A thousand pages of data to tell exactly what happened. It's the same old story the Generals sitting in their ivory towers and the brave soldiers on the front lines. Then the Generals band together to make sure nobody gets demoted because of their incompetence.
3
So where are the 50 investigations by congressional committees to "get to the bottom" of this? Where are the voices on Capital Hill calling for the heads of Secretary of State and the President? Are not these lives worth at least as much as the lives lost in Benghazi?
5
Sad, depressing of how a democratically elected government is using
young, poor Americans as just instruments, tools, with no consideration,
no respect for human life. I am sad, ashamed as an American citizen.
3
I am amazed when I read we should not be combating these Al Qaeda/ISIL forces wherever they metastasize. They cannot be given a piece of land to call their own. If they find such a place, they will use it to build weapons of mass destruction.
1
I wish the article had provided a more nuanced view of the situation. The army Special Forces have been engaged in precisely this type of operation for many years. It is public knowledge. (See, for example, Imperial Grunts by Robert D. Kaplan). The idea that the informed public or elected officials were unaware of this strikes me as very concerning. We spend vast amounts of money to use our military to project our power around he globe, and it all of us should be paying attention. Not only is it our money, and the lives of our men and women, but also it has political ramifications in terms of understanding other countries response to our presence.
The current thinking is that it is often more useful to have Special Forces train and advise other countries militaries, to stabilize the countries, and assist in attacking those who we perceive as “bad guys.” It is felt to be cheaper, and as there is a smaller U.S. footprint, and as Special Forces soldiers tend to be mature and culturally aware, it is less likely to provoke local anti-American sentiments. Better to send in 20 Special Forces troops to train locals than to have 2000 Marines stationed there. One can argue about the utilization of these particular Soldiers in this particular situation, but one of the guiding principles of warfare seems to be that often plans have to be made quickly, and things often do not go as planned.
2
The article is notable more for what it omits rather than what it verifies. The information is available, but intentionally omitted.
1. Sgt. La David Johnson was the driver of one of the vehicles. Was he driving with the Nigeriens, or in one of the US vehicles? He's not seen , nor his vehicle position. No mention of whether he became separated on foot, or by driving his vehicle away from the battle.
2. The tactical map shows that the convoy drove right into a prepared ambush. They were taken completely by surprise, in the flank. It is only briefly alluded to in the article, but the patrol was definitely betrayed. Who did this? It is easy to make a scapegoat out of the commander who sent them out, where they had been many times before, but somebody betrayed them. There is remarkably little commentary on this.
3. In the aftermath, the most furor was about Sgt. La David Johnson. The Congresswoman from Florida made aspersions that he had been left behind, because of racism. The location of Sgt La David Johnson's remains, and the vehicle he was driving, are surely known. Why, in view of the outcry about Trump's and Kelly's treatment of the widow, are these locations and relations to the battle not published here? 4. Every one of these details became known within two days of the ambush, and became immediately known to the area commander, President Trump, Gen Kelly, and Gen Mattis- including specifics of Sgt. La David Johnson's separation.
2
Why were these Americans sent out in Pickups ?
Why were they not in in Armoured Vehicles and why were
so few Americans soldiers sent on such a dangerous mission
where there was no one to help them ?
Why is the Command Center located in Germany ?
This is as bad as command structure that the Army had
in the Sioux Wars.
Order everyone involved to resign from the Military and
give the soldiers the materiel they need to accomplish their missions.
3
First, my thoughts and prayers to the families of those that died and were injured. Their story was hard for me to read and it has stayed with me.
The mission they were on that would assist in eventually tracking where a kidnapped American might be was an honorable one. I have found that this mission going bad was like many others over the years. Those in charge of planning them have a bad plan. They send soldiers in without enough support or backup so if things go bad they have a way to get out. And how does it help to have backup hours away?
To me, there has been a breakdown in the military leadership of this country that has gone on over many administrations. It has gotten worse. They still haven't issued the report on what happened on this mission. Why? Congress provides little oversight so who are they accountable to?
The question why these soldiers wee in that region is still not fully -or really- answered. There had never been any US interest in that sun-burnt dry region before - only the French had been hanging around with occasional warfare from time to time. But all that changes after the Ghadafi-war and the Libyan disaster. One of the most important results of the Libyan adventure was the glut of modern weaponry throughout Western Africa, and the destabilization of many countries and their governments. One of the reasons for this was the removal of the positive control Ghadafi's policies had in the region,and the other, the strengthening of Al Quaeda branches and Boko Haram this brought, together with more weapons.
The third, no less important point, which also explains the French interest and troops, is the richness of the region in uranium and other valuable - AND STRATEGIC!- minerals.
It would, from that point of the matter, utterly wrong to blame President Trump for the presence and risks of US troops in that region. It is one of the less known bits inherited from the Peace Nobel Prize Laureate preceding him. That, on the other hand, is something our press tends to, conveniently, forget.
In the recent movie "The Post" about the Pentagon Papers, there is a scene where it's pointed out that continuing the Vietnam War was 10% about helping the South Vietnamese, 20% about stopping the spread of communism, and 70% about U.S. presidents avoiding humiliation by losing a war. The same is true of of our endless wars in the Middle East.
1
money would be better spent in these countries building solid roads, railroads, safe drinking water, and hydroelectric power. The result would be lots of local jobs and an ability of farmers to get their products to market. The economy would improve and the local population would be able to point to americans and say how they benefited economically by their presence. by putting armed americans on the ground in remote rural areas where there are no newspapers, television, or understanding of 9/11 americans are being perceived as an invading force, an enemy that the local thugs can point to and use as a convenient scapegoat.
6
The US has allowed Neo-Cons affiliated with AIPAC and the despotic "royal families" of the Persian Gulf to essentially outsource its military in endless wars of aggression in the Muslim world. Instead of sustaining the Arab Spring and promoting democracy and development in this vast region the US preferred to support dictators like General Sisi and siphon off the natural resource wealth of the region as in Trumps obscene $350 billion arms deal with the despotic families of Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Yet for all of this, the US has lost much more in blood and treasure than it has ever made in profits from these wars of neo-imperialism in the Muslim world as many of us academic experts predicted. The US policy establishment is so invested in continuing to futilely pursue a failed and immoral policy, as it did in Vietnam, it cannot walk away from a quagmire. Consider how Trump laments the $7 trillion wasted in these wars of aggression in the Muslim world and then immediately turns around and takes his marching orders from the militant Netanyahu and the despots of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.
4
The last hour of Wright, Johnson and Black recalled the Kipling poem "The Young British Solider" and the Retreat from Kabul
"If your officer's dead and the sergeants look white,
Remember it's ruin to run from a fight:
So take open order, lie down, and sit tight,
And wait for supports like a soldier.
Wait, wait, wait like a soldier . . ."
Some things in warfare never change
2
The NYT is being disingenuous. The US is engaging in operations that the current administration feels are necessary to keep the US safe. That covers a lot of different things and means different things to different people. "What is necessary" should be what is under discussion.
From what I understand, AFRICOM has a mandate to keep an eye on Africa and to make sure that it does't get "out of control." That may impliy disrupting any attempt at power projection by local groups. What does that mean? Does that mean ensuring that Boko Haram doesn't kidnap and enslave hundreds of school-age children? Does that mean making sure that no warring faction in Libya is able to take action that may be regional in scale?
At some level it would be ideal if those goals and limits were explicit and discussed with our representatives beforehand.
However, given the general disdain for the military among Democrats, the session would degenerate into some sort of worthless debate on military spending and misinformed comparisons to Vietnam.
2
I'm a Democrat and I went to Vietnam Nam...did you? If not then you really don't know what you are talking about beyond what you read in the NYT here. Further more I was in Rhodesia during the bush war. The geopolitical situation in Africa is far more complicated then the U S military is equipped to handle. If you don't like to the discussion involving different points of view then stay out of it.
1
Who owns the private company that picked up the survivors? It was first reported that the company belonged to Eric Prince and since then no name for the private company has been mentioned in any reports. I had expected the answer to be in this article.
Maybe a separate article about the interests of Eric Prince in this same area in Africa would be interesting to many if us.
9
"he knows what he signed up for": yeah, he was definitely a bigger man than his commander in chief, whose response to Russian election interference is limited to his personal credibility, not any actual US issues
5
From this, and other accounts I've read, it appears that the only people who had a sound strategic and tactical plan were those on the other side. The planner seems to have studied his military history all the way back to Rome. The misdirection of the American-led force is right out of the playbook of a German named Arminius, who destroyed 3 Roman legions in the Teutoberg Forest.
The Americans on the ground made mistakes that contributed to their end, and their superiors in the rear acted like amateurs. I'd like to know if any of those in the rear faced disciplinary action for their incompetence.
4
Why did they die in the desert?'
One word, three letters.
Oil.
Niger has a long history of petroleum exploration dating back to the 1970s. However, it is only recently in 2011 that the petroleum industry of Niger was born with the opening of the Agadem oilfield and the Soraz refinery near Zinder. The oil and gas extracted from the Agadem field are processed at the Soraz refinery and products (gasoline, diesel and liquified natural gas) are primarily for domestic consumption.
Since the beginning of the oil extraction, it appears that the reserves have been underestimated: from an estimate of 324 million barrel reserves in 2008, it is believed that reserves are THREE TIMES higher, near 1 BILLION BARRELS in 2013. With the increase in reserves, Niger anticipates an increase in its production from 20,000 to 80,000 barrels per day by 2016 with 60,000 barrels per day for exports via Chad and Cameroon.
By 2018, production ought to exceed those figures if, and a big one, if the violence in the Niger Delta can be controlled or stopped.
So what exactly are we protecting in Niger? Sure ain't the President nor government…
5
Our national priorities under Trump and the Republican Congress were just set, in case you hadn't noticed. Tax cuts for the wealthy. A huge increase in the defense budget. Record spending for all sorts of stuff, but threatened cutbacks in social programs.
Not even the first murmur of a debate on why we are devoting so much money for military hardware -- planes, ships, tanks, guns, equipment and on and on. When we can't even must the will to punish the Russians for assaulting our sovereignty.
This is what Republicans do so well. Invoke the commitment of our men and women in uniform to obscure their complete incompetence in creating and executing a strategy to REDUCE military spending, end the endless wars, and bring our men and women in uniform back home.
We have lost our way at home and abroad. Under the Trump regime, we are making a mess of our world.
6
"War Is A Racket" By Major General Smedley Butler, written in 1935 and it rings just as true today as it did then. Suggest every American read this book.
5
"Some Americans say it's time to look...", well then it's about time. I wish they took a look before we actually sent them out and destroyed what stability existed in the Middle East. I know people that died in 9/11 but it certainly didn't justify the war in which we have killed the poor while letting the rich sponsors roam free (like the Saudi family and Bin Laden family) as they are personal friends of our hierarchy. meanwhile, some Pakistani taxi driver gets tortured in Guantanamo. AMericans are asleep and the NYT likes to keep them that way along with the other "news" organizations with the 24hr Trump circus. A good question is who are those soldiers killing in that desert and why? Certainly not to support democracy and human rights. Like Afghanistan where we turn away from the crimes, child rapes, and brutality as these are allies. We are actually putting these monsters into power. If I have 2 children in front of me, the fact that one is a US citizen and one an Afghani should not matter in my choice to protect them. Basically, our foreign policy is evil and we are all complicit.
8
It is time to take stock of our deployments overseas and law enforcement at home. Trump should have been given the freedom to experiment with new ideas and review the deployments some halfhearted, like one in Niger that were made during the Obama presidency or even during the the Bush administration and the during the cold war. America does not have lead everywhere. Trying to have a global presence can only result in being spread thin. After defeating ISIS in the cradle of civilization, US needs to focus on N. Korea by propping the defenses of S. Korea and Japan. In Africa, let the former colonial powers France, Britain and Italy take the lead in wiping out terrorist outfits. In Afghanistan, Trump has demonstrated the recognition finally that its neighbor helping the terrorists and therefore it needs to face the wrath of American courage in teaching them a lesson. In the middle east let Israel and the gulf countries deal with terrorists. In Syria let Russia play a role while ensuring that the Kurds are protected and given their independent homeland. Domestically the Republican party has to bite the bullet and loosen the stranglehold of the NRA and do just 2 things. Ban the possession of firearms by those under 21 and ban any automatic weapons held by those over 21 and adopt strict gun control policies such as is Japan that have kept annual deaths due to gun violence to single digits. Trump needs to have a laser focus with the urgency of now to make the world a safer place.
2
Thought this was a well done piece. Missing one thing-any mention of the strategic importance of the region. The French continue to intervene in their former colonies in part because this is where they still mine Uranium. This is the infamous Yellow cake of Dick Cheney.
Being in a permanent state of undeclared is the business of America.
The president and Congress, elected by Wall Street and corporate America, throw body after body on the trash heap of history, all for the benefit of the elites. One supposes.
Because the business of war doesn't benefit anyone else, inside or outside the U.S.
It simply destroys the people who fight the war. The "lucky" survivor of the business of war get to sit on street corner begging and forgotten by the president and the Congress.
3
The US was training rapid-response teams in several countries in Africa, going back to the 1980s. I recall being in the remote Ethiopian town of Jijiga circa 2005 and seeing a Hummer with two US military meander through town. Was curious at the time what they were doing there.
1
It seems that they died because the mission was changed and no back up was in place in case of emergency. They died because senior commanders thought their force was safe when it fact it wasn't. They died because commanders forgot the first rule of engagement is "force protection". They also died because there was not adequate protection i.e. armored vehicles or armed drones with the ability to bring missiles raining down and there was no other air support available. They died because everyone who was supposed to support, protect and defend those soldiers failed miserably.
This is similar to the disaster in Mogadishu when the Secretary of Defense, Aspen, failed to approve tank and armor support when the mission in Somalia changed and soldiers were sent to capture a warlord. If those troops had even one M1A1 Abrams tank on the scene there would have been no slaughter of 18 American young men.
This is another instance of command failure.
I also wonder if the M4 rifle usually provided to the troops was adequate in a mostly flat and open area. Was the firepower of a 5.56mm M4 adequate? Should they have been equipped with a squad automatic weapon of a heavy caliber? Maybe their field rifle should have been 7.62mm caliber with lots of ammo. A heavier vehicle with an .50 caliber machine gun could also have been a great asset in driving back a larger force.
2
Another poor quality NYT article!
First, the claim that our country has been fighting for 16 years is false and not even remotely accurate. It does not inform the readers of the fact that our country has been fighting for the past 27 years!
The only thing that has been learned is that the United States can't win wars!
Depending on how one defines 'War,' our country currently has military action in 76 countries. Many would argue that this is actually 76 wars that our country is fighting. This is fighting in 40% of the world's countries!
Do the readers have any idea how many US citizens have been killed?
Answer: 18,000 plus!
Do the readers have any idea as to how much this has cost?
Answer: 5.6 Trillion dollars!
Our country used to have over 100 US Air Force combat wings that were ready for war. We now have less than thirty that are certified combat ready. The numbers get even worse when you consider that we now have less than a thousand combat planes and that in the areas where they are based, less than a hundred have been assigned. The numbers drop even more when you factor rotation... less than thirty!
That happens after 27 years of war!
Our country is in trouble. We are not ready for the growing threats because our forces have been weakened in "America's Forgotten War!"
2
I always wondered what it meant to be the world's "fireman." Now I know. It means you're the world's "policeman."
2
Perhaps the title of this piece could be re-named to "Most Americans Decry Endless War", as the needs of its citizens go unmet.
4
They are not forgotten.
Condolences and gratitude to their families.
Best wishes to Myeshia Johnson. Our country is proud of you.
2
My heart goes out to those who fought valiantly in this ambush, and to the loved ones whose arms reach for them. I am at a loss for words, but I hope my feelings reach across the digital divide ... to them ... to offer my comfort. I wish I could meet them, and make this sincere act of kindness and sorrowful support more tangible.
1
Once again, listen to Deep Throat's advice: Follow the money. Billions of dollars are made by companies that manufacture weapons, military transport, military clothing, military supplies of every kind. They don't want an end to war, they want as many deployments as possible, all over the world, and while the PR works, the men and women who "serve" in remote places, who are "protecting" us, maintaining "world order," are being put in harm's way to line the pockets of the military/industrial complex that Eisenhower so rightly identified in his 1961 farewell address.
Our armed services are being deployed to maintain world Disorder. The fat cats are getting rich and richer at our cost in tax dollars and in our service people's cost in lives.
24
Exactly. And don't forget the what must now be millions of civilians, non-combatant men, women and children killed, maimed or orphaned by US military and its proxies, as well as our intelligence agencies such as the CIA. We've overthrown democratically elected governments from Central America to the Middle East and Africa since the Eisenhower Administration. Now our drone "warriors" kill from afar, creating more enemies; which of course justifies more war and killing to profit US war industry giants because, you know, "terrorism."
4
The war against terrorism is an endless war. It will be an endless war, a war without an end. Why? Because the enemy will never give up. And America is the only nation willing to take the enemy on. Other nations have basically given up to terrorists, allowing them to commit acts of terror on their soil. Their politicians arguing that terrorism now is just a part of everyday life. Some in America have that attitude, but most of us don't. Terrorism does not need to part of everyday life, that's why America fights it abroad, and why it is proposing immigration reform to prevent possible terrorists from entering the country. I support America in the war on terror. Thank you.
2
When will we Americans realize we are being defrauded? Volunteer armies were created to avoid mutinies among drafted soldiers! Educated draftees fomented resistance in the ranks, when they, alone, knew the reasons for their deployment.
Volunteer armies also limit protest against the immoral wars, fought for material gain, never freedom for Americans.
Think how well these states would function without paid politicians? They are unnecessary; then run for office eternally, take bribes, interfere with sound governance, and create sex scandals and worse, even treason in their campaigning with foreign funds.
The Civil Service was finally created under Andrew Jackson. The Civil Service does ALL the work of government across the Nation. Let them do the work, the real work; work that serves our interest, not that of "political" interests.
6
As someone who has worked extensively throughout Africa for the past 20 years, it was an open "secret" that US forces were sprinkled throughout eastern and western Africa. A co-worker was staying at a hotel targeted for attack in Western Africa and miraculously survived, saved by American forces called in to provide emergency support. He survived but 23 other people were killed.
As a government contractor, I come across other Americans throughout all my travels, even to Eastern Europe, and during airport conversations, I have discovered the full extent to which we have armed forces out there fighting against terrorist groups in order to make certain that they do not take hold in Africa and parts of eastern Europe.
We are in a constant battle and an endless war right now and for some time to come. As tragic as it was to lose 4 soldiers, it is better 4 than 40 or 400 or even 4,000. What the US Government needs to do is at least fill the American people in on the reality of the situation rather than appearing to be totally surprised when Americans are killed and then pretend that they had no clue. Trump only needs to read the PDB (Presidential Daily Brief) and he would be aware of all our overt and covert activities around the world.
14
Do your sons and daughters, your friends and comrades, know to what extent their presence in Iraq and Afghanistan are simply in the service of Oil Companies and Arms manufacturers?
Please give a moment's thought to the fact, well known and well understood, that many of the terrorists to whom you refer might have become schoolteachers, farmers, or chefs, if their countries had not been invaded for no reason, and destroyed with glee, by our heroes.
To them, the terrorists are the heroes, and both of us are wrong. The heroes are the ones trying to stop mad millennia of carnage before it stops us.
4
I am not pro-war. I lived in the West Bank, Egypt, worked in Lebanon plus many places in Africa and Eastern Europe so I do have the background to render an opinion. The work I have done in the past was to provide economic empowerment which gives people an alternative. Not all terrorist organizations are Muslim either having dealt with the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) which was firmly entrenched in Uganda.
One can argue that all wars are fought for the national interests of the invading nation. Vietnam was thought to have served the interests of Dow Chemical.
My point was that the forces in Africa were not a secret to people there. That Amerca is trying to be preventive rather than an invader.
2
The only way to end wars is make peace profitable.
5
The constant focus on soliders' lives ignores the larger picture--the massive civilian casualties in these never-ending wars. Statistics show that soldier deaths were 7 to every 1 civilian before WWII, now that statistic has flipped so that 1 soldier dies for every 7 civilians. This should be a wake up call for those who expect sympathy for 4 dead soldiers when we are not provided statistics or even oversight for civilian casualties in Africa, nor for Central Asia and the Middle East. The Body Count project has estimated that 1.3 million Muslims have lost their lives in the War on Terror and those statistics may be for only 3 countries not the 8 that the US is currently bombing. So, please, get some perspective, and address the root problems here: 1) Americans are largely oblivious to the scale of mass murder their military forces are committing throughout the world 2) It is the crisis of democracy that allows an authorization for use of force from 2001 to be used for war in 2018. If we want to solve this problem, we must fix our democracy.
21
In spite of excellent writing and in-depth reporting, I find I cannot finish this article. Too depressing. Such a waste of human lives. Such a waste of American resources.
Think for a minute if all that human and economic capital had been put to work building schools, creating jobs, investing in infrastructure, countering global warming, and supporting peace and social justice at home and abroad.
As it is now, we have a country that is literally falling apart and Americans are gunning one another down with our own weapons of war, while we send our young men and women to die in all these endless wars.
As one woman wrote to Jeannette Rankin during WWI: "Do you think it just to take [her sons] away by force to protect some rich mans property?"
No, not just at all.
16
I am so very sorry for the loss these families suffered. Those clowns sitting in their nice cozy chairs at the Pentagon care little about our soldiers. It's as though the soldiers are simply fodder in the Defense Department's little war games. It drives me crazy that our country spends so much time and money fighting in the name of keeping the peace. Bring all the soldiers home.
3
A few observations from a Vietnam vet:
1. NY Times' Dexter Filkins named it in his 2009 book: The Forever War. If you don't have a concrete objective, an endgame plan and an exit strategy, it WILL go on forever. Eg, Vietnam. How about some guidance and leadership from Congress? If Lindsey Graham doesn't know what's going on, no one does. The generals are just doing what they think the administration might want.
2. Risk vs. Reward: Are four deaths every month too high a price to pay? Depends on price for what. Again, what is the objective? What's the plan? Just asking.
3. You can attribute any loss to "poor leadership" and "poor planning" and the critics always will. Neither I, other readers, nor the writer know whether this is true in this case. One thing is certain: when you cry havoc and unleash the dogs of war, bad things will happen. Civilian casualties, atrocities, death by friendly fire, death by accident, and death even with the best laid plans and execution. You go to war and good people are gonna die. Full stop.
3
“It simply said that Congress authorizes the president to use “all necessary and appropriate force” against the nations, organizations or people that “he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided” the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 “to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations, or persons.” “
And yet we have still not have done nothing but to continue to aid, support, and prop up the Wahabbists in Saudi Arabia.
3
We need to know where ALL of our military forces are at all times. United States power should not be some big secret.
4
Chad is our best African partner against islamic extremism. Both the French and our anti-terrorist troops are stationed in Chad. it has the best, most battle-tested troops in Nigeria, Mali and Niger. It has no reported terrorism either emanating from Chad or in Chad. Earlier, they were key to coordinating with the US and others in taking in Darfur refugees and stabilizing their other border with Sudan.
Then the "New" Muslim ban excludes citizens from Chad, our lead partner in that arena It excludes Sudan and Iraq; but it adds North Korea, Venezuela and CHAD. N. Korea? Sure. Venezuela? I get it, but it only targets certain senior members and family members of the government. Chad??? See, above, and I don’t buy the “We couldn’t renew them because Chad was out of the right passport paper so they couldn’t make a representative copy for inspection by US Homeland Security in time” defense.
Within 48 hours of the Chad travel ban, Chad aggressively withdrew its large contingent of troops from Niger, all withdrawn from Niger within two weeks.
Within four days of Chadian troops complete departure, a routine mission that had been performed without incident for the preceding four months lost four amazing men and soldiers.
15
When will the Congressional hearings start on the loss of these 4 lives in Niger?
4
My guess would be that it ties into protecting American corporate oil interests in the region. Call it fighting terrorism or whatever they decide to label it, but big oil, tied in with the military industrial complex run our foreign policy. Why the heck do you think Rex Tillerson is Secretary of State!
3
It is not our war. We should not be there. We need to stop being involved in others fights. Our military should be for defending the USA nothing else. We are warmongers, thanks to the military industrial complex, and the hawks in government who have absolutely no idea as to what is going on. Rather pathetic.
6
Why do we send our troops to third-world places such as this? They won't change, they don't approve of us, they prefer we weren't there, they will never be able to govern themselves, and they want our money. This is foreign stupidity, not any foreign policy. Let's just stop them coming into our country.
3
A question for Fox News, Trey Gowdy and Ben Gazi fanatics everywhere. Why don't these guys matter to you? Why don't these troops deserve your support, or endless investigations as to what went wrong? Oh wait, they died under Trump's leadership, so who cares. If this had happened when President Obama was in office and Hilary Clinton was Secretary of State Republicans would be wetting their pants with excitement to look for conspiracies.
2
I think the draft needs to be considered to be reinstituted.
The problem is now that soldiers have become so specialized and technology has become a part of it, that we can't just have a guy fresh out of boot camp and learn all the technology.
The operation of drones, also require a high level of technical knowledge, and it's getting more complicated with the use of computer embedded systems in the uniforms and helmets.
The end means is that we have soldiers that are more and more an isolated branch of society, a smaller percentage of our population. They are volunteers, which means to us, they do it out of their own will. We can absolve ourselves of responsibility to send them to war.
3
Add these 4 to the pointless deaths in the military industrial complex war in Afghanistan. Oh, and the 58,000 pointless deaths in the VietNam fiasco.
11
No one has ever put it better than Oscar Wilde.
War continues because we glorify it.
Our children don't run off to kill and die for no reason. They 'serve'.
We don't viciously attack and destroy, we 'protect', and 'defend'. Always.
The French call it "Le Champ d'honneur". The field of honor.
The language we use tells us everything we need to know about our views of war.
"As long as war is regarded as wicked, it will always have its fascination. When it is looked upon as vulgar, it will cease to be popular." Wilde
29
We have a professional army. They are not draftees, nor, volunteers who enlist as an alternative to being drafted. Those who serve can be admired for their courage and skills. They are our modern day version of the Roman legions who maintain the Roman peace which gave the Western world centuries of relative prosperity before the Dark Ages.
As such, they are expected to fight, not just to save their homes and families, as might be expected of a citizen soldier, but in many a far off place for objectives which may well seem quite remote to domestic needs.
This is the sense in which Trump was correct, although possibly tactless, to say (if he did say) that "he knew what he signed up for" in reference to one of the fallen.
As tragic as deaths like these are, are less than 1/100th of those who died on average per day during the four year American Civil War, less than than a 1/90th of those who died on average per day during the WWI and WWII.
Of course, there are those who would claim that those were "good wars" which accomplished great things and this fighting against terrorism is not. I have my doubts.
Our war against terrorism may be misguided and may not work. But, perhaps it's better to fight a tiny pointless war than a big pointless war. And to fight it with professionals rather than reluctant volunteers or draftees.
1
Re: "...As such, they are expected to fight, not just to save their homes and families, as might be expected of a citizen soldier, but in many a far off place for objectives which may well seem quite remote to domestic needs..."
Waging a corporate profiteering pillage is a crime.
The U.C.M.J. is quite specific: participating in illegal, a war crime / pillage IS a crime...worthy of 'Nuremberg'! {the courtroom saga, NOT the Nazi rallies)!
2
Responding to Mac of Chicago:
Disagree, but well stated. Sun Tzu says the analysis starts with the objective. Even before strategy. You tell me the objective, outline the strategy and I might agree with you. See my post of a few minutes ago.
3
There appears to be no oversight of our military at this point. That used to be the idea of the various congressional committees. Before it became partisan. And a lot of the blame can go on the GOP side with its penchant for taking the slightest miss step and turning it into Pearl Harbor. I'm referring to Benghazi. And with this partisan scrutiny, President Obama quietly increased our troop numbers in Africa. Now under Mr. Obama, we had a smarter, more thoughtful chain of command in the military, overseeing the operation to avoid such things. Lost a little with this current military command... I mean how many Navy ships have they almost sunk already... Anyway, looking forward to a day when the GOP puts the country first again.
4
Terribly sad and infuriating. But when 75% of Americans can't identify Iran on a map, I'm sure they have no idea Niger even exists.
11
It's worse than that: 70% can't find Europe, and when read excerpts from the Declaration and the Constitution consider those words to be dangerous radical rhetoric.
5
Excellent journalism, but very sobering.
The deaths of these soldiers are just a small part of the price of maintaining the current global order. So are $1 trillion deficits.
We must either accept the price or accept a changing world order in which the U.S. loses influence.
4
Reading these profiles of the these late soldiers one can't help but be impressed with them--they all appear to be fine men who had a lot to offer their country and society as a whole. Unfortunately their sacrifice was not worthy of them. I'm saddened by the waste of their lives.
I also admire Barbara Lee's courage of her post 9/11 "no" vote to a blank check on executive war powers. Unlimited low level wars should not run on auto-pilot.
11
There's nothing new under the sun. The reality is major economic powers behave the same way. Either using business, diplomacy and/or military forces, they roll into a region under the banner of providing stability in whatever color (democracy, socialism, etc) and then proceed to exploit the resources.
Run by children touting advanced degrees, this rag of a paper continues to focus on everything but the reality of global economic inter-dependency.
Instead of blathering away about guns and wars, why don't your fifth-graders use their crayons to focus upon the forces At home that are killing millions of Americans?
Want an answer to the great tragedy of Mass Murders? Try starting with processed Big Pharma (which also makes fertilizers), which has a field of drugs that has reduced this country to addiction to antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications.
7
I'm no hawk nor a bleeding heart. A quick in-and-out in Afghanistan to exact some punishment over 911 made sense. I held my tongue about the second Iraq war until it became obvious that Bush and Cheney had lied about WMD. Maintaining war puts any leader in a position that is almost impossible to oppose due to the oft-foolish instinct to rally around the leader in war. As much trouble as trump is in, I'm sure he is fantasizing about his own war.
3
Is Congressman Trey Gowdy investigating this? Hope he spends as much time on this as on "Benghazi". The hypocrisy of the GOP knows no bounds, so shameful.
21
Great reporting about what has been our largely unseen and unknown (to Americans) war(s) in Africa.
8
Back when we invaded Iraq, I tried to voice my opinion. A very unpopular view.Could not even speak of it to my own family.Bring our troops home.The working class kids are being used as cannon fodder, to enrich the military industrial complex. When is enough ,enough?
19
Nora, agree. Back before we invaded Iraq for false reasons, there were the largest peace demonstrations in history around the world - to no avail, of course.
We are unable to afford both guns and butter (which is why Russia quit Afghanistan), so we choose guns - at our nation's peril and possible ruin, ultimately. We wonder why our country is so violent, yet we set this example all over the Earth. When, if ever, will enough be enough?
3
There are two terrible options as explanations: one is war profiteering and the other is a glorified bodyguard armed service for the wealthy to protect corporate interests. See Dr. Wolin's ideas about "inverted totalitarianism" as a perspective on both options. Oh, yes, one other explanation--insane, but I'd still go with the other two. A sane solution to the genuine problem with international terrorism would have been in two parts--first, an international police force, to catch leaders, put them on trial and get convictions--demonstrating true values of justice; second, provide secure humanitarian help to the people of nations fostering terrorists. But the two prevailing explanations have the $$$, exploitation of resources, and "bang-bang" attention as advantage, through a control -through - domination philosophy. Thereby, the police force, through cooperation and sharing control would be out of the question! Tragic. Eisenhower's "military-industrial complex" warning is totally ignored because of greed.
4
My grandfather fought in an engagement little know in its day, and long forgotten since, in the Philippines, to protect sugar interests, just before WWI.
3
"...some Americans say it’s time to look at how the country is deploying its forces."
Some Americans? Raise your hands if you favor Endless War.
37
My son is deploying to Afghanistan tomorrow. Please tell me why.
49
Paycheck. He'll get combat theatre bonus, and his salary is tax free while he is there. Oh, and he volunteered for it.
1
He volunteered.
You will get no argument from my son re any of the points that raised. However, as you are his employer, are you satisfied with the return on your $2.4 trillion investment?
4
Might be worth reviewing our entire military strategy around the world before we dump billions more into these endless conflicts that rarely produce anything even resembling a victory. A civilian led review.
With increasing episodes like this, naval officers who cannot perform the simplest functions like steering ships, we need to take a hard look at what we're doing now and into the future. Despite claims to the contrary, all branches are not doing a very good job at anything right now and dumping more money into them won't solve anything and may very well make things worse. A civilian led military is one of the most important foundations of this country and is yet another area where Congress is failing.
But off they go for another, what, two week vacation? Vacations for most people are earned. For Congress they're just another way to avoid dealing with the important issues of the day and the media. They're hiding again which is what they do best.
38
We've been fighting this war for sixteen plus years. Year after year drones keep killing "really important militant leaders" from various factions. Those leaders seem to get replaced as easily as the missiles that killed their predecessors. None of the very smart folks on the NSC see the sad comic resemblance to the futility of Vietnam. Fewer soldiers - same continuous loop of non-progress. Gosh. Macmaster should reread his own book, or maybe Neil Sheehan's.
32
I agree.
When the same patterns are repeated over and over again, in seeming futility, all one has to do is ask oneself "Who benefits?" We're not made safer by these wars. The innocents we slaughter and the destructive forces we unleash don't benefit the citizens of the countries in which we intervene.
So why are doing this, over and over again, all over the world?
The answer is always the same: for the benefit of those who profit, at taxpayers' crushing expense, from the manufacture and support of weapons -- from bayonets, bullets and rifles to drones, attack aircraft and naval vessels. All those arms suppliers and government contractors and companies that provide logistical support for the women and men who are sent to create and sustain these wars.
The war profiteers are the only winners.
These endless wars and the profits they bring are exactly what Eisenhower warned us about, and they're the only reason we continue this madness, powered by our bought-and-paid for Congress and neither checked nor balanced by the other branches of our Federal government.
Meanwhile we're asked to do without comprehensive, affordable health care, safe railway systems, drivable roads and much much more. The retirement and security benefits we've all paid into all our lives are called "entitlements" and we're told we must do without them.
All so a few can profit from death, destruction, despair. It's a simple and devastating truth we must all face -- and confront.
1
According to my math in the 16 years since the War on terrorism started we have shot about 1/2 million Americans (+30,000/year) here at home through gun violence and suicide. So who exactly are the terrorists?
32
Leaving aside -- but not forgetting -- the personal tragedies, isn't this the natural outcome of the creation of institutions? Structures are created to perform a role. Sometimes there is no need for that role, but the structure exists.
In one sense it is the way of societies. But vibrant societies now when -- and most importably HOW -- to bring a closure to such structures. Endlessly feeding the beast does no good.
8
I have a very definite opinion and I daresay it may be shared by many others. All this foreign interventionism is garbage and does nothing but make contractors and arms manufacturers richer. We don't belong in these hellholes and decades of intervention in them has neither brought peace nor security to our country and the world. Bring these brave soldiers home to guard our schoolchildren and protect them from shooters.
34
One can argue that when the US pulled back and drew downward, the Islamic State started to build out their caliphate that decimated the lives of thousands in iraq and syrian. On top of that the unchecked Syrian war and all its problems blew up and spread throughout Europe and north africa and iran. All I'm saying is an issue can be a little bit more complex than "it does nothing but make contractors and arms manufacturers richer." Should we care about those people in the America First and the rest of the world second vain? I do not have an answer but apparently, you have all the answers wrapped up in simple comment section slogans. xoxo
Yes, perhaps it is time that we stopped using our service people as a free sales service department for weapons merchants.
1
First and foremost, Congress needs to grow a spine and take back the power to declare war given it by the Constitution. While I understand that the faster pace of the world today requires that the President needs the ability to move forces in an emergency, that power should be extremely time limited. I would recommend that unless he comes before Congress within 14 days of inserting forces into a combat situation and gets specific authorization for their deployment in the form of a Declaration of War, they must be removed.
Second, this so called training seem often to be a cover to send US forces into combat. We have sufficient transport capabilities to allow forces needing training to be brought to bases in the United States and trained under the same conditions that our troops use.
14
Our whole philosophy is flawed. Instead of wasting men and material on wars select few countries which suffering from poverty and improve the lives of people. I am suggesting few countries since our resources are limited. Even though we all believe in "all men are created equal" all men do not have equal opportunity in life in terms of education, employment and so forth and this is true even in our own country. We can see pockets of poverty in every state like East St. Louis in Illinois, Newark and Camden in New Jersey and so forth. We need to invest in people so they can be successful. You can see how we are waging a "war" on medicare, medicaid and social security because of our misguided anathema to the word - social. This is the same philosophy that is driving us to engage in endless wars. We can learn from the Chinese in this respect.
9
Trillions of dollars have gone to buy loyalty in Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, and to get their cooperation battling Muslim radicals. All those trillions spent in fruitless military efforts could have been better spent in rebuilding our infrastructure and taking the country to the 21st century. We find ourselves behind many developed economies in terms of education, social safety nets, and infrastructure. This endless war is costing Americans future, in terms of opportunity loss for all those coming back maimed or with mental issues. There's a saying "charity begins at home." Realizing that we went to invade a country that had no part in the September 11th attack should have been reason enough to cut our losses short. Afghanistan has no strategic or economic value for us. Let their people fight for their freedom and liberty. It's time to ask Saudi Arabia to fund all the military efforts to fight and control Muslim radicalism. They have been the source and birthplace of Islamic terrorism. Now we are fighting their proxy war in Syria against Iran. No more! We have an enormous deficit that our future generations will have to pay. It's time to have other countries shoulder the financial and military responsibility for their regions. We can and will offer expertise, but that should be all. No need to keep wasting young kids and forfeiting America's future.
22
AliceHdM, you want us to ask Saudi Arabia to fund the fight against Muslim radicalism? When they are the ones that have been funding the Muslim radicals for decades? Don't make me laugh.
2