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Missteps, Military Failings, and Issues, Oh My
So “leaked” reports came out yesterday referencing the investigation into the ambush in Niger that left four Americans dead. The classified version is done and in the process of being briefed to Congress and the families. A redacted/unclassified version will be made public. Meanwhile “Military Officials” leaked information from the massive 6,000-page investigation resulting in headlines that read “Pentagon Cites Multiple Missteps That Led To Ambush Of U.S. Troops In Niger,” “Classified Report Slams Military Over October Deaths in Niger,” and “Classified Niger probe finds multiple flaws in deadly mission: report.”
Complacency? Patently untrue — I know firsthand. Since the US has been there post-9/11, this is the first attack of this magnitude to happen in Niger. Being shot at is routine — having a full-fledged, planned, and well-executed ambush — nope. Unexpected, yes; complacency, no. The team maintained their security and left when it became apparent that something was not right.
Lack of training? Really? All I can see is some investigator with a full night’s sleep, a full belly, and plenty of water saying “that’s not what I would have done, they shoulda’….” Again, first-hand, these guys reacted textbook despite 30 hours without sleep in an oven of a desert in a full-on ambush. You engage and try to get out of the kill zone. And that is exactly what they did.
Then they got separated — very common in the fog of war. This separation is what kept them in the area. Not leaving anyone behind is an American military praxis resulting in the loss of all vehicles and ultimately in the loss of four soldiers. I am not sure what “training” is being talked about but it’s always easier in hindsight sippin’ on your Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and munching on a cruller.
And my personal favorite “a culture of excessive risk” or, even better, “a culture of risk,” depending on what article you read. Now you decide: do you want Green Berets that are willing and able to step into the gap or Green Berets wondering how to institute safe spaces in the area of operations? And how about trigger warnings? Oh, the irony of that phrase in this instance. We take risks, albeit calculated, but it’s a risky job — always. It’s what Special Forces does. This continues to boggle my mind. (I have ranted about this before here and here.)
As the saying goes, “first reports are always wrong,” which I have largely found to be true. The statements and words above could be completely out of context, leveraged for media hype. The political stench on this, however, continues largely from the left with an agenda to drag the President down by any means possible, producing, I believe, headlines like the ones above.
It will be interesting to see what happens when this becomes public … again. One last thing: who is talking to the press? In my line of work, you became an instant pariah if you talked to the press. But again, I believe there is a larger political agenda going on here.
Published in General
This in SPADES!
Former SEAL, Matt Bracken, has been loud and consistent on the “why”:
Obama never gave cross border authority (CBA) orders to aid Americans (including his own Ambassador) under siege in Benghazi
I get that no order was given, but that is not the “why/ why not” that I’m looking for. Dammit Jim, we are Americans. We always send in the calvary.
My guess is that Obama (and his closest advisors) knew the best political calculation was to do nothing and let ‘his people’ die. I don’t believe it was even a close call. The political risks to his re-election of mounting and conducting a rescue operation were not worth the lives of those men on the ground. They (Obama and his inner circle) had a lot to hide; and because of that, we will never know the truth of “Benghazi.” Plus they had a ton more to hide afterwards due to Obama’s no decision – decision. The Deep State has circled the wagons on this. We the People do not need to know.
I think we needed to know, but the not-knowing tells us something anyway, doesn’t it?
I was being sarcastic as Hades!
Yep…I wanted you to know I’m paying attention. ;-)
Rhetorical question, I know we’re dealing w/BHO & HRC here: Why don’t they see that – in general – you’re likely to get more buy-in/support when people have *accurate* information to go on? Frustrated as all-get-out…
A better question, and one that likely bedeviled Obama, “How the hell did this happen and WHY the hell is there nothing we can do about it?”
Followed by a good deal of shoe gazing and foot shuffling amongst all the people and organizations that shared responsibility for this obvious cock up.
Think about it. Failures up and down the line.
The most extensive and expensive intelligence apparatus in history. No warning.
The US Dept of State has such a flawed appreciation for the threat situation in Libya, a nation only two steps removed from Somalia circa 1993, that they forgoe professional American military security resources. And further they subcontract security to some local toughs with less legitimacy than the Gambino Family.
Meanwhile, back at the Five Sided Insane Asylum, the military services can’t answer basic questions like: Why is it that the only available designated counter terror force is off training, with no nominated contingency reserve? Or, why is it that it takes two hours to spin up a sortie of Sicilian based fighter bombers?
We have layers and layers of highly trained and well paid people whose very job is to anticipate and plan for these worst case developments. And yet consistently they seem to fail.
Only one further point to add…in a way it’s related to the last point.
George Bush’s first official act on 9/12/01 should have been to fire George Tennant.
To encourage the others.
Thanks, Steve C. The stupid + venal = dead equation makes my head spin, and my heart hurt. Not to mention making me so spastically angry that I just about can’t move…