The illusion of safety that led to this attack was created by the politically motivated decision by Trump to declare ISIS defeated & announce a withdrawal. We may need to withdraw from Syria but Trump's political agenda should not dictate when & how.
2
What were American military personnel doing eating in a public restaurant in a public place? Seems counterintuitive and just plain ignorant.
3
Every time we try to get out somthing like this happens. Gas attacks or suicide bomber.
Starting to think the War profiteer Weapons corporations are paying off the CIA to run these ops.
The Middle East the fight is between a billion people and a quarter billion other people, The contest is deadly. Have you ever seen a serious street fight with someone stepping in to break it up? Doesn't it always turn out that two opponents wind up turning on the poor yokel who tried to break them apart? That is what we've allowed ourselves to be dragged into.
1
A couple of U.S. Senators having lunch in a restaurant sends off immediate signals to any enemy. When that same restaurant is also known as a frequent hangout for Americans you might as well hang out a flag and broadcast it on social media.
4
I’m a retired Marine and I agree with the points made about varying routine and complacency. I was guilty of stopping at a favorite place in Al Hillah in Iraq frequently for rotisserie chicken. But let there be no doubt: the blame for this lies squarely with the President for his precipitous withdrawal announcement. That’s why this bombing occurred; ISIS just needed a good reason and it was handed to them on a silver platter. The message? “We’re still here.” I hope that when The Donald has to stand for eternal judgement, those four casualties of his egotistical folly are standing right there as well so he has to look them in the eye; I doubt they’ll be holding MAGA hats to be signed.
8
Call ahead, pick up food to go, keep moving.
2
This was an unnecessary tragedy. Despite what Trump and Pence have babbled about ISIS, ISIS is still there. As for the U.S. officer or officers in charge of our forces at Manjib, they have some answering to do, and some responsibility to take.
3
Trade craft 101 - vary your routine and routes
4
As a retired military member, one of the first things you're taught regarding security is to vary your routes and routines to become less predictable--not to mention the need to blend into your environment. This is as much a leadership failure as it is a complacency issue. As such, the commanders should be held accountable.
12
As a retired Marine I agree but lay the blame squarely where it belongs: a precipitous announcement by a n inexperienced President who understands neither the military nor intelligence. ISIS was sending him a clear message that “We’re still here.”
8
Sadly, this is what can happen when forces get complacent, forgetting basic "opsec" procedures. When withdrawal is the mode of operation, it's unwise to conflate that with "mission accomplished."
13
Terror acts are tactics. So a 'war on terrorism' is a 'forever war' because you can't defeat a tactic. You can only defend.
19
This is Isis sticking its finger in Trump's face in response to his flatly wrong statement that Isis was defeated in Syria. It was not and now we have the tragic proof.
12
Regardless of the level of training, Americans are nice people who like puppies and little kids. Complacency got them killed. The enemy will exploit these weaknesses to their advantage. These guys forgot basic principles in a "combat" zone. One offshoot of this is that everyone in the town will be viewed with suspicion by the Americans. perhaps upsetting the level of "trust", if there was one. This may generate animosity between the two groups, to the benefit of ISIS.
7
Four Americans killed in Benghazi -years of Republican investigations and character assassination. Four Americans killed in Syria in a supposedly safe restaurant as troops and defensive materiel are being withdrawn. Where is the Republican uproar? This is a non-partisan tragedy that probably could have been avoided and should be investigated as such.
31
@ Bears
Pretty sure the difference is that the official government reaction to Benghazi was to lie about what happened and why it happened. That is what created the controversy. It doesn't appear we have anyone lying about what happened in this case or why it happened.
1
“Pretty cool,” said Lt. Gen. Paul E. Funk II, then the commander of coalition forces fighting in Iraq and Syria, “This is what stability looks like. This is what winning looks like.”
Easy to get lax when the bullets aren’t cracking around your head.
Force protection and operational security were certainly wanting.
Really tough lesson.
We can suppress and interdict ad nausiem, but the radical and disaffected elements will persist in the chaos and devastation of the Middle East.
7
@G. Sears Lt.Gen Funk reminds me of remarks made by Gen. Westmoreland in 1967. He was wrong too.
2
The Neocon and Neo-Liberal Warmongers (think John Bolton and Hillary Clinton types) want to set the bar that "ISIS must be eradicated"
Knowing fell well ISIS is an ideology and will never be eradicate as it's roots are not in Syrian soil. Not it's eradication - but management of the salafists would require the US in Syria forever. Just what they want.
4
@Nolan
So what? The Romans were in Britain for six centuries.
The Arabs have been in Mesopotamia for a millenium and a half.
The English have been in North America for half a millenium.
1
Obama announces troop withdrawal from Afghanistan : draws praise from most media outlets.
Trump announces withdrawal from Syria: Universal scorn from most media outlets.
I hope we withdrawal from both places and use other tactical measures to fend off ISIS.
ISIS has largely been removed from the swaths of land it took by Trump and was flourishing under Obama's watch.
8
@Ari Obama worked with his military advisors. Trump takes his direction from the Kremlin.
Perhaps you overlooked Trumps pronouncement that ISIS has been defeated just a few days before this attack. Perhaps you already forgot why the most recent Secretary of Defenseresigned a few weeks ago.
25
@Ari The usual simplification. It's the impulsive and chaotic way that Trump decreed withdrawal that has brought "universal" scorn. No, Trump does not know more than his military experts.
I'm consistently dismayed by the way Trump's followers, who know like the rest of us that he gets his information from watching TV, believe that he has magical expertise.
4
@Ari Trump and Pence purposelessly misinformed the public on 12/19 and 1/16 respectively, and Trump disrespected military command channels. Trump helped lose four lives plus the services of Mattis and McGurk. Incompetence.
2
I can only imagine how this story would have played if both the President and Vice President claimed that ISIS has been defeated, and it was during the Obama era.
Apparently, criminal malfeasance is ok if you’re letting Vladimir Putin call the shots in Syria.
24
Despite tremendous success against daesh, we must always remain vigilant because radical islamic terrorism is never going to end.
8
How many Syrians were killed?
34
@Karen Grant-Margil if at least fifteen were killed in the suicide bombing and four of them American, some quick math and we have that at least 11 Syrians died
2
@ Karen
15 total killed - 4 Americans killed = 11 Syrians
12. It’s been reported.
Please, Mr. Mueller, report your findings before Trump has any more "bright" ideas when it comes to demonstrating his destructive stupidity on foreign affairs.
6
Read this
The Secure Fence Act of 2006
The Secure Fence Act of 2006, which was passed by a Republican Congress and signed by President George W. Bush, authorized about 700 miles of fencing along certain stretches of land between the border of the United States and Mexico.
The act also authorized the use of more vehicle barriers, checkpoints and lighting to curb illegal immigration, and the use of advanced technology such as satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles.
At the time the act was being considered, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer were all members of the Senate. (Schumer of New York is now the Senate minority leader.)
Obama, Clinton, Schumer and 23 other Democratic senators voted in favor of the act when it passed in the Senate by a vote of 80 to 19.
8
@Bruan wilcox Voting for a common sense idea in 2006 is hardly the same as voting for a stupid "campaign slogan" idea in 2019. I watched Trump's rallies, he promised me that Mexico would pay for any wall. What happened?
2
we might be leaving but isis will always be there, did we not learn anything from vietnam.. oh that's right donald doesn't read
11
Trump is all too familiar with Vietnam. But in his mind probably we won the war - and, further into his mind, because of him, somehow, despite the bone spurs.
4