.

That appears to be changing, observers say.

“Training operations have picked up in recent years, and with this incident, the U.S. seems to be getting closer and closer to combat operations,” said Andrew Lebovich, a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

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WNU Editor: This blog has been chronicling this change in policy since the Trump inauguration .... specifically U.S. troops and trainers leaving the safety of base camps to join combat planning and operations. Expect this debate to intensify as more U.S. troops are killed in operations like this one.