I grieve for the soldiers--those brave men--who were killed. I grieve for their families.
BUT--
--the pattern remains the same. As reflected (sorry, New York Times)--as reflected in Horace's line about the Trojan War--
Quicquid delirant reges plectuntur Achivi.
"The kings do crazy things--and Greek soldiers pay the penalty."
Remember that guy who was sometime CEO of Wells-Fargo? Being interrogated--ruthlessly and at length--by Senator Elizabeth Warren.
They'd done some misbehaving, Wells-Fargo. Bit time misbehaving. And so--
--mid-level managers all over this fair land found themselves axed--
--for decisions made by higher-ups--
--who went scot-free--
--like the CEO of Wells-Fargo.
Same here--and I know it's a leap from a major American bank to the dusty plains of Africa--
--but the rule still applies.
The grunts--those that survive!--get blamed for decisions made by their superior officers. Decisions which (apparently) they countered as best they could.
And then, New York Times--
--they just had to LIVE with those decisions--
--or DIE of them.
Four died.
May they rest in peace!
3
Niger..... probably just as easy to say on Fox News as Benghazi. Pretty catchy.
How come the Republican Congress hasn't investigated? Over and over and over.
How come the Republican Congress hasn't blamed the Secretary of State for this "travesty"? How come the President of the United States hasn't tweeted about it? Taken responsibility for it as Commander in Chief?
Can anyone say "double standard"?
5
Hey, remember Benghazi? You know, the attack that killed Americans? Remember how republicans insisted on years of hysterical investigations into how the president and secretary of state tried to hide blah blah blah. It became a mantra for Tom Cotton and David Nunes, didn't it?
Now where are ANY republicans to ask Pompeo or trump to explain the shady deaths of American servicemen in Niger? Remember, trump has already insulted, demeaned and sneered at the widow of one of these men.
This botched raid killed our men, and after excoriating HRC and Obama for Benghazi, republicans are specifically NOT going to look closely or even allow Democrats to look. Hypocrites, again.
4
Good for the Secretary. Mattis should have been darn furious.
2
Sounds like Benghazi all over again except there won't be an investigation because it happened on trump's watch.
4
So Mattis is fighting the good fight in pushing for accountability by the top brass, the ones in charge.
Gee, when everything goes rotten, I wonder if he'll apply the same kind of thinking to his boss, Trump?
Time and time again we see brave soldiers in the line of fire doing brave things for themselves and their fellow soldiers. The bone spurs in chief is not talking about this because of course the buck hardly touches his spurs, leaving alone stopping at it. Even if they can't give the public a reason why these poor soldiers lost their lives in Niger, I hope they have the decency to tell the families of the dead men.
1
The only real surprise here is that the investigation is being reopened to find out who truly was responsible, accountable, and in control in this tragic fiasco. The government M.O. is to duck and cover if you are in senior leadership, create “plausible deniability” at every critical decision point, have a written policy that is contradicted by verbal commands to front line personnel, and pin the proverbial tail on some poor lower level person who was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. You know. The “expendable” Captains and grunts of the world. I could write a book....
1
No mission, no eyes in the sky, no backup and nobody owns this?
1
When the Commander in Chief adopts a "buck stops with someone else" approach, it's no wonder those under him will follow that lead.
1
4 Americans were killed in an ambush in Africa. Hillary Clinton, from thousands of miles away, was supposedly "responsible". 8 hearings held by the GOP Congress.
4 Americans killed in an ambush in Africa under the Trump administration. No one is at fault.
1
Why does the Republican Congress have zero interest in finding out how this happened after spending years on Benghazi?
2
And further up the chain of command we have individual #1 who always blames his subordinates for the consequences of his own ineptness and reckless decisions.
.
1
Is this the case in which Trump told grieving relatives a dead soldier "knew what he signed up for"?
Twitter sleuths...what's the ratio of tweets about Mueller vs those about these military deaths?
'Maj. Alan Van Saun, Captain Perozeni’s company commander, who was home on paternity leave during the ambush...'
Paternity leave while the men directly under your command are being ambushed and slaughtered in a foreign land? Unacceptable.
I belong to a generation whose mothers and grandmothers, married to junior and mid-ranking officers in the RN, and, for example, in the Sappers up to the rank of full Colonel, followed their husbands overseas if they wanted to keep the family unit together. As a result, most of us navy and army brats from my generation and my parents' generation were born in faraway places that most Americans haven't heard of and couldn't find on a map.
Yes, I accept that service in the armed forces is a job. You put on your uniform and you do it for pay. But it's not like most other jobs. Your primary loyalty is to the men and women in your unit. You are first and foremost part of a band of brothers and sisters. Everything else is secondary: patria and family.
This can lead to divided loyalties when a man or a woman is split between his/her loyalty to their unit and their loyalty to their spouse and kids.
To try to resolve that tension is why so many young officers resign their commission. There are no easy answers. But the men and women under your command must come first.
2
As I sit here in my new home in Mexico, as I overlook the Pacific Ocean, where I arrived only yesterday, this is part of the reason I left.
It is bad enough to have a lying grifter in the White House, but that the republican-led Congress has completely abdicated its Article I responsibilities under our constitution is sickening.
At this point after Benghazi, cons had spent millions of our taxpayer dollars trying to ‘lock her up’ and yet not a peep from those same traitors on this tragedy. Sickening, absolutely sickening.
America, find your soul before it’s too late.
Signed,
A Sad Ex-pat.
1
I smell a Hollywood movie.
Are we looking at a Benghazi-like hearing?
1
the silence of soon to be former Congressman Ben Ghazi Gowdy is telling...
2
For me, the two principal takeaways from this incident: A) The truth of the old cliche "The enemy gets a vote." If a U.S. military unit has a vulnerability, you can expect any competent enemy to identify and exploit it. B) This is what happens when U.S. Army Special Forces (SF), is used too hard and is beginning to break. This 3rd Special Forces Group ODA (A Team) did not complete its pre-deployment training and did not even have a full complement of 12 Special Forces Soldiers. (This ODA apparently only had 9 SF Soldiers plus two support personnel.) 3rd Group has to do its share of rotations to Afghanistan (where it lost two members a couple of weeks ago) as well as cover the entire African continent.
Some additional points:
1. FID (Foreign Internal Defense) and CT missions are different and it was a mistake to task the ODA with both missions in a single operation.
2. We greatly overestimate our intelligence knowledge in places like Niger - a reliance on technical collection and on targeting misses the ground truth can only come from human intelligence and persistent presence.
3. Niger is at least fourth or fifth on the priority list for U.S. African Command, behind Somalia, Libya, Nigeria, Mail, etc.
4. The inevitable overreaction through micromanagement from Germany negates the flexibility and small footprint advantages of SF ODAs, and will create its own problems as higher headquarters in Germany has even less situational awareness of local conditions.
19
Problem is we need speciality troops today to do what once was the job of regular infantry units. Units such as the LURPS and Force Reconnaissance at the regimental or division level. Just your basic infantry with some additional “ sneaky Pete” training. No more. Now these very expensive special troops need months and months of training. Why? Where are the grunt infantry who were composed of 50%, or more, of 2 year draftees earning $110.00 per month?
2
For all of his indignation, why hasn't Mattis accepted any of the responsibility? Who authorizes these adventures abroad?
Ike fired generals on a weekly basis in WWII. Now it's, "I won't tell on you if you don't tell on me." Goes straight to the heart of military effectiveness and why our armed forces screw up constantly these days on land, sea and air. Just who is in charge? Who is responsible? Cue finger pointing.
1
The “protect our own” mentality is clear here, just as it often is when police malfeasance is made public. Pity we can have truly independent investigations when death is involved.
1
Secretary Mattis expressed anger over a long standing military tradition, blame the lowest ranking people and protect the officers. Of course this is not uncommon in government and private industry. The most horrific military example of this was the My Lai massacre (murdering over 300 women, children and innocent civilians) in Viet Nam. Twenty four officers were implicated, all were exonerated and given very generous pensions, in fact, rewarding them for their crimes. One person was found guilty but pardoned by Nixon and also given a hefty pension. This is a story that has been repeated for decades.
3
The military justice system is fraught with bias until they are publicly called out. Doling out administrative actions to the lower levels while giving top ranking officials a pass, leads to low morale and a toxic environment. It's systematic abuse.
1
Kudos to Gen. Mattis for taking on the Uniform Code of Military Injustice.
1
Unfulfilled lives lost.
My genuine condolences to the families, friends, and importantly to their fellow soldiers risking everything as well.
Mattis is the most decent, wise, and capable person in this administration.
1
We should take note that this is what happens in humongous bureaucracies; they become fiefdoms. They become self-serving to a point where their leaders perceive themselves to be so "essential" to the fiefdom that they can rationalize second guessing subordinates and then fault them by believing that it was a simply a matter of the junior officer's poor execution.
I am happy to read that these junior officers, who were On-The-Ground, will be vindicated; too bad for those senior officers whose officer efficiency records will reflect their bad decisions.
The volunteer military today is so spoilt and pampered today that they have to receive medals for just successfully completing basic training. The once sacrosanct Medal of Honor is now awarded for what was once considered just doing the job Specs. A good example of that is the way in which the navy hands them out with little or not corresponding evidence. Mistakes are made in combat situations and sometimes soldiers pay the price. Making it a criminal case though stymies good officers to the point they will fear to tread without overwhelming force, guaranteeing full proof success! (AKA :”Zero Defects” syndrome.)
1
In this instance, Secretary Mattis was infuriated for the right reason.
2
When this came out something about the investigation didn’t sound right. I’m glad Mattis went back and reviewed. I pray these service member loses won’t be in vein and lessons learned for the future.
1
These kinds of things go on in the federal, state, and local governments all of the time within agencies that are supposed to protect the public.
There is another similar story in today's NYTimes.
The United States Air Force missed six opportunities to alert law enforcement authorities about an airman’s history of domestic abuse that would have stopped him from legally buying firearms that he used to kill 26 people in a Texas church in 2017, according to a government report released this week.
The 131-page report, by the inspector general’s office of the Department of Defense, found that the airman, Devin P. Kelley, had been convicted of domestic violence by an Air Force general court-martial but that his fingerprints and the final disposition of the case were never forwarded to the F.B.I. as policies required.
The investigation found that “multiple organizations and individuals” in the Air Force failed to follow policies during the investigations and after the court-martial, the report said. Over the course of about 18 months, it missed four opportunities to submit his fingerprints and two to send the disposition report.
“The investigators and confinement personnel had a duty to know, and should have known” the policies and should have followed them, the report said, adding, “The failures had drastic consequences and should not have occurred.”
1
How seemingly typical that some not-in-the-field superior officer would try to second -guess
the recriminations expressed by a junior officer able to assess battle conditions first-hand. This situation seems to be about ignoring prudence and caution and putting troops into harm’s way for no apparent good reason.
2
First off, kudos to the NYT reporting team for this excellent in-depth coverage that had to be tough to dig out and assemble in such a credible manner - some very deep sources are evident in this reporting. Besides its inherent relevance in honoring our fallen soldiers by shining a bright light on the persons and events actually responsible for their loss in battle, and on our military chiefs’ handling of their internal investigation, exposing their apportionment of both honor and reprimand appropriately or otherwise; in my view this report embodies the essential function of the Fourth Estate to a very high standard by informing the public of the facts framing political issues of the day through investigative reporting that would otherwise only rarely come to light. This is why I subscribe to and read the NYT, though my political views are well to the right of opinions generally expressed in this newspaper’s Op-Ed pages. Thank you. Now, about Benghazi....
1
If the human race could only make a global rule that all wars be fought by men over 65 years old there might be fewer wars -- or none at all.
1
I'm most glad this account has come out. It seems some branch of government may still have the top leadership to demand some shreds of internal accountability.
1
There is an old saying, "You can't un-ring a bell".
It is extremely difficult for a Captain to become a Major - having a reprimand reversed, will not repair the damage done. Even if it isn't in his file, nobody will have forgotten about it.
1
Finally! For months now I have been waiting to see real justice for those four soldiers killed by poor planning. This most probably won't be it but it sure is a step in the right direction thanks to Defense Secretary Mattis.
Why it took so long is another question worth asking!
1
My initial response after reading this article was appreciation for the revised review of fault. But after reading the many comments, I do think Congress needs to hold hearings- on the overlapping command structures, the ever-widening deployment of our troops to counter terrorism groups that morph, move, and seem to have little financial difficulty in acquiring 9 lives.
We need charts. Of our command structure. Of our troop deployments, worldwide, with notations as to why and how long.
And maybe it’s past time to revise the chain of command- allowing the ones with boots on the ground to have the final say on a mission, and/or its continuation. If operations are vetoed....x...number of times, then a review should reveal which is at fault; the one proposing inappropriate missions, or the one vetoing them and their reasons. It can’t be any worse than having someone sitting safe in Chad, ordering a new mission in Niger. Or- maybe we should go back to all the higher ups actually leading from the front?
1
About the only time I heard Trump mention this tragedy in Niger, and the soldiers who died, was when he insulted the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson. Trump couldn't remember his name when he called her and told her, "he knew what he signed up for". Chief of staff John Kelly supposedly advised Trump on what to say in the call. “He knew what the possibilities were, because we’re at war." Could they be more callous and show less sympathy?!
Where are the senators and congressmen who used to be eager to get to the bottom of issues like this? Supporting our military means learning where things went wrong and ensuring those mistakes won't be made again.
1
The authors report that Mr. Mattis and General Dunford contributed to the morass by allowing the Africa Command to investigate itself. In civil law an inviolate rule for police, prosecutors and judges is that no man shall judge his own case. All must recuse themselves when their own self-interest is involved.
During The Mai Lai Massacre in Vietnam, the tragedy was investigated by Lt. Col. Powell on orders of his battalion commander who was in command of Capt. Medina and Lt. Calley’s platoon. The initial investigation reported no massacre of civilians occured.
In the half century , from the “Tailhook Scandal” to this event, the inability of the military to investigate itself has been demonstrated. Planning and orders come from above. Nevertheless, the very best immunity to punishment that the military provides when plans fail is high rank. For Colonels and above, permission to judge their own case is standard procedure.
Deja vu LT Calley. Top brass will always blame the ones who follow their orders. Senior officers' mantra - never accept responsibility.
This type of thing is common throughout the government - federal, state, and local.
You have all of these processes to determine justice in matters of misconduct. They are all just for show. And, the people who work there simply turn a "blind eye" to the truth in order to keep their jobs.
1
I saw the video of that ambush online. Its bad. The camera was on the soldiers helmet. The American soldiers stood no chance. They were out in the african bush with sparse trees to be seen in any direction. The soldier wearing the camera gets shot and goes down. While he was down, he was alive, but struggling. He clearly had no ability to fight. He was executed at point blank range. Blood flowed into the ground and you knew he was dead. All I thought was, "Does this guy have a family at home? What must have gone through his mind?" Retribution against those that did this becomes foremost on your mind as you watch this. Like I said, its bad to watch. Locals posted online the Americans were lured into a trap, and the local elders that lured them there knew all about it.
1
I once worked for a company that made munitions for the army. One day an explosion killed several workers at one of our plants. Our CEO flew in the next morning. He was met at the airport and told the plant management were already waiting for him. He said they needed to keep waiting, and was driven off to meet individually with the families of the men killed, then visited those in the hospital. About 1 PM he arrived at the plant conference room. The plant manager started into a prepared presentation, but almost immediately the CEO erupted angrily. "As far as this company is concerned, no one in this room was doing their job properly including me! Men were killed! That is our fault and WE will face consequences! Now, what we need to find out is how we failed and how to insure this NEVER happens again."
It never did. Senior management at the plant were fired and all executive bonuses were cut substantially that year. That CEO knew were the buck stops. Do not just blame the workers. Recognize management failure when you see it.
2
If all high-ranking officers who made bad battlefield decisions or whose subordinates made bad battlefield decisions were held accountable, all of our best generals would have been cashiered.
Only officers who never commanded troops in combat would survive.
One glaring omission in all of this is the simple fact that of the four brave soldiers killed in this fiasco, two of them Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Johnson and Sgt. La David Johnson were not Green Berets, nor were they dedicated infantry. Respectively, they were a chemical warfare specialist and a mechanic, who were thrust into a combat operation that clearly required far more of them than they were capable of.
It is common knowledge that drones are available in that theatre, why wasn't a drone with offensive capability shadowing this team? For all of the billions America expends for such technological capabilities even that error cannot get around the simple math inherent in sending in a small force against an overwhelming enemy force of dedicated fighters. The arrogance of our senior leadership makes one wonder do they truly grasp the situation on the ground?
Undue command influence is apparent here. But also, the Captain could have simply refused the mission citing his concerns and suffered the consequences; he more than anyone should have gone up the chain-of-command to better explain the great risk of sending a mixed force into an assault that clearly required airpower, secure communications, and more US infantry forces. That skill-set mix of sending in a chemical specialist and a mechanic into an inevitable firefight was clearly ridiculous, the subsequent video bears out their deteriorating defense.
1
" ...Captain Perozeni said he did not have the necessary equipment or intelligence and asked that the Green Beret team be allowed to return to base.." - what was so important about this raid that the commander on the ground was over-ruled? How does the fool behind the desk get a vote here?
1
Unfortunately, this is an old, sad and often tragic tale. That being someone, essentially in a cubicle somewhere, making life and death decisions people in the trenches are obligated to carry out.
1
Great story.
I only wished for ref: AUMF, President Bush's 2007 announcement of the creation of AFRICOM for perspective, and the expansion of military presence in Nigeria.
The failed SF mission, subsequent damage control failure only adds insult to injury.
Army leadership should rightly demand and extract the proverbial pound of flesh, from Col's Painter and Moses.
Remind me again about Special Forces?
Go in on the cheap, build teams of locals to fight, stir the pot and get out of the way.
Why then on god's green earth, would you seek out to engage a superior overwhelming enemy on the home court, with what amounted nigerian army draftees and a squad of SF that you were unable to provide air/fires support. Pure insanity, Kurtz.
1
The military can't figure out where its ships are sailing, where its soldiers are soldiering, who its arms are arming, and where its monies are being spent.
Mattis is angry because of the tragic loss of life but also because of his utter lack of control over the nearly $3 trillion bureaucracy he is supposed to run. Trump is oblivious because he is, well, oblivious.
Nonetheless, more money is being delivered to DoD by Congress, paid for by the middle class (as the rich and corporations received huge tax cuts). Shocking but not surprising.
2
Rachael Maddow commented soon after the Chad ambush happened. If what she said was/is true, a scandal exists that has been covered. Niger had supplied security for the few men we had in Chad. The public never knew we had troops there for it was covert ops and no one got killed. Then Niger won an enormous verdict against Exxon for environmental abuse. Sec/State Tillerson was the former CEO/Exxon. Soon after the award, State found Niger's printing of its passports to be inadequate.That stopped Nigerian visa applications for those who wanted to visit the US. Niger was furious at the insult and withdrew its security for our troops. Our four were killed soon thereafter and the US public now heard that we had troops in Chad. Rachael also said that Tillerson, a person who received from Putin the highest civilian award that Russia can bestow on a foreigner, change the way security was to be handled at our Moscow embassy. No longer was security to be covered by US people - US Marines. Instead he subbed it out to a Russian company. Does anyone remember why we had to build a new embassy?We had to tear down our old embassy because it was totally compromised with 'bugs'. When Trump was looking around for a Sec/State,he got a strong recommendation from his Russian 'friends' that Tillerson, a man Trump never heard of much less met, was a great choice. He complied. Gen Mattis, as one USMC officer to another, look further/deeper into the death of those four men. Lift up the rocks. Semper Fi
1
There is NOT a better man for the job than Mattis.
Most comments against him come from those too afraid to fight for their own stake in this world.
The byzantine internecine bureaucratic turf fighting and back-biting at the highest levels revealed in this article are disturbing, to say the least. Gen. Mattis is to be commended for insisting that senior officers be held accountable instead of the farce that was made of the Abu-Graib investigation which let the command off the hook and punished junior officers/soldiers instead. Looks like there's a bit of swamp draining to be done at the Pentagon.
1
Thank goodness for the blue wave in November. Maybe the new committee leaders can get to the bottom of this.
1
Since yesterday was Pearl Harbor Day, this article made me glad that today’s news coverage didn’t exist back then for then I’d still have to be reading every minute detail of that fateful day every day for the last 77 years and beyond looking for “the answer” and who to blame. Some things just happen and it’s nobodies fault.
Amazing that no one remembers My Lai. Lt Caley did not just go into that slaughter alone, without any orders, but he was the one court marshaled and convicted. Nam was a nightmare mess, and all that were ever punished were only the ones following orders- but from whom?
2
Are we not all sick of militarism and war and volunteer armies and troops all over the world ...doing what.. and for what.. and for whom?
2
Apparently, gross incompetence that goes all the way to the top!
And, once again Congressional Republicans put their selfish personal and political interests ahead of the good of the country.
Republican members should be forced to reaffirm their oath of office every year. And, it wouldn't hurt if they reviewed the Constitution, especially the parts about the separation of powers and providing checks and balances.
Hopefully, the House Armed Services Committee will convene at least one hearing on this matter come January.
1
Good article. Nice to hear that Mattis at least is taking this matter seriously. What are our troops doing in Niger? A little more coverage would be appreciated.
1
The buck stops where ?
The USA has become a leaderless nation and no one takes responsibility. As a Navy veteran I understand that the US Navy still may understand leadership and accountability, good to read.
As far as USA organizations go today, from corporations to US government, one word comes to mind. SPINELESS.
Cowards are us.
1
I saw the video of that ambush online. Its bad. The camera was on the soldiers helmet. The American soldiers stood no chance. They were out in the african bush with space trees to be seen in any direction. The soldier wearing the camera gets shot and goes down. While he was down, he was alive, but struggling. He clearly had no ability to fight. He was executed at point blank range. Blood flowed into the ground and you knew he was dead. All I though was, "Does this guy have a family at home? What must have gone through his mind?" Retribution against those that did this is foremost on your mind as you watched this. Like I said, its bad to watch. Locals posted online they were lured into a trap, and the local elders know all about it.
This NYT report resonated with me both because it happened in Africa and because of Africa Command’s mission globally.
For some reason (actually my tendency toward ‘analog thinking’ as George Lakoff would say) the location of this problem in Africa made me think of African elephants and of Lakoff’s famous book, “Don’t Think of an Elephant” — which explains why instructing his Berkeley students do not think of an elephant locks the thought in their minds.
Secondly, to the unfortunate situation of that AfriCom deadly incident in which lives were lost in American military policing of Africa, the assessment of the level of responsibility and blame, and the real level of what caused this problem and many others throughout the global that American military and economic policing actually causes, I would strongly suggest to ‘we the American people’ the following thought:
“Don’t Think of an Empire.”
Hopefully, this proven technique of cognitive science locking-in of a framing perspective that Lakoff discovered will cement in the minds of many Americans that looking for the solution to our deadly problem of our former country acting like, trying to control and dominate, and inevitably causing the much more massive and pervasive deadly problems throughout the world over the last many decades (since Vietnam) that the real blame is neither with the lower or higher officers, but with the deceit of the political and elite class and corporations in this disguised global capitalist Empire
2
Has the Secretary of State been called to testify yet?
3
The Niger operation was a screw up where US Special Forces members were trapped in an ambush. Poor planning combined with, "what the heck were they doing there?" This is a policy failure which is not just limited to the military part, the political implications as well are disturbing.
3
Blame for boondoggles and tragedies usually rains down on the lowest level. Sometimes soldiers are awarded medals as a way to sidestep the horrific decisions.
There IS a reason military intelligence is the classic oxymoron.
I cannot come close to imagining how betrayed Capt. Perozeni and his soldiers felt after suffering injuries and losing men because of another officer's rash decision -- and going home to be reprimanded by brass.
Hasn't the failure of the Army to discipline higher officers adequately, and to get rid of incompetent, officers, been a problem going back the the first Iraq War?
Oh, and then a tiny question -- What were they doing in Niger?
11
@cheryl, You are right on all fronts. A must read "The Generals" by Thomas E. Ricks.
1
So "mad dog Mattis" is angry.
There is one takeaway from the NY Times investigation into this matter and today's article. OUR U.S. military is out of control. Why isn't The Con Don having them "investigated" instead of
Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton?
Because he wants OUR military out of control. The better to start WW3.
Please Good People in every segment and at every level in OUR U.S. military hold thing together until WE THE PEOPLE can purge all the demented democracy destroyers OUT. Keep a close eye on things and be whistle blowers to help us stop them.
Thank you.
16
It was a FUBAR that the brass as is not unusual tried to cover it up. They're still doing it with all the usual redactions and obfuscatory language.
5
At least some wrongdoers in this administration will get the proverbial slap on the wrist instead of a free pass. This must be Mattis's last hurrah before he slinks into the sunset and a less cognizant Trump sycophant takes his place.
11
Before this incidence, not even Senate leaders like McCain knew that we had soldiers in Niger. I doubt that most Americans even today know that there is even a country called Niger or where it is located. Yet we had four brave soldiers killed by an Islamic State affiliated group there. No accountability from the military leadership or the President. And Trump and Mattis blindly support Saudi Arabia, whose Wahhabism forms the ideological foundation for Al Qaeda and Islamic State. Our soldiers die while we support the Saudi Arabia, the country most responsible for global jihadi terrorism in the world.
48
Not surprised that there is no mention about where bucks used to stop when leaders lead. Is the right even talking bout Niger gate? Bout POTUS total detachment? This story should’ve been bout DJT on a rampage for the truth, but that truly would’ve been fake news. Twitter is only for saving his own face, not the honor of soldiers.
8
Why are we wasting money on this country?
5
Can Trump point to Niger on a map? For that matter, can he find Benghazi on a map?
But I’ll bet he can proudly point out Vegas, Atlantic City, and Moscow.
23
Is Mattis the last man standing in the Trump administration? Let's make certain that he remains!
11
But what about Benghazi ? I have not heard any republicans express a fraction of Benghazi outrage over this unfortunate episode in Niger.
45
This is an excellent example of the value of having a free press. Good going, NY Times.
The next time I am infuriated by one of your too-cool-for-school pieces, which will probably be soon, I will remember this.
18
I wonder if the founders of this country would have bothered with the Revolution had they known that their creation would someday have something called an African Command? If the intent was to have a global military empire, we should have just stayed with the Brits.
24
Sounds like Mr. Mattis needs to take a broom and sweep everybody even remotely connected with that deadly debacle out of their cushy jobs and to the dustbin, just like the Navy did.
I hear the Aleutian Islands has openings...
9
Add to the list of investigations; the botched mission in Yemen ordered by Trump just weeks into his tenure in which a navy seal perished. Trump blamed Obama, naturally.
16
Mr. Trey Gowdy: Will these investigations be as thorough and numerous as those of Benghazi ?
43
Where are the Benghazi style hearings? Oh yeah, those were only a ruse.
26
It is so unfair to criticize our president - this is all a part of Cadet Bone Spur's plan to root out the troublemakers in the military. All of the complainers will be offered early retirement.
7
Great reporting.
14
It is comforting to see that the senior officers are being held accountable. Too often, when something goes awry, only the junior officers and senior NCOs are called to account and punished.
6
Far worse than any lack of accountability or poorly planned military operations is our government which abandons its military veterans by denying and making it difficult to obtain post service medical care. That's what the military and the public should be screaming about.
But I suppose, as with Congress, the military higher ups receive a higher level of care and support, so it's not a worry. Shameful!
9
What's missing in this article is context, that is, why were American soldiers there along with what actually happened, never mind the obvious cover-up which is a separate issue.
Gen. Mattis, as reported in The Hill on 10/2/2018:
“We have no intention of cutting back one bit on that support,” Mattis said at a press conference in Paris alongside his French counterpart.
France has about 4,000 troops in Mali leading operations against militants linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The French forces in Mali were those who came to the rescue of U.S. troops in Niger during the 2017 ambush.
The U.S. supports the French effort with intelligence, surveillance and logistics such as refueling and transportation.
On Tuesday, Mattis specifically said U.S. intelligence and logistics support would continue.
“We will maintain the intelligence support and logistics support, and we fully embrace the French mission there, as do a number of other of our allies,” he said.
Mattis also commended France for acting “swiftly” in Mali years ago.
“The French-led effort in Mali, if you go back a couple years, I think had France not acted swiftly and decisively, Mali would have fallen to the terrorists,” he said. “It’d be an altogether different meeting we are having here today. Fortunately, the French moved quickly, and we have also supported the French-led effort with the African troops that the French are supporting."
5
The biggest threat to national security is climate change, bullets will not stop it. Our military is close to pointless are we keep doubling down on spending trillions not just for nothing but the opportunity cost of misdirected resources is staggering.
And we are arguing about things like this?
Why are we not arguing about what an F35 costs, or a ballistic missile submarine or why we need ten aircraft carriers?
15
@Garrett Clay Income/wealth inequality is a threat to national security in addition to climate change.
Mostly the money spent on US military adventures to protect the interests of the global elite has made the world less safe and less sustainable.
Better quality and easily available mental health care and addiction treatment would reduce the soaring opioid overdose death rates. Last year in the US 70.000 died from opioid overdose.
I doubt that any of the US military actions benefit the US citizenry an iota as much if that money were spent on better health care, better education and better infrastructure.
It is hard to value "heroic action" when it is in part of military efforts that are essentially creating more and endless violence and making the world less safe.
12
General Mattis abides by a favorite quote of his: “No better friend, no worse enemy.” It also happens to be the title of a book about his life. I guess the higher ups responsible for the Niger catastrophe are feeling the brunt of that quote. Well done General.
8
The Pentagon - where the grunts of the military do not have a voice - where they obviously do not have the benefit of the $B we spend on 'state-of-the-art' equipment and armament - where decisions are made by those who either have not ever been in battle without a clue of what it takes - and/or by those who make the choices of 'where' our battles are to be fought, without taking the time to perform the necessary 'intelligence work'. The Pentagon is losing the respect of the nation, the world and sadly its 'on the ground' military. personnel.
9
A Trump administration official demanding accountability?!
Some days he shows the sense of honor and integrity for which he was known. Other days he undermines that reputation by mouthing the president's nonsense, as in the Khasshogi case.
Come on, General, what's it gonna be?
10
Trump let the reason slip out when he gave MBS a pass because the Saudis buy billions in US arms. But we can't sell them all to some other oil-rich country (buying our arms with money we pay them for oil...). We can't come down hard on the Saudis because it would "be bad for bidness... jeopardize billions in arms sales". What is almost as good for bidness is the never-ending 'war on terror'. Since 9/11 we've spent Trillions, literally Trillions on "fighting terrorism". Are there less terrorists around the world? Is the Middle East any more stable than it was 17 years ago? But the never-ending 'war on terror' and "fighting terrorism" sure has been good for the defense industry. What a curious coincidence! It bears investigation that we have 'fought' "War on Drugs", "War on Terrorism" and lately, "War on Immigrants" - all by spending hundreds of millions, Billions, hundreds of Billions on the defense industry, and the private prison industry, among others. We're actively losing the "War on Drugs", just go to any opiate-ravaged town in America, you can choose at random. We face just as much unrest and terrorist activity in the Middle East now as we did 15 years ago. Afghanistan is a mess, a sticky tarpit we're mired in, and the "War on Immigrants" seems to attack our American values and ideals as strongly as anything. Maybe its time for new approaches, new ideas, and new leadership against these problems... what we've tried for years, and spent Trillions on, isn't working.
25
@Jim Brokaw "Hadn't thought of this before--"buying our arms with money we pay them for oil". Very succinct.
1
depends on what you mean by working.
the world, with deflections one way or the other, basically remains in stasis, which appeals to the markets.
defense contractors, their lenders, and their suppliers continue to reap giant profits and make giant political contributions, as the good Lord intended.
for those who count, it's working.
now, if universal love and worldwide peace were to break out, THAT would be a catastrophe. can't make any money selling each other daisies. ask Paul Manafort.
1
My Lai, Abu Ghraib, Nigeria - the more senior the officer, the less likely it is that there will be any consequences for what goes on in his or her command.
Today’s military “leaders” appear to be doing their best to avoid responsibility for what goes on under their command. Whatever happened to “The Buck Stops Here?”
5
This would make a good movie, at the end of it hopefully words could come on the screen saying the junior officers were exonerated and the higher-ups responsible were punished.
3
@Nathan Z Maybe the movie would show that this is just "adults" playing "cowboys and Indians" adding trillions to the debt and accomplishing nothing positive.
The long slog of jaw-jaw diplomacy and learning to live together would set a better example for the world, and maybe give the world a chance of becoming sustainable.
US citizens seem to love guns, violence and revenge.
The world needs better leadership.
1
The military was used by 45 to try to recreate Obama's war room scene when he took down Bin Laden. This was unfortunate, and believe me, if it had been successful you would have seen 45 crowing from the rooftops. Unfortunately it has been swept under the rug and the families that lost loved ones in this botched raid have paid the ultimate price at the expense of 45's ego.
9
I'm a former Air Force Captain and Vietnam Veteran having served in Vietnam in 1970. I see nothing has changed. As those of us "in the field" were adhering to ridiculous "rules of engagement", the senior decision makers were busy in Saigon entertaining their mistresses !
8
Seems the U.S Military cannot use money effectively, is unable to adequately support its troops on a mission and when it goes bad, doesn't even know who to blame for the systemic failure that was tragically revealed!
It also has been aiding and abetting a 33 year old Thug who kills critics and who is waging a war against a country where half the population are either starving or diseased by his actions and is panning out to be one of the World's most unnecessary and tragic humanitarian disasters in recent years...as American military command helps with bomb supply, targeting and Aircraft refueling as civilians are killed as cities blocks are turned to rubble.
I wonder who the Pentagon will blame for such a travesty?
4
The ambush happened on 10/11/2017 shortly after Trump added Chad to the list of Muslim travel ban nations on 9/25/2017. This caused the leaders of Chad to be upset. Unfortunately, Chad was very active in the region of Niger where the Green Beret's had been operating, providing military support, and also local intelligence to US teams operating in the area.
While the main US base in the area remained in Chad (which is why the "senior commander" was stationed there as reported in the story), Chad withdrew much of its direct military, operational, and intelligence support from the area in Niger as a protest of the Trump travel ban addition of Chad.
The lack of support, backup, and intelligence provided by the Chad troops vastly increased the danger to the troops. They became sitting ducks with no way to get warnings or timely backup. Capt. Michael Perozeni undoubtedly understood the increased risks caused by Chad's response to Trump adding them to the "banned" countries.
It is not surprising the US Military has had a very hard time assigning responsibility. While there were tactical decisions that could have been made better, everyone there knew who caused the strategic problem and was likely desperate to blame someone low enough so they could not fight back or tell the truth. On 4/11/2018, Chad was removed from the list of nations on the travel ban.
Simply put, this one is on Trump and his White House team.
16
Our armed forces are essential as a bulwark against enemies who try to harm us at home or abroad. The four Green Berets who were killed in Niger fought heroically, as did their fellow soldiers (male and female), but what the heck were they doing in Niger? Niger? Are they also our enemies in the Trump era?
Mr. Trump - yes - the same guy who wanted to have nothing to do with the war in Vietnam, now likes to cuddle up to leaders of rich countries like Saudi Arabia, where most women still live in the dark ages and which pays tons of money for weapons from the USA and, perhaps, to Donald himself. As if the world needs more weapons.
5
@W. Michael O'Shea In the US last year, 70,000 were killed by opioids... not Nigerians.
1
If Democrats behaved like Republicans, they'd make this the new Benghazi and rake Trump over the coals for it. Whether deserved or not, they would make political hay of it.
4
I concur with Mr Sunny.
Mr Purity of Essence asks a question answered by the American ABC dated October 19, 2017.
POE would note that the CIA World Fact Book notes re Niger that world prices of Uranium are dropping as noted today.
The CIA report notes that their are no US firms operating in Niger.
Perhaps Mr POE may accept that US troops in Niger and French troops in Mali are part of a counter terrorism task.
Mr Tim W has a point under military law concerning the Commander in Chief.
Shawn, Sensitive operations will continue as approved by your Congress.
My back yard is the world.
US, UK, French, German, and Australian submarines are at sea according to international law without their location unknown to Congress.
I confess ignorance of US politics but I recall 7 December 1941.
Mr RBR the US according to your assertion should avoid covert operations in foreign lands.
The Russian influence on your electoral process is nauseating and made worse by the flaccid response of Congress.
Potentially your president is a Russian stooge with debts to Putin.
2
Please write an article about the families of the fallen soldiers and the villagers who found the soldiers. I think about the 4 soldiers often. The media coverage of this incident has been so awful that I followed the story in the French press and the BBC. Why have US citizens been mislead about almost every detail of the mission from the beginning?
9
as someone once said
victory has 1000 fathers
defeat is an orphan
4
Perhaps Mr. Mattis, and Reps. Gowdy and Goodlatte could also focus their investigations here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/07/us/devin-kelley-sutherland-springs.html?action=click&module=Latest&pgtype=Homepage
4
Who gets blamed is a political matter; our noble armed forces seem to be unable to find out what happened. We saw the same problems and politicization of blame in Vietnam and Iraq, and it looks like the problem infects the military from its civilian leaders, our government, and the electorate. Our citizens do not want to hear facts or interpretations that contradict what they want to believe, and this unwillingness infects everything, with the exception of investigating aircraft crashes. We have no business expecting the military to search for and face facts when we are so bad at it.
6
@sdavidc9
If the military got good at researching mistakes, it would be out of synch with the society that supports it and would get into all sorts of trouble. This is why it is not good at researching mistakes without letting politics intervene.
The military has a word for this, but it’s not printable here.
Part of the problem is that the USA drew the wrong lessons from Vietnam. In that war, green berets and other specialised forces had great success but were of little real value due to their limited numbers and the limited scope of their operations. So the USA appears to have assumed that simply turning the battlefield over to operators would produce the required results. Afghanistan and Iraq demonstrates they severe limitations of that approach and now we find the new lessons haven’t been absorbed and these bad habits are continuing in Africa.
8
My dearest condolences to the families affected by this loss of life.
I respect General Mattis for fighting for the higher ups to be punished and making sure the men receive the medals they deserve. The brave people on the front lines usually don’t have much say in what in what is going on.
Excellent article.
315
As Commander-in-Chief, it's Trump's fault, though we'll never hear him take responsibility. To double-down, if Trump hadn't put Chad on the travel ban list, Chad's soldiers, deployed in Niger to fight Boko Haram, would not have been ordered back to their own country, which undermined security for our troops.
154
Whenever a major corporation gets found guilty of breaking the law the authorities never go after the senior officers of the corporation. Do I see a pattern here ?
13
No top generals were ushered out. Currently Mr, or excuse me General Mattis sits in charge of the organization. If he's so upset, couldn't he have insisted upon it at the time?
8
After our soldiers came under fire, where was the rest of the army? Did they follow up and apprehend some of the militants? What happened? Did we counter-attack? How many militants did we kill? Did our soldiers just die for nothing?
I'm confused by the whole incident.
10
Yes, our soldiers just died for nothing.
Even worse, our soldiers have been dying for nothing since the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, but our government fears that it’s political suicide to admit that.
3
"did not have the necessary equipment or intelligence ..."
What is the ever increasing billions dollars budget spent on?
Good to know that higher-ups are made accountable for their orders, but too late to help the soldiers who were killed and their grieving families and friends. It's not the first time is it.
15
When I was in Saigon in 1966, I came upon by accident on a confidential loose leaf binder left mistakenly in a desk drawer.
It was called something like "What Not Do"
for officers. It detailed mistakes by officers, letting themselves be led into an ambush and the platoon or even the whole company being wiped out.
That's the reality of War.
5
IMHO the level of responsibility doesn't go high enough. One significant factor left out in this article is the indirect cause of this avoidable tragedy: Chad being placed on the second country-ban list. This single incident led to a pull back of Chadian forces operating in Niger as well as a blind eye given to extremists moving now about freely. Lay this one at Trump's feet.
29
Responsibility and accountability needs to be upheld at the top. Passing the buck shouldn’t work in the military. Those who direct yet remain out of the danger zones need to realize the lives they put at risk. As our coward in chief passes the buck almost daily, this should not be allowed with the rest of the military brass. (No excuse for trump either but we all know he will never take any responsibility for any actions he takes) Atleast the highest one who gave the orders should be held accountable. If they are not willing to be held accountable, then they should step aside and give back those stars and bars they so proudly wear. Climbing the ladder to the top also bears an awesome responsibility.
8
This is typical behavior by the military to place blame at lower level people while protecting those in high position. It should alert people to the similar terrible behavior of special prosecutors like Ken Starr ( investigating Bill Clinton) as well as Mueller today investigating Trump.
Starr did the same as the military. He harshly criminally prosecuted low level persons but the only thing he did relative to Clinton was issue a report to Congress. Mueller is doing the same thing. Anyone who thinks Mueller would prosecute Trump is delusional regardless how guilty of criminal behavior Trump might be. All Mueller will do relative to Trump is issue a report to Congress. And Congress will not even impeach Trump because impeachment is opposed by both Republicans and Democrats.
1
@Errol: Bill Clinton did not do anything criminal, whereas Trump did, and both Starr and Mueller have to prent their reports to Congress, aka the representatives and senators We the People voted in. Both Starr and Mueller cannot prosecute themselves, only present the evidence and recommendations.
2
Can you imagine the GOP uproar if this happened under a HRC presidency?
34
@happyXpat,
It did happen under an HRC Secretaryship. Have you heard of the incident in Benghazi during her tenure?
2
It’s so sad when stories like this have been made into more than a minimum of dozen verbatim movies over the last 60 years.
3
Well, Mr Secretary - welcome to your department where officers always protect themselves.
This is akin to POTUS criticism of Obama judges - and rightfully so - not withstanding what our Chief Justice says.
For too long, I have read reports of officers, flag officers and others - their only "punishment" is retirement - but then, they are provided with a hefty pension.
Rarely, a reduction in rank or even a summary dismissal - like in the corporate world - where you end up losing all benefits. Most recent poster child of corporate punishment - the ex chairman of CBS.
Mr Secretary - you have come across as a straight shooter - the reason why POTUS respects you.
You need to ask for a congressional authorization to change your personnel policies on how to punish an officer.
Start with this: when an officer has been found responsible for a death of a soldier. Reduce that officer to this lowest rank of KIA. And summarily dissmiss him with same benefits as that of KIA.
And to ensure that he does not feed at the Pentagon trough - banish him for life from working in any and I mean any Pentagon related contracts as a third party contractor.
May be then, you may not have to lose your temper that often.
5
Anyone looking for accountability from the military need only read the Pat Tillman story.
11
"At Fort Bragg, General Thomas watched a video of the ambush made from images on the helmet camera of one of the dead soldiers. He read through the surviving soldiers’ statements about the battle.
And he asked whether Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright, who was killed trying to rescue a wounded comrade who eventually died, was eligible for the Medal of Honor, the military’s highest award." Too bad he didn't do all of that a year ago. I guess he was busy...
7
We've been in Afghanistan for 17 years, throwing away money and lives, accomplishing--what, exactly?
Mr. Mattis, can you please look into that next?
20
Something went seriously wrong here and four men died. They behaved as soldiers should -- to the end. But I believe they were misled and betrayed by their government. No one in this thread has mentioned the ambiguities surrounding the death of the one African-American Green Beret among the four --La David Johnson -- separated from the rest, not found or identified for 48 hours. Why? I wonder if this is because he looked like an[Other] African, not like an American --but no one is admitting this. I've also been troubled by the fact that his widow was advised not to have an open coffin. How does she know that the person buried is actually her husband and not someone else --- Does she have proof? I would want proof. I think people deserve to know the truth about the last hours of their loved ones. And this is not just about La David Johnson, but about all four souls.
11
Amen. I read on the BBC website that Johnson had been found by a villager weeks before it kind of was reported here. I wish that the families could know that they and the 4 soldiers have not been forgotten. My heart hurts when I think of them being ambushed and then lies being told about what happened.
3
We are in foreign lands with covert operations? What a surprise!!! Then we blame Russia and Iran for their alleged involvement in some countries.
131
@RBR We were there at the behest/permission of Niger. Ukraine never asked for Russia to invade it. Lebanon didn't invite Iranian special forces to train Hizbollah.
6
@offtheclock99:
- iran did not ask CIA for regime change in 1953.
- neither did chile around sept 11, 1973.
- nor did the congo in 1964.
- benin did not ask for one in 1984.
- did iraq ask for an invasion?
- did vietnam ask for nuclear bombs?
- did afghanistan ask to be used as test ground
for US weaponry?
- does pakistan ask for permanent US-droning?
- did hondurans ask for US applause for the
military coup in 2007?
- did germany's chancellor ask CIA/FBI to listen in
on her every phone conversation?
1
@RBR
U.S. Special Operations Forces are deployed in over 60 countries right now. Is that surprising? Diplomacy takes many forms and the sharpest, most disciplined front of that is effected by those troops. We blame Russia and Iran, not for their “involvement” but for their criminal and inhumane behavior in in some countries.
1
And when exactly did Congress authorize military action in Niger? We crossed this Rubicon nearly two decades ago now, and rarely does anyone even seem to remember that this is not how it's supposed to work. This is a republic, and our president (whether Trump, Obama, or Bush), is not an emperor.
236
@Shawn,
We crossed the Rubicon 70 years ago in overthrowing Mogadesh in Iran and by launching the Berlin Airlift in the face of 2 million Soviet troops, 67 years ago by going to full scale war in Korea, a thousand times from 1958 to 1980 with our subs and their Soviet counterparts at doomsday confrontation in the North Atlantic, etc, etc, etc, ad infinitum. Your outrage is selective and benighted. It's time to read some history, Shawn.
9
@Charles Becker: thank you for the reminders.
stephen kinzer's works are quite enlightening for
those who are interested in US history & politics, past and present.
according to him, the US has interfered in
about 80 elections since 1880 - not counting
all the coups and regime changes they either
effected or endorsed ...
10
@Charles Becker
Umm... Charles, buddy, both the Berlin Airlift and the Korean War were explicitly approved by Congress. Truman's biggest problem in the Korean War was Congress. MacArthur would never have been allowed to march on the Yalu River if Congress had backed Truman's authority as commander and chief.
Go read some history.
3
The primary blame should go to cowardly bully Trump and his banning of Muslim states, which created bad blood with allies in the region.
The army tried to keep up, but his wholesale destruction of alliances is and should be known to be the primary cause.
6
Didn't quite put that right, but there is contemporaneous material - the one I remember is about Chad - that shows his ill-will destroyed vital alliances and put our soldiers at risk.
13
People died. Reprimands are hardly appropriate when one considers that after soldiers died, superiors were OK with going on about their business.
Then, for those at the Pentagon and White House to get angry when no one is asking how we came to need to be in Niger and what we could be doing to make our presence there obsolete.
---
Things Trump Did While You Weren’t Looking https://wp.me/p2KJ3H-2ZW
9
@Rima Regas Our initial approach in the War on Terror was to go big, and do it ourselves, as in Afghanistan and Iraq. That did not work out too well, and it is too expensive, so we switched to training local forces so that they can do the fighting. Based on what I have personally witnessed in Latin America and Afghanistan, I think that U.S. Army Special Forces Teams are better at training foreign military and paramilitary police forces than anyone else in the world. Sometimes this approach seems to work, but sometimes it fails as in Yemen where all of the local CT units were run by close relatives of President Saleh and the Yemeni Government lost control of these units after Saleh was deposed.
On a broader level, I wonder if, in a country such as Niger, chasing terrorists is the bright shiny object that distracts from the real problems. Terrorist sanctuaries in Niger and its neighbors are symptoms of a much greater problem of failed governance, and there is no military solution for the governance issue. I doubt that the American people have the patience for an incremental whole-of-government approach to assisting Niger and other African countries, and such efforts run a high risk of failure due to American arrogance and delusions about what local populations truly desire. These are the issues that should be the subject of debate, not finger pointing over the deaths of these soldiers.
1
@Rima Regas........the US is "helping" protect the 4th largest uranium mining source in the world........for France and multinational nuke conglomerate, Areva. now rebranded as Orano.
Although, billions of dollars ,in uranium profits were made by France since 1970......Niger remains one of the poorest countries in the world,heavily contaminated by the effects of the uranium mining and processing.........and is one of the worst countries for political corruption.Colonial France exploited Tribal rivalries......to fight its battles for control............so YES ,like in ALL OTHER other exploited ex-colonies we have TERRORISTS.....who want to reclaim TERRITORY,political and mineral rights and mete out revenge .....for corrupt government abuse.
As part of the International Military Industrial Complex......the US must protect the uranium mining..........An inconvenient TRUTH !
2
@Allan Langland
What I was alluding to is the reason why these nations need our "assistance" at all in the first place. Why did Al Qaeda and ISIL come to exist in the first place? How did we come to make so many enemies?
Those are the kinds of questions we should be asking ourselves if we are ever to get on a path in which the need for such interventions significantly diminishes.
We are in perpetual war.
Different war but same old results.
Generals get medals for advancement, privates take the blame.
Thank you, Mad Dog, for setting a few things straight.
28
Do you suppose, if the Draft was reinstated, we would still participate in these confrontations? I do not.
33
@ne ne na
One would think that America, arguably the most gun-obsessed society on earth, who pours enormous amounts of money in military weapons, with military bases around the world, would be gung-ho for conscripted military service. Apparently not.
1
It's good that Gen. Mattis is looking over this. When the first Army report came out, I got the feeling that many junior officers' careers were sacrificed by upper management who were chasing medals.
21
In "The Generals" by Thomas Ricks, the author documents that senior Army officers routinely escape accountability for failed missions, while enlisted personnel and junior officers are held to a much higher standard.
20
It seems to me that since Abu Ghraib that responsibility has had a habit of missing those in the chain of command who should be on top of things and prefers to blame those with the least control over the matter.
11
@Allen Braun "since Abu Ghraib", no since time immemorial. There are countless examples for every war fought.
5
Mattis is right. The Navy alone among the services still has a tradition of the top officer being accountable for what happens on her or his watch. Admirals are routinely sacked for this reason. Very old school but effective. Not in the Army, where senior leaders and general officers are treated almost as if a pagan priesthood caste immune from responsibility for their actions. Scapegoating the young Captain who had the prescience to push back on the ill-considered orders from above that led to the Niger fiasco, who then was seriously wounded while bravely leading his troops in a battle he had tried to avoid, was shameful. Meanwhile rival Marine and Army generals in charge of this sandbox war continue to bicker over who's to blame. Given the questionable quality of modern US generalship, it may be that wars are too important to be left to our generals to fight anymore.
53
@Beantownah
Great last sentence!
How is it that someone back in the states when this incident took place has his career trashed, and the commanders who ordered the extension of the mission
which ultimately caused its failure and the lost of life,
aren't suffering the same treatment or worse?
My sympathies to the families whose loved ones died.
9
What I saw when I was in the Army was that rank was the most consistent predictor of responsibility when something went wrong -- or right. Of course, one of inverse and the other perverse.
Looks like it hasn't changed.
20
Rank has its privileges - always was, always will be.
He's shocked, shocked, shocked to find out that nobody at the officer level was held accountable? Good grief, that's in the SOP of the military, and he spent a career there. Thoughts and prayers were mailed out, and that should have been enough, right?
24
I am pleased to see NYT pursuing this important story and I hope you will continue to do so. Two things are unclear to me. 1) Why did Lt. Painter ignore the concerns of the commander in the field and why wasn't he reprimanded initially. 2) What's the issue with the reprimands for inadequate training with the NIger forces? is the Army saying the firefight would have turned out differently if the local forces had better trained?
Also, why is this taking so long? You would think that the hard part is recreating what happened during the engagement but they seem to have done that. You wouldn't think it would be that hard to learn what Lt. Col. Painter did, why he did it, and whether he acted correctly.
17
@David The bottom line is that U.S. soldiers died so our political culture demands that someone must be punished, due to a prevailing belief that we should be able to fight wars without suffering any deaths. The first initial target for punishment (sacrificial lamb in my opinion) was CPT Perozeni, based on an allegation that he submitted a misleading Concept of Operations (Key Leader Engagement mission vs. Capture or Kill mission). CPT Perozeni's Letter of Reprimand proved to be untenable when it subsequently came out that he actually opposed an operational retasking to conduct a Capture of Kill mission. Now the focus has shifted to his Company Commander, MAJ Van Saun, for- according to what I can decipher from the reporting - a failure to ensure that CPT Perozeni's Team (ODA 3212) was sufficiently trained. There were gaps in ODA 3212's predeployment training (and the ODA was undermanned) but this was not the exclusively the responsibility of MAJ Van Saun, nor did anyone in the chain-of-command, from CPT Perozeni on up, believe that ODA 3212 was not mission capable when it deployed downrange. Another alleged fault is that the Special Forces chain-of-command erroneously relied on templates rather than deliberate planning for execution of operations (a criticism that is apparently aimed at Perozeni's Battalion Commander LTC Painter, among others). This allegation ignores SOF doctrine for dealing with time-sensitive targets
6
@David The bottom line is that U.S. soldiers died so heads have to roll. Whether such punishment is actually justified or not is beside the point, the political pressure demands that somebody must be punished. The iniital Letter of Reprimand against Team Commander (CPT Perozeni) was justified because he allegedly filed a misleading Concept of Operations (ConOp) that specificed that his team was going to conduct a Key Leader Engagement mission when in fact he was planning a Capture or Kill mission against a terrorist leader. The story changed when it turned out that he actually pushed back against a retasking for a Capture or Kill mission, thus making the initial charge against him appear to be false. Now the search for scapegoats has targeted his Company Commander, MAJ Van Saun, for allegedly not ensuring that CPT Perozeni's Team (ODA 3212) was not properly trained. ODA 3212 reportedly did not complete all of its pre-deployment training, nor was it fully staffed with all twelve Special Forces Soldiers, but the responsibility for this shortcoming does not fall solely on the shoulders of MAJ Van Saun, his Company Commander, nor LTC Painter, his Battalion Commander. It goes all the way up to the Group level, and even higher, and it does not sound like a legitimate complaint as nobody in the chain-of-command, from CPT Perozeni on up, apparently believed that ODA 3212 was incapable of executing its missions when deployed downrange.
My husband served in Army Intelligence in DC. His comment, after he came out was “ there is no Intelligence in the Army “.
This column proves it.
It is disgusting to think young men and women join the service and put their lives at risk to protect our country and their Army Leaders do nothing to keep them protectected on patrol. Furthermore, they then either cover it up or point fingers at those who are in Junior positions.
Mattis and the rest of the Generals need to man up and accept responsibility for these horrendous circumstances.
How can this country claim that we have the best Military in the world. We haven’t won a war since WWII.
There is a message here.
21
Even with a +$750 Billion annual budget .. Our US military is over stretched.
The wall of military bureaucracy and accountability is higher than the wall Trump wants to build!
6
Isn't the Defense Secretary to blame for all military affairs on his watch? That was the case during Vietnam.. when I served in the Navy. See: Top down leadership.
9
Mattis lost any integrity he has displayed since he legally dodged the draft during the Vietnam war when he agreed to serve trump as Secretary of Defense. In this case he is trying to gain back some of his lost honor as Marine. As a former Marine I was aghast when he agreed to trump’ s Secretary of Defebse
2
This is a conundrum the military has struggled with, normally unsuccessfully, for years. How to assign punishment to good people all, generally doing their level best in a hugely demanding, time sensitive environment with unclear or ambiguous guidance from above. Dealing with both military and diplomatic and political pressures. Unfortunately, those closest to the mistake, typically the operators or lower ranking folks, take the brunt of the hit, while those further away...those responsible for resourcing and issuing clear and achievable orders. Its hard to end the career of leaders who often have proven themselves in combat on previous tours. This is not easy to do, but we too often forget where the buck stops. And its not normally with a Captain roaming the hinterlands of Niger.
I applaud Sec Mattis for pushing the system.
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One person in this administration has integrity. Sadly, it's just the one.
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"team of underequipped and poorly supported American soldiers"
Sadly this is nothing new for US military forces. One would think it could learn but apparently not.
There was a legion of stories told by my father's friends who served alongside US forces in WW2, where the less well equipped but better trained and disciplined allied forces felt they constantly had to cover for thevery well equipped US soldiers' ineptitude. Then I heard first hand from a former Vietnam vet. He told of being a 19 year old private whose platoon was joined by a US platoon to go out on patrol in enemy territory. These soldiers were also very well equipped down to each one having a transistor radio. First they had to be told to turn them off because the music was likely to betray their position. Second they had to trade them to the Australian soldiers who didn't have such luxuries, for food and water. The US soldiers had been sent out on patrol with basic survival rations of food and water!
My informant was disgusted that the poor training, discipline and support of the US soldiers put him and his mates lives at risk.
It's been an ongoing story for at least 70 years. Isn't it about time that things changed particularly if the US is going to maintain wars all over the world?
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Meanwhile, defense spending is at all-time high with military contractors gorging themselves.
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@Deirdre Oliver
"one would think that IT (the military) will learn"? Nothing in government learns unless the public forces them to. This will keep happening as long as few Americans serve while the rest of the population routinely says "thank you for your service" a few times a year then goes on to ignore how, where, and why we are using our armed forces. Americans would rather give meaningless lip service than engage in constructive debate, or (heaven forbid) have their own children have to serve.
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@Deirdre Oliver Reminds me of what my old OC of my cadet Corp used to say. A RSM of the British SAS, he'd been sent to Vietnam as an advisor after Malaya, so '65 or '66. He was appalled, at the training, field knowledge and US appreciation of just who they were fighting and why. I remember him telling us that the GIs wore deodorant on patrol, and could be smelt from miles away!
3
Finally the GOP-led government is being held accountable for American lives lost. This should be pursued all the day up the chain of command (why stop at the United States Africa Command?), until those who failed our soldiers are either demoted or punished accordingly. I think a Congressional hearing would be appropriate as well, to guarantee the military doesn't sweep everything under the rug.
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@Adam
This Congress? They’d blame it on Hillary.
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Note the story of our unmaintained aircraft that caused American soldiers and pilots lives. We ask for service from our young men and women but fail them when deployed and when they leave the services. But we. Can afford millions of dollars for piety and parades. Why?
5
Issues such as Africa Command vs Spec Ops command, and Army vs Marines raised in this article highlight the a basic problem of a huge and fragmented military structure. It leads to tragedies such as the Niger attack and follow-up blame game, and huge inefficiencies. I know military types think this idea is unworkable, but I advocate for getting rid of individual service distinctions, Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force (!!!), and just having a single military body. There is already so much cross-over in competencies between the services, it is incredibly wasteful, and we are paying almost $1T for it.
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Senior officers will be forced to take responsibility and be reprimanded when "you know what" starts rolling uphill instead of downhill.
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Messy as it is, they've done a lot better than the Navy with Fat Leonard.
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My Lai. William Calley.
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@independent
Exactly. Calley deserved what he got and more, but there was plenty of blame above him that was ignored. This has been a problem in the army for a long time.
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@Chet Even Calley only served three and a half years of a life sentence and that was under house arrest in his quarters at Fort Benning not hard labor at Fort Leavenworth as sentenced.
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Trump was responsible, you know like HRC in Benghazi. Lock him up.
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Please! Doubtful if trump could even locate Chad on a printed map. He probably thinks it had something to do with the vote in Florida.
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Does this story prove the existence of a thin khaki line?
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@LarryAt27N this story highlights the importance of competent leadership at all levels and of the value that a Secretary of Defense with an impeccable reputation and impressive intellect. Mistakes are made. People are human. The process in the military actually works very well. Compare this to the mistakes, foibles and malfeasance of the corporate and political classes. There is no "thin khaki line" but the military does care for it's own because civilians do not have a clue about what goes on beyond the fence, or the courage to give up their income, comforts and security to perhaps find out for themselves.
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Army Special Forces A Teams as well as other Special Operations units are in covert operational roles in many places of the world and have been for decades. The accountability being hesitantly extracted from the US Military command structure for the brave men lost in Niger is an exception to the general circumstance where losses of good people, failed by upper command and government malfeasance, is purposely hidden from the public.
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All that I could think was "Would these officers and NCO's be fighting like this if we did not have mercenary's working for us and having a huge effect on moral and loyalty with so much money being thrown at them while we don't even take care of our vets who come home injured?"
I'm betting the money we have wasted on mercenary's could have given every soldier $1K+ a month raise and still have saved us hundreds of millions of dollars which could be funding the VA.
You have to wonder or you should at least be wondering what the ridiculous amounts of money being spent on mercenary's is doing to our moral and readiness. Are the best and brightest not re-upping so they can make bank as a merc?! Why can't we just pay our soldiers better?!
It aint right. It aint American to be using mercenary's. Ditto private contractors.
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Good for Mattis. Usually the blame falls squarely on the enlisted ranks and the officers escape punishment. Good to see there have been some changes. Semper Fi, Jim.
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Somebody has an awful lot to hide.
We're talking Special Forces people who can put together complex operations in a matter of hours, and carry them out in a matter of minutes, while reacting on-scene in fractions of a second. Provided the right team - the right combination of people and skills - is assembled.
Someone, probably in the Oval Office, thought they had real opportunity grandstand and one-up Obama's killing of Bin Laden. Now, because the operation was pushed too fast by the wrong people for the wrong reasons, wherein those wrong people chose a team that could not work together under those circumstances, they're doing everything they can to distance themselves.
This lack of reporting combined with laying he blame at the wrong feet has the rotten smell of Bone Spurs. Bet me.
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@rds This is a bad take. The Oval Office occupant has a lot to answer for and is ultimately responsible for all military action or inaction but this is a problem that predated him and goes to the structure of the U.S. Armed Forces.
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@rds - Nobody even knows the name of target, in the article he is only called "a local militant". If he had been killed, it would have been a very minor news event, similar to all the nameless others. There has never been a report that I know of indicating your allegation, and you provide no reference.
Of course the top level tendency for reckless behavior not anchored by facts may be indirectly responsible.
But then your seeming willingness to make a baseless claim, if repeated by many people often enough, will itself indirectly fuel the Trump movement to do the same.
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@rds As another commenter astutely pointed out, if Trump hadn't put Chad on the travel ban list, Chad's soldiers, deployed in Niger to fight Boko Haram, would not have been ordered back to their own country, which undermined security for our troops.
Can we now expect a never ending congressional investigation a la Trent Gowdy and Benghazi? Who was the Secretary of State when this incident occurred, and what was his involvement or lack thereof? What was the role of the Philanderer-in-Chief in this incident? Where is the outrage from all the flag draped, Bible battering, military service avoiding super patriots from the Republican Party? Inquiring minds want to know!
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I would like to nominate George W. Bush for the highest honor that this country can bestow on him.
W H A T ???
Because of the way he managed his father's funeral he succeeded in doing something that no other man has dared try.
For one hour he made Donald Trump
...Sit down
...Shut up
...and not use his phone to tweet anything!!!!!!!
A grateful nation salutes you George...
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@Jet Gardmer
Yes, that is George W. Bush's level of competence. It's a pity he was our President.
Does anyone remember "The Peter Principle"?
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@Jet Gardmer Actually two hours. Unheard of in history.
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Niger is Trumps Benghazi
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@Deirdre
Yes---Notice how the Congressional Rkons are investigating this failure...not a peep. Beyond holding responsible those directing this tactical failure, they shoulkd examine and try to explain why the US Military is in Africa in the first place.
If USA adhered to its own declared principles of self-dertermination,this gov't would not have a military force in someone else's country in the first place.
Just get 0ut.
Is a there a hotel or casino opportunity over there?
6
Perhaps the United States Republican House Select Committee on Benghazi and Trey Gowdy can investigate the four Niger deaths of American servicemen for $4 million for two or three years.
Oh never mind....a Republican was President when Niger happened.
It doesn't matter when Republicans are in charge.
Nice GOPeople.
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@Socrates. Yes this exactly. They might do it too. They'll need something to try and distract from the fact that the GOP has installed, protected and lied to the American people to put a traitor in the Whitehouse.
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The military chain of command:
1) The president makes a decision and the chief general carries it out. It's a disaster. The general is to blame.
2) A general makes a decision and a captain carries it out. It's a disaster. The captain is to blame.
3) A Captain makes a decision and a soldier carries it out. It's a disaster. The soldier is to blame.
4) An American officer, who is working with a foreign officer, makes a decision. It is a disaster. The foreign officer is to blame.
5) A white, heterosexual male makes a decision and a (fill-in-the-blank with any of the following: female, person of color, gay, transgender, etc) carries it out. The latter person is to blame.
The military will never change. Glad I no longer have any connection to the U.S. military. And of once, we can't blame five-time draft dodger Donny J. for the problem. It's endemic to the military.
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@Jay David tradition is tradition.
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@Jay David
Civilian control of the uniformed military means that the military are akin to guard dogs.
The civilians are ultimately responsible along with the people who elected them as their representatives in our divided limited power constitutional republic of united states where the people are the ultimate sovereign.
Unfortunately, the code of ethics begins w our unethical president and trickles down....
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Are you implying that whatever institutional problems contributed to this debacle only manifested themselves upon the election of Donald Trump? This never would have happened during the Obama administration? Excuse me while I laugh. TDS appears to hamper critical thinking and reasoning and erase long term memory.
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@Katie
On the other hand, despising Trump is no obstacle to critical thinking or long-term memory. I agree with your question -- it's not Trump, it's the way our military works. It's the sort of organizational senescence that develops in a large organization that hasn't had to deal with real pressures. I'll bet that three quarters of our top military officers are just warming seats, and they may be the ones who are ordering troops into danger without understanding what's going on.
I compare this with the way our educational system is regularly turned upside down by managers and politicians, who almost invariably forget to ask the teachers what they need to do the job.
13
You need to take a realistic look at who is calling the shots. The military in US is HUGE - there are hundreds of proposed special operations that never see the light of day because a commander-in-chief can see what the cost/benefit is in terms of lives and objectives. Can you say that Trump would not be easily swayed be an optimistic, careerist general? I can say that about Obama.
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Well, good job Mattis. But you should have known this kind of blame-the-peons approach (long-established in the armed forces) would flourish under Trump, a man who worships and fears generals, but has nothing but feelings of contempt and superiority towards people of lesser status.
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@sedanchair
Fears generals? He fired McMaster and Flynn and is about to push out Kelly. He is also about to change the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
Where is the fear? Trump continues to do whatever he wants to do with no real repercussions. Sad.
12
During the campaign, Trump insisted he was smarter than all of the generals. Because he went to a military high school.
14
It’s bad enough when the incompetence of senior officers results in the avoidable deaths of their men, but it’s outright sickening when those same officers duck accountability and blame those who were actually in harm’s way. Another in a long line of “Paths of Glory” episodes.
247
One by one, the wheels are falling off the Trump bus.
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@Ran---If it becomes a sleigh, will Rudolph be attached to pull it?
3
Apparently Mr Mattis believes that the buck should stop higher up. Bully for him.
32
Where are the enraged House Republicans wanting to investigate this matter?
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" Stuff " rolls downhill, same as it ever was. At least someone is trying to do better. Thank you, General Mattis. But what, exactly, are WE doing there ??? And is it worth it ??? I'll vote NO.
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It's almost amusing to see "Lap Dog" Mattis asking for integrity and accountability when he doesn't demand it of himself. Agreeing to let the military serve as Trump's political prop in a pointless border patrol exercise shows that he's every bit as craven and corrupt as the rest of Trump's cabinet. It just took longer in his case.
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@Keith
Brother you are on the money with that observation. Mattis lost any integrity he earned after dodging the draft during the VIetnam war by joining the trump adm. As a former Marine I can not believe this man could align himself with trump. But “legal”Vietnam war draft dodging birds of feather do flock together.Just ask Kelly and Bolton.
7
Isn't it time to end all of the wars we are participating in around the world?
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Bravo.
15
Refreshing to see that at least one official in this administration still believes in what a sign that President Truman had on his desk ..... The Buck Stops Here. wish our current person in Oval Office felt the same
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@nan
For our current president, perhaps the most accurate
sign on his desk would be "The bucks stop here."
2
@nan.....]
Not exactly like Truman. With Dumpf the desk sign reads, "several millions of bucks stop here".
It's a different concept.
2
@ACounter Replace "buck" with "Ruble" and I'd say you're on to something.
1
If a Democrat was in the White House, Niger would be the GOP's new Benghazi.
394
Neither James "Mad Dog" Mattis nor John " Empty Barrel" Kelly covered themselves in brave honorable patriotism in this awfully incompetent, ignorant and ill advised Niger operation.
Mattis should have held himself accountable and offered to resign or resigned on his own or been fired. Kelly is a white supremacist misogynist bigot who slurred and lied about the dead black soldiers widow and black female member of Congress. Kelly should have been fired or forced to resign.
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Totally agree with this comment. Kelly’s behavior was unbecoming and unforgivable.
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@Blackmamba
Any modicum of respect I had for Kelly instantly evaporated when he insulted Congresswoman Wilson in front of the world before knowing who she was or why she was present on the phone call to LaDavid Johnson's widow. That he never had the decency to apologize to her makes him as repellent as Trump.
Bengazi, anyone?
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@Nancy Kelley
Campari and soda, anyone? (That's my irrelevant and mystifying contribution.)
1
@Nancy Kelley
NOW I think I got it. Okay!
1
Interesting article.
Wasn't this the same mission that Mittis' boss, the guy who lies and sleeps in the WH, characterized the loss as "and they (the generals) lost Ryan"?
Well the boss set a "fine" example - never accept responsibility when something goes wrong. After all that was a mission that "was started before he got there" - just like the strong economic growth. Oops, no the economic growth happened because he sleeps in the WH.
26
Mattis still has integrity; that's probably why Trump is about to replace him. Either that, or perhaps Mattis has simply had enough.
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@Lou Anne Leonard i don't know the man, but any person of integrity would have refused to serve under the traitorous coward trump and given his reasons in public. the nation deserves not a bit less than that. otherwise, this nincompoop with dictator pretensions (aided by the cowardly GOP in Congress) continues to ruin the nation at home and abroad in terms of leading that thing we have all but forgotten: Democracy!
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@Lou Anne Leonard -- Mattis appeared to have integrity, until he agreed to send troops where there is utterly no need of them to prop up Trump's false claims about immigration and refugees. Now, General "Lap Dog" is going to see that nobody believes in your integrity once you've shown that you will cave to your own superiors.
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Well a shred of integrity. Everyone who signs on to this - - - -show loses a great deal of their integrity. Can’t wait till Mattis is out and the mean tweets start flying.
28
Our military members are in harm’s way, and apparently no one knows, what to do, wha is going on or who is responsible. About what I’d expect at a time when this country is governed by a weak and ill prepared alleged CiC.
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@f2usaciv, military members are supposed to be in harm's way. What are you thinking? Please explain better.
I believe nothing has changed in the military for the past decades. Trump or Obama or -- I almost said Bush Jr. -- had little to do with it. Bush Jr. certainly did have something to do with it, if the result of his invasion of Iraq is any indication. (Certain people should have had permanent letters of reprimand.)
3
Search for the guilty. Punishment of the inmocent. Awards for the non-participants.
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Kudos to Mattis/
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The public and would rather not know. The number of enemies the US has in the world has increased since we have elected and continue to stand by Mr. Trump, the Commander in Chief. Our government has been in the grips of a finger-pointing frenzy that ought to remind us of McCarthy or Henry Miller's "The Crucible," except they actually turned out well compared to the mess Trump and his minority of voters handed us.
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@Max & Max
ARTHUR Miller?
6
It is striking that combat decisions are made by officers located in a different country than where the action is occurring. This article indicates that a Captain on the ground, assessing the situation, concluded that he did not have the manpower and equipment to fulfill a mission only to be told by a higher ranking officer in another country to continue. Once again, what appears to be the case to this reader is that those up the chain of command place junior officers and enlisted men in a precarious and dangerous situation with an eye, not on the ball, but possibly another ribbon to wear on the uniform. Where does the buck stop? Shouldn't battalion and brigade commanders have sufficient trust in captains, lieutenants and senior NCOs to believe these junior officers and NCOs when they concede that they do not have what is needed to fulfill the mission?
Ultimately, however, the real question is what are we doing in Africa? What is the objective? What are the policy goals? Does Congress or the American people support this or is that passively done via the mammoth defense budget? There are lots of questions and no answers to why someone's son, father, husband, brother had to give their lives.
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@Moronic Observer
I agree with you. But no one “gives their lives”. That a phrase that needs to be buried, deeply. Military people in harm’s way are not making a present of their lives. But they are, with weak commanders, treated as if they are.
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@Moronic Observer
To your point –
"Those boys can't bomb an outhouse without my permission" Pres. Lyndon Baines Johnson on the Vietnam war.
Poor leaders micro-manage - and the results are nearly always the same regardless of the era.
40
"Ultimately, however, the real question is what are we doing in Africa?"
It's, allegedly, some war against ISIS and other such terrorists and totally not an excuse to build launchpads in Africa for creepy camera- and missile-armed drones to extend our military and surveillance reach or anything.
-----
"Does Congress or the American people support this or is that passively done via the mammoth defense budget?"
The budget does (and if it doesn't, "covfefe" will happily just shuffle money to it like it was FEMA money to immigrant prisons!). Congress almost surely does, and won't dare de-authorize or censure a President, let alone occupant "covfefe", over a bad war (see the Cheney-Rice-Rumsfeld Iraq massacre). The American people might. I sure as hell do NOT, nor his aid of the Yemen Genocide.
-----
And Marilyn Hazelton, I agree—and they make even LESS such a present when they find out their COs only seek to sustain the fossil-burner climate attack.
18