Is Niger President Trump’s Benghazi?
We haven’t heard nearly as much about the actual events in Niger that led to the deaths of four American soldiers and the wounding of two others as we have about the political fallout: President Trump bragging about his outreach to the troops, the media following up by castigating Trump for botching that outreach, Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) claiming that Trump had insulted the widow of one of the Niger fallen.
But there are a bevy of unanswered questions about just what happened in Niger that led to the deaths of those Americans. And those questions deserve answers.
Here are five key questions.
1. Should We Have Been In Niger? A group of American soldiers was reportedly ambushed in Niger by approximately 50 ISIS-affiliated fighters. There are approximately 800 American troops in country; we’ve been there fighting Boko Haram and ISIS and helping prepare our allies to do the same. These terrorist groups use Niger as a thoroughfare for movement between Northern Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, apparently. The problem is that we have no permission to partake in “offensive air operations,” according to CNN. That means that when our guys called for air backup and French Mirage jets arrived, the jets couldn’t drop ordnance on the terrorists. Should we have soldiers in places where they can’t be defended by air?
2. Why Didn’t We Know ISIS Was There? The Pentagon is still trying to figure out why there was no information that ISIS was present in the area. Our soldiers were divided into two groups — one conducting a meeting, another waiting outside. They were attacked and came under heavy fire. Here’s CNN:
CNN has previously reported that the fighters who carried out the attack were part of an ISIS-affiliated group called ISIS in the Greater Sahara but the Trump administration is yet to mention ISIS as the responsible party.
This also raises the question as to why the administration hasn’t acknowledged ISIS’ responsibility.
3. What Happened to Sgt. Johnson? Sgt. La David Johnson was apparently left behind, but his body wasn’t found for 48 hours. This is the truly shocking part of the story. Again, here’s CNN:
The US military said it does not believe Johnson ever fell into enemy hands, but had reason to believe he might be alive. Military officials launched an urgent search-and-rescue mission after receiving electronic signals that indicated Johnson might be alive in the field … His body was eventually found in a nearby area, but military investigators do not know why he was left behind during the French led evacuation and if he was alive even for a short period of time, US officials tell CNN. Questions remain about how and when Johnson was killed.
4. Why Didn’t Help Arrive Sooner? It took some 30 minutes for aircraft to arrive and buzz the terrorists. That has raised questions about coordination between the French and American contractors.
5. Why Did It Take 12 Days For Trump Himself To Acknowledge The Deaths? Despite the fact that a statement was drafted on Trump’s behalf on October 4, and despite the fact that White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders acknowledged the deaths on October 5, Trump didn’t address them until Monday. That’s when he dropped his controversial (and evidenceless) statement contrasting his treatment of Gold Star families with that of prior presidents.
The media, as always, are eager to turn every negative development under President Trump into his Waterloo: Puerto Rico was “Trump’s Katrina,” Russia was “Trump’s Watergate,” and now Niger will be his “Benghazi,” as Wilson says. But we don’t know whether Trump did anything wrong, as the Obama administration clearly did in Benghazi: Hillary Clinton’s State Department refused hundreds of requests for additional security in Benghazi and turned them down, the Obama administration lied to the public by blaming a spontaneous attack based on an anti-Muslim YouTube video rather than a planned terror assault, help didn’t arrive for hours after the assault began. It’s unclear whether anyone has lied about Niger, whether there were any additional requests made, or whether help should have arrived sooner.
Still, questions need answering.