Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, took to the Pentagon briefing room Monday to swat away suggestions by media pundits and some eager Democrats that the deaths of four American soldiers represent “Trump’s Benghazi.”
Dunford, a career military officer, looked about as enthusiastic as a dental patient waiting for a root canal at the prospect of wading into a political argument between President Donald Trump and his critics. But he downplayed the sinister insinuation.
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“I personally see no utility in comparing this incident to any other incident,” he said. “What I would tell you is we lost four Americans in this incident. We had two others wounded. That makes it a big deal to me. That gives me a sense of urgency to identify exactly what happened, to communicate exactly what happened to the families and the American people.”
Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) tweeted Sunday that “Niger is @realDonaldTrump’s Benghazi. He needs to own it.”
Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.) would not go that far in an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Monday, but said, “There’s a lot of unanswered questions.”
The comparisons seem strained at best. Four American died in Benghazi, Libya, after an attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound there in 2012. Former President Barack Obama’s administration sparked questions after revelations that U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens — among the victims — previously had asked for more security and that conflicting directives delayed the Air Force from scrambling jets to respond to the emergency.
Critics also accused Obama administration officials — including then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — of knowingly and falsely sticking to a story that the attack was a spontaneous protest inspired by an obscure internet anti-Muslim film. Clinton repeated that story publicly even as she indicated in emails that that was not the case.
So far, nothing like that has emerged about the ambush that killed the four American soldiers and five allied troops from Niger early this month, only questions about exactly what happened. Most of the controversy arises from Trump’s willingness to engage in a war of words with Wilson and the widow of one of the dead American soldiers over what they regard as insensitive comments by the president during a condolence call.
Dunford did not offer a ton of new information, but he did lay out a fuller timeline and defended the U.S. military presence in the West African nation. He said American forces have been in Niger off and on for the past 20 years. The reason, he said, is the the United States has engaged extremist terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State and al-Qaida around the globe in an effort to frustrate and disrupt their operations before they gain footholds.
About 100 American soldiers and 4,000 French troops have trained about 5,000 West African soldiers since 2011, he said.
“Their presence is part of a global strategy. As we’ve seen many times, groups like ISIS and al-Qaida pose a threat to the United States, the American people and our allies,” he said. “They’re a global threat enabled by the flow of foreign fighters, resources and their narrative. And they seek to operate where they can exploit weaknesses in local government and local security forces.”
Dunford said a dozen U.S. special operations forces were accompanying 30 local soldiers on a reconnaissance mission from the capital of Niamey to the town of Tongo Tongo on October 3. Those troops were on their way back to base the following morning when they came under attack by about 50 fighters using small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades.
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About an hour later, the coalition forces requested support, and a drone responded within minutes. French Mirage jets joined the fight within an hour. Later, Dunford said, French attack helicopters arrived with a force from Niger.
Two U.S. soldiers were injured during the firefight. Three soldiers in the reconnaissance party died. The fourth, Sgt. La David Johnson, was listed as missing until U.S. forces found his body on October 6.
Dunford asked for patience but promised a full investigation to get answers to the most pressing outstanding questions, such as whether the mission changed; whether the soldiers had adequate intelligence, training and equipment; how Johnson got separated from his unit; and why it took U.S. forces so long to recover his body.
“Again, these are all fair questions that the investigation is designed to identify,” he said.
Dunford said U.S. commanders did not anticipate that the reconnaissance force would come under attack. But he cautioned Americans not to underestimate the risk U.S. military personnel face in countries like Niger.
“This area is inherently dangerous … We’re there because ISIS and al-Qaida are operating in that area,” he said.
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