As the days pass, more and more questions have been asked surrounding the events that took place in Niger on October 4, leaving four U.S. soldiers dead. One of the deceased men, Sgt. La David Johnson, may have been left behind, and only found—or returned—days later. While many Republicans are trying to pretend that this is not a major issue in order to move forward with their plans to give massive tax breaks to the rich, others have realized that something is rotten here. Now, two reports are saying that senior officials are distressed by early information surrounding the ambush’s events. NBC News cites an anonymous source who called the situation a “massive intelligence failure.”
The aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly, said the House and Senate armed services committees have questions about the scope of the U.S. mission in Niger, and whether the Pentagon is properly supporting the troops on the ground there.
There was no U.S. overhead surveillance of the mission, he said, and no American quick reaction force available to rescue the troops if things went wrong. If it wasn't for the arrival of French fighter jets, he said, things could have been much worse for the Americans.
The Los Angeles Times expands on what we know about what is now suspected to have been two back-to-back ambushes. The first ambush was followed by the second attack, and without French support, some believe we might have lost the entire unit.
It was in the chaos of the second attack that the unit may have lost track of Johnson and initially members were unable to confirm he had been killed in the assault. French attack helicopters and jets responded during the second ambush, successfully killing and pushing away the gunmen, allowing the remaining members of the U.S. and Nigerien force to escape.
Why were we unable to provide our own reconnaissance?
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Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, commander of U.S. Africa Command, documented to Congress in March his forces’ lack of needed resources on the continent. He said about 20% to 30% of requirements for “intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance” flights were being met, and complained there weren’t enough military helicopters to help locate missing, wounded, or killed service members.
The men killed were Staff Sgt. Bryan C. Black, 35, of Puyallup, Washington.; Staff Sgt. Jeremiah W. Johnson, 39, of Springboro, Ohio; Staff Sgt. Dustin M. Wright, 29, of Lyons, Georgia; and Sgt. La David T. Johnson, 25, of Miami Gardens, Florida.