Congress calls for details on Niger ambush
Pentagon: Inquiry into four soldiers’ deaths takes time
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration had no answers Thursday to key questions two weeks after an ambush in the African nation of Niger killed four U.S. soldiers, prompting demands in Congress for details, complaints of Pentagon stonewalling and a comparison to the 2012 Benghazi attack. The White House defended itself, saying an investigation would eventually offer clarity.
Among the unresolved inquiries: Why were the Americans apparently caught by surprise? Why did it take two additional days to recover one of the four bodies after the shooting stopped? Was the Islamic State responsible?
The confusion over what happened in a remote corner of Niger, where few Americans travel, has increasingly dogged President Donald Trump, who was silent about the deaths for more than a week.
Asked why, Trump on Monday turned the topic into a political tussle by crediting himself with doing more to honor the dead and console their families than any of his predecessors. His subsequent boast that he reaches out personally to all families of the fallen was contradicted by family members, some of whom had not heard from Trump at all.
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The deadly ambush in Niger occurred Oct. 4 as Islamic militants on motorcycles, toting rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns, seized on a U.S. convoy and shattered the windows of their unarmored trucks. In addition to those killed, two Americans were wounded. No extremist group has claimed responsibility.
The attack is under official military investigation, normal for a deadly incident. The Wall Street Journal reported the FBI has joined the investigation.
What is abnormal, according to Sen. John McCain, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is the Trump administration’s slow response to requests for information. He said Thursday it may take a subpoena to shake loose more information.
Sen. Bob Corker, the Tennessee Republican who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said members of Congress have been provided with some information about the attack, “but not what we should.”
At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis pushed back, saying it naturally takes time to verify information about a combat engagement. He promised to provide accurate information as soon as it’s available, but offered no timetable.
“The loss of our troops is under investigation,” he said. “We in the Department of Defense like to know what we’re talking about before we talk.”
Mattis did not offer details about the circumstances under which the Americans were traveling but said contact with hostile forces had been “considered unlikely.”
That would explain why the Americans, who were traveling in unarmored vehicles with Nigerien counterparts, lacked access to medical support and had no immediate air cover, although Mattis said French aircraft were called to the scene quickly. He said contract aircraft flew out the bodies of the three Americans shortly after the firefight. Locals found Johnson’s body and returned it Oct. 6.
It’s not clear why Johnson was not found with the three others Oct. 4.
Awaiting verification
Dana W. White, a spokeswoman for Mattis, said Johnson had become “separated.” Speaking at a news conference with her, Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, director of the Joint Staff, said he knew more about what had happened to Johnson but was not willing to share it. He said U.S., Nigerien and French forces remained in the area searching for Johnson until he was found, so it would be wrong to say he was “left behind.”
Mattis said the U.S. has about 1,000 troops in that part of Africa to support a French-led mission to disrupt and destroy extremist elements. He said the U.S. provides aerial refueling, intelligence and reconnaissance support.
“In this specific case, contact (with hostile forces) was considered unlikely, but the reason we had U.S. Army soldiers there and not the Peace Corps, it’s because we carry guns.”
McKenzie said last week that U.S. troops in that area had done 29 similar missions over the previous six months without encountering enemy forces.
Underlining how the attack and its response have rattled the White House this week, Trump’s national security adviser, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, also joined the defense. He said Thursday that it would be wrong for the Pentagon to provide details of the tragedy before it had fully verified them.
“Answers that are provided, oftentimes, short of that full investigation, turn out in retrospect to have been inaccurate and just cause more confusion,” McMaster said.