Niger, Chad, Benghazi

[Dill]

Rachel Maddow just mentioned that Chad, a reliable and effective US ally in the Lake Chad Basin, had largely swept Boko Haram/Isis from Niger this year, but shortly after they were placed on the new Muslim travel ban list, they pulled out of Niger. As a result, she claims, large numbers of the terrorist group re-infiltrated. One wonders if one consequence could be the recent ambush in which 4 Americans were killed. There could be other reasons as well, as it look like the US was relying on FRench and contractors to secure the area and clean up after the fight.

Comparisons to Benghazi are emerging. I hope Democrats and reasonable Republicans push for a reasonable and limited investigation. No calls for Trump to publicly apologize to the families.

No president or regional command can control everything that happens on the ground, and we should not automatically assume negligence when people on dangerous missions die. At this point though, we can raise questions.

I don't see much analysis of this yet. Here are a couple of otherwise informative links, though.

US has drones and hundreds of troops in Niger. Here's why
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/18/politics/niger-american-troops-drones/index.html


Chad landed on Trump travel ban list after it ran out of paper to process passports
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/chad-landed-trump-travel-ban-list-paper-shortage-article-1.3572644

WASHINGTON — This is the story of how an office supply glitch became a major irritant between the United States and one of its close security partners.

When President Donald Trump added the African nation of Chad last month to his most recent installment of travel restrictions, everyone from the Pentagon to Chad's leaders to the French government was perplexed. The U.S. has praised Chad's cooperation on counterterrorism, especially its campaign against a vicious Boko Haram insurgency spilling over from Nigeria.

As it turns out, a seemingly pedestrian issue was largely to blame: Chad had run out of passport paper.

Chad and every other country had been given 50 days to prove it was meeting a "baseline" of security conditions the Trump administration says is needed for the U.S. to properly screen potential visitors. One condition was that countries provide a recent sample of its passports so that the Homeland Security Department could analyze how secure they really are.

Homeland Security, working with the White House, pushed Chad onto the list without significant input from the State Department or the Defense Department, said a congressional official briefed on the process who wasn't authorized to discuss it publicly and requested anonymity.


Other officials said once the other national security agencies learned of the plan to add Chad, they objected vehemently, but were overruled.[/i]

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

I think the technical term is snafu; situation normal all f'ed up.

[Dill]

Rachel under Fox fire now.


'Get Your Facts Straight': Michael Waltz Calls Out Maddow for 'Ridiculous' Theory on Niger Attack
http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/10/23/michael-waltz-calls-out-rachel-maddow-ridiculous-theory-niger-attack

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow has been criticized for a segment on her show last week in which she tried to tie the deaths of four American soldiers in Niger to President Donald Trump's travel ban.

Her central argument was that Trump’s addition of Chad in his latest travel ban prompted the country to remove its troops from Niger, leading to an increase in extremist attacks and further endangering U.S. soldiers.

On "Fox & Friends" this morning, Lt. Col. Michael Waltz (Ret.), who served in Niger in 2014, said that Maddow's theory is "ridiculous."

He explained that Chad was helping fight Boko Haram in southeastern Niger and the northern part of Nigeria, which is hundreds of miles away from western Niger, where the deadly ambush occurred.

"She just kind of drew this spurious thread there that I think frankly as a journalist is ridiculous," Waltz said. "Most Americans are just wrapping their minds around what we're doing there. And I just think it draws this falls line that doesn't exist."

"Get your facts straight," he added. "That was a completely different area, a completely different mission."

As for claims by some on the left that this is "Trump's Benghazi," Waltz said he doesn't see the scandal here.

He pointed out that after the 2012 Benghazi terror attack that left four Americans dead, there were allegations about a "cover-up," as several  U.S. officials initially suggested it was instigated by an anti-Muslim video.

"I don't think you draw the line to Benghazi at all," he said.

[Belsnickel]

Did Maddow make a causal link between the attack in Niger and Chad being put on the list? My understanding is that she didn't, just saying that Chad has pulled troops from Niger since being placed on the list, so not even a causal link that Chad did this because of the list, just a correlative one.

I haven't read too much on this, though, so someone can correct me if I am understanding what Maddow said incorrectly.

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

What facts are there to get straight?

[Belsnickel]

I will write in my own name before voting for anyone that tries to turn this into a political sideshow like Romney and the GOP did Benghazi. That's not what I want in a party or a candidate. There are enough legitimate, ****** up things that this administration and people on Congress have done that we don't need to try to turn this into a witch hunt and politicize deaths of our service members. The Benghazi thing was bullshit, this would be bullshit, make sure there was no negligence in the command and move on.

I do say that the apparent lack of oversight into what was going on, such as members of Congress not even knowing of our presence in Niger, is concerning, though.

[Bengalzona]

(10-24-2017, 03:28 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: I will write in my own name before voting for anyone that tries to turn this into a political sideshow like Romney and the GOP did Benghazi. That's not what I want in a party or a candidate. There are enough legitimate, ***** up things that this administration and people on Congress have done that we don't need to try to turn this into a witch hunt and politicize deaths of our service members. The Benghazi thing was bullshit, this would be bullshit, make sure there was no negligence in the command and move on.

I do say that the apparent lack of oversight into what was going on, such as members of Congress not even knowing of our presence in Niger, is concerning, though.

I feel you.

But in a country where a large percentage of people of people are still convinced that Benghazi was the work of Evil Hillary, you and I are the minority.

Current popular math around the nation is: two wrongs = a right.

[Dill]

(10-24-2017, 11:36 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: Did Maddow make a causal link between the attack in Niger and Chad being put on the list? My understanding is that she didn't, just saying that Chad has pulled troops from Niger since being placed on the list, so not even a causal link that Chad did this because of the list, just a correlative one.

I haven't read too much on this, though, so someone can correct me if I am understanding what Maddow said incorrectly.

She said we don't know. But yes, noted the coincidence the attack occurred a week after Chad pulled out of Niger. And Niger pulled out when the (now blocked) Muslim ban was supposed to go into effect. She largely raised questions about the coincidences, but would not go further without evidence. So far as I can tell, we still don't know why Chad pulled out.

And we don't know if this pullout emboldened Boko Haram or whomever. 

So there was nothing wrong with her "facts."  The Fox guys were irritated at Rachel pointing to the coincidences.

But those coincidences do interest me; I hope someone can check this out.