{"id":59936,"date":"2018-05-08T17:21:31","date_gmt":"2018-05-08T17:21:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/05\/08\/did-military-hid-niger-mission-from-congress-key-senator-asks\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:21:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:21:59","slug":"did-military-hid-niger-mission-from-congress-key-senator-asks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2018\/05\/08\/did-military-hid-niger-mission-from-congress-key-senator-asks\/","title":{"rendered":"Did military hide the real mission of the Niger ambush from Congress?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine is accusing the military of hiding from Congress its true mission in a Niger ambush<\/a> last October that ended in the deaths of four American Green Berets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following a classified briefing from senior Defense Department officials to the Senate Armed Services Committee, senators confirmed the fatal mission had been to \u201ccapture-or-kill\u201d a target and not simply a training activity with local forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat was a very explosive briefing,\u201d said Kaine, D-Va. \u201cI have deep questions on whether the military is following instructions and limitations that Congress has laid down about the mission of these troops in Africa, and I\u2019ve had those questions, and I think this hearing raised a lot more in a pretty explosive way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaine questioned whether the legal authorization to conduct a train-and-equip missions in Niger is \u201ca fig leaf,\u201d and said the briefing, \u201craises questions about why people are hiding from us what they\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked whether he thinks the military is hiding what it is doing in Niger, he said only, \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A military investigation into the Niger attack that killed the American service members concluded the team didn\u2019t get required senior command approval for its risky mission to capture a high-level Islamic State militant, the Associated Press reported in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initial information suggested the Army Special Forces team set out on its October mission to meet local Nigerian leaders, only to be redirected to assist a second unit hunting for Doundou Chefou, a militant suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of an American aid worker. Officials say it now appears the team went after Chefou from the onset, without outlining that intent to higher-level commanders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, commanders couldn\u2019t accurately assess the mission\u2019s risk, according to the officials, who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, whose state is home to the four Fort Bragg soldiers killed and Joint Special Operations Command, confirmed after the hearing Tuesday that there had been a failure to communicate to the chain of command the nature of the mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cClearly, some things in terms of their concept of operations, they made some mistakes, and it costs our men their lives,\u201d Tillis said, adding of military witnesses: \u201cI think they understand it now \u2026 They readily pointed out problems and specific changes that have been made.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There have been multiple narratives of the ambush reported. ABC News reported<\/a> this week that the soldiers killed in action were part of a largely inexperienced and lightly-armed team of Green Berets and Army enablers who were outmatched by Islamic State fighters who exploited bad decisions by U.S. commanders. That team was providing backup for an separate American black ops unit that was actually hunting Cheffou.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tillis said the briefing did not touch on whether anyone in the chain of command had been held accountable, but he expected to see whether there would be any personnel action in the coming days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Witnesses at the hearing included Assistant Secretary Of Defense For Special Operations And Low-Intensity Conflict Owen West, Assistant Secretary Of Defense For International Security Affairs Robert Karem, Marine Corps Gen. Thomas Waldhauser<\/a>, the chief of U.S. Africa Command, and Army Maj. Gen. Roger Cloutier, Africom\u2019s chief of staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\t