Adding more confusion to the situation in the October 4 ambush in Niger, during which four US special forces were killed, and during which the Pentagon insisted they had no way to get any rescue forces to the area in time, Pentagon officials are now confirming that there was in fact a second special forces team in the same area during the incident.
“There was one (team) that had something to do with this operation, but I’m not going to be able to give you any more specific details,” insisted Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, who is involved in the investigation into the incident.
The ambushed troops were reportedly chasing a “suspect” on a motorcycle until they were led into the ambush area, and unconfirmed reports suggest the second unit was sent out to try to catch the motorcyclist, though it’s not at all clear they actually did.
McKenzie has defended the incident, saying troops have done about 29 patrols before in the same area and never got ambushed during those, so officials assumed they wouldn’t get ambushed in the future.
The Pentagon appears to have totally authorized the US operations in Niger by themselves, with President Trump attributing it to “my generals,” and Congressional officials expressing shock that 1,000 troops were in the country without them being informed.
Hey, so long as they’re protecting our freedom, I’m cool with it!
/sarcasm
They should stick to drones.
USA must sally forth and create monsters to destroy.
If foreigner soldiers were patrolling around in any neighborhood in the USA carrying guns and chasing motorcycles ? You don’t think they would eventually run into trouble such as ambushes ? Trump better stop listening to the Pentagon and his generals and best start telling them exactly what to do .
This is not what the first reports after the incident said. It was a joint Nigerien/US patrol. After concluding a parley wih the village chief in Tonto Tonto, the patrol was about to leave. Then several rebels on motorbikes appeared in the distance. The Nigeriens gave chase, and the Americans followed. They were led right into the prepared ambush.
The mission was a recon mission, not a specific High Value Target capture or kill mission. Among other things, that would not repeat not have been done by a combined Nigerien/US patrol. It would have been done by Delta Force or Navy Seals.
The military’s stories are getting more and more bogus. O the lies we weave when we first practice to deceive.