"On Oct. 4, four U.S. Green Berets were killed and two more were injured when their group of about a dozen U.S. soldiers and 40 Nigerien troops were ambushed during a joint patrol. The Pentagon has blamed self-radicalized, Islamic State in Iraq and Syria-affiliated militants for the attack.
President Trump did not personally comment on the attack until Monday, when he said he would call the families of the fallen soldiers “at some point in the time” and falsely claimed that President Obama and other past president did not call Gold Star families."
In this news-overload brand-new world of our first reality-TV-president, said prez is once again playing the politics of distraction. Trump is claiming Obama (& to a lesser extent George W. Bush) did not call or write to the families of fallen U.S. soldiers.
It is obvious Trump wants to have a conversation regarding Niger on his own terms. & the Donald achieves this by constantly attacking Obama thereby creating conflict with Democrats while at the same time gaining support from Trump's base (who still loathe Obama).
But we need to ignore Trump's false assertions & focus on what exactly happened in Niger which led to the death of the four Green Berets. It is imperative that we do this in order to prevent it from happening again.
So what happened? This NYTimes's article from October 6th has relevant information:
"Fourth U.S. Soldier Is Found Dead After Ambush in Niger"
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/06/world/africa/green-berets-niger-soldiers-killed.html
"WASHINGTON — A fourth American soldier has been found dead after an ambush in Niger this week that killed three United States Army Special Forces and wounded two, American officials said on Friday.
It was not clear whether the American had been captured and killed by militants or whether he had been separated during the fighting that erupted on Wednesday. Special Forces troops were ambushed during what was initially called a routine training mission with Nigerien soldiers by what commanders say was a larger, heavily armed Qaeda force from neighboring Mali."
At least Trump's insult-Obama routine had the unintended (by the Donald) consequence of bringing attention to Niger. Reporters are now asking questions (for example to Senate Armed Service Chairman John McCain) which will hopefully result in accountability from the Trump administration:
http://thehill.com/policy/defense/355844-mccain-trump-admin-has-not-provided-enough-information-on-niger-attack
'Senate Armed Service Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Tuesday that the Trump administration has not provided enough information on the attack in Niger that killed four U.S. Green Berets.
Asked by The Hill whether the administration has been forthcoming on information on Niger, McCain said “no.”'
Other news-outlets are comparing Niger to Benghazi which is a fair point:
"On 4 October another four Americans died in Africa. They were all Green Berets stationed in Niger as part of a deployment of 800 US troops to combat Isis-affiliated terror cells in the region. The men were killed after their group of a dozen US soldiers was ambushed while conducting a joint patrol with about 40 Nigerian soldiers.
What did Trump say to the nation about them? For a long time nothing at all. When the flag-draped coffins of the Benghazi victims arrived back on US soil, both Obama and Clinton were there to lead the receiving ceremony and speak to grieving families. When the first of the coffins from Niger landed at Dover Air Force Base on Monday of last week, Trump was at one of his prized golf clubs swinging his irons with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.
In fact, we heard nothing at all from Trump until this Monday when he was asked about his silence during a press conference, on unrelated matters, in the White House garden. Specifically, what had he been doing in private to comfort the families of these slain men?"
Despite all the rhetoric & distraction from Trump, according to CNN, an investigation will be conducted (but will it be enough?):
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