Tag: West Africa

Niger–WTF?–(Cond)

I have written several posts about the deaths of 4 special ops troops in the West African country of Niger……read more posts……

https://lobotero.com/2018/02/22/niger-update-2/

Recently I found another report on these deaths….I have held onto this post because of the violent nature and that it was posted by the bastards that killed these men…..

*****WARNING:  The video may be disturbing to some*****

The release of shocking video showing the death of three American soldiers in the deserts of west Africa is raising more questions about just what US forces are doing in the region.

ISIS released the nine-minute, 17-second video online on Sunday taken mainly from the helmetcams of the slain soldiers.

I have been waiting for the final report of the action and the deaths (I promised to keep my readers informed)…..
I have been critical of the operation that cost the lives of the  troopers involved and now there is a bit more information…..
The ongoing military probes into October 4’s disastrous US military operation in Niger, in which four US special forces were killed, has concluded something particularly important: that the operation was never properly authorized by top commanders.

The special forces team in question were nominally sent out to meet local Nigerien leaders, for which they were properly equipped and prepared. The team in question never attempted to meet with them, however, and instead went off on a totally separate mission.

The team instead joined a mission hunting for a militant wanted in the kidnapping of an aid worker, doing so without having informed the commanders that’s what they were going to do, meaning it was never authorized.

The operation went poorly, as the chase around the Niger-Mali border led the team right into an ambush of militants, who attacked and killed four US troops, wounding two other US troops and eight Nigeriens.

Officials say there is no single point of failure in the operation, though clearly the fact that commanders weren’t told what the team’s actual mission was didn’t help, and raises further questions about whether the US troops were adequately prepared for such an operation.

(antiwar.com)

This is a breakdown in the command structure and it cost lives and this is not an isolated incident.  Someone needs to pay for the lives they took because of their lack of leadership.

There is way too many “oh shit” moments in our war on terror.

But the Pentagon will make it right…….

The Pentagon said on Wednesday that American troops in Niger had been authorized to receive imminent-danger pay the day before the commander who oversees military missions in Africa told House lawmakers that the White House had still not approved that request.

A Pentagon spokeswoman said that the decision to include Niger in the list of combat zones where troops receive extra pay was made on Monday — and had not been communicated to Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser before his testimony the day after.

The request was made Monday and the general was to testify on Thursday…..something smells about this situation.  Timing is everything at the Pentagon (sarcasm)…..

Niger Update

Back  in October of 2017 4 US Special Ops troopers died in the West African country of Niger….

https://lobotero.com/2017/10/30/niger-wtf/

There has been much confusion on what happened to the operation that cost 4 Americans their lives…..I have been asking for an explanation for my readers to no avail…..however a news story has been released….

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Saturday that the Pentagon investigation of the Niger ambush in which four U.S. troops were killed is close to being wrapped up, but that was before The New York Times published a detailed and damning report based partly on a video of the firefight.

On his plane back to the U.S. following a week-long trip to Europe, Mattis told reporters traveling with him that Marine Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, the AfriCom commander, has an unspecified timeline for completing his review of the draft of the Article 15-6 fact-finding investigation.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/02/19/command-failures-led-niger-ambush-explosive-report-shows.html

Now there is still the death of an American Green Beret in Mali that needs to be explained because 2 Navy SEALs have been accused of killing the Green Beret.

I realize that it is not a pretty picture of the heroes of “Zero Dark Thirty” but the American people have a right to know that our special ops in Africa is in disarray….and that disarray could get more Americans killed.

The Dogs Of War

A tale of mercenaries and authors…..back in the late 1970’s Frederick Forsyth wrote a book, The Dogs of War, about a mercenary operation to takeover an African country.

It was an excellent read…..it was packed full of details that anyone could use…..as a matter of fact there was rumblings that Forsyth had actually put together a team for a coup attempt in West Africa……Benin was the targeted country…..which is interesting considering that a coup attempt was made in 1977.

Much of modern-day public opinion about mercenaries is still colored by adventures of Robert Denard, a French solider and mercenary, famous for his involvement in numerous “jobs” in support of Francafrique – France’s sphere of influence in its former colonies in Africa. One of Denard’s typical operations was the coup attempt against the government of Benin, from January 1977. Such and similar operations in turn inspired numerous novels and a few Hollywood movies, too.

The Republic of Benin is a little-known country in western Africa, bordered by Togo in the west, Nigeria in the east and Burkina Faso and Niger in the north. It came into being as a combination of three political and ethnic systems, the most significant of which – the Kingdom of Dahomey – used to be one of largest exporters of slaves to Portugal in the 18th Century. The French occupied the area in the late 19th century and declared it a part of their West Africa in 1899.

https://warisboring.com/in-1977-80-mercenaries-nearly-took-over-benin/

Another case where life imitates art……

Closing Thought–22Jan18

I try to write about it when troops are killed in the line of duty for they do not always make the news….depends on the events and situations of the day.

Sometimes the deaths are not always troops on the mission…..like this story that did not make the news…..

Gunmen ambushed two Americans and two Canadians traveling through Nigeria’s northern Kaduna state, kidnapping them and killing two policemen, a state police spokesman says. The foreigners were heading south from Kafanchan in Kaduna state to the capital, Abuja, on Tuesday night when they were ambushed around Kagarko, Kaduna state police spokesman Mukhtar Aliyu says. “The two police escorts attached to them engaged the kidnappers in a fierce gun battle, which resulted in the unfortunate death of the two police officers,” he said. The kidnapped visitors are investors who were setting up solar stations in villages around Kafanchan, according to Aliyu.

Security officers, including an anti-kidnapping unit, have been sent to the area to try to rescue the North Americans and to apprehend their abductors, Aliyu says. Global Affairs Canada spokesman John Babcock says Canadian officials are aware that two citizens were reportedly abducted, the AP reports. The government would not provide details due to privacy issues, he says. Kidnappings for ransom are common in Nigeria, especially on the Kaduna-to-Abuja highway. Two German archaeologists were seized at gunpoint last year less than 60 miles northeast of Abuja and later freed unharmed. Sierra Leone’s deputy high commissioner was taken at gunpoint on the highway in 2016 and held for five days.

The families of the slain have IST prayers and may their loved ones rest in peace.

That be it for today……wishing all my readers a good evening and hopefully we will meet again tomorrow here on IST……chuq

Death In Mali

I have been watching this situation and of course writing about it……

On June 4, Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar — a 34-year-old Army Green Beret — was found dead in US Embassy housing in Mali while he was on a secret assignment. Investigators currently believe he was strangled to death — and that two members of SEAL Team 6 may have killed him.

Murder among US service members is relatively rare, but it’s especially shocking to see that the two suspects — Petty Officer Anthony DeDolph, a former professional mixed martial arts fighter, and a still-unnamed sailor, both Melgar’s roommates — form part of one of the most revered military units in the United States. SEAL Team 6 became internationally famous for successfully killing Osama bin Laden in Pakistan on May 2, 2011.

A probe, first reported by the New York Times, is ongoing — and no one has yet been charged with a crime. But it appears the suspected SEALs changed their story and lied about about what happened. The Daily Beast reports that Melgar found out the two SEALs were taking some money designated for an informant fund. The SEALs asked Melgar if he wanted to get involved, but he declined.

https://www.vox.com/world/2017/11/7/16604484/seal-team-6-navy-army-green-beret-murder

This situation is being dragged out because of the “team spirit” thingy…..circle the wagons and protect our own….BS!  If murder was committed then someone needs to pay…..it is truly sad…..American soldier killing another American soldier……

Not much more is known now as it was when this first came to my attention…..https://lobotero.com/2017/11/13/death-in-mali/

Americans killing Americans……

Closing Thought–20Dec17

I have written several posts about the deaths of special ops troopers in the West African country of Niger and there has been a story around the death of Green Beret La David Johnson….there has been so many theories around why his body was not found with his comrades and found 2 days after the others…..there has been an update to the story…..

An American soldier killed during an ambush in Niger with three comrades wasn’t captured alive by the enemy or executed at close range, the AP has learned. A military investigation found evidence he apparently fought to the end. Dispelling a swirl of rumors about how Sgt. La David T Johnson, 25, of Florida, died, the report has determined that he was killed by enemy gunfire from an offshoot of the Islamic State group. A 12-member Army special forces unit was accompanying 30 Nigerien forces when they were ambushed in a densely wooded area by as many as 50 militants carrying small arms and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Officials familiar with the investigation say Johnson was hit as many as 18 times by a volley of machine gun rounds and that he was returning fire.

The bodies of three US Green Berets who died during the firefight were located on the day of the attack, but Johnson’s remains were found two days later. The gap in time led to questions about whether Johnson was taken away by the enemy. The report found there were no indications he was shot at close range or had been bound or taken prisoner, as several media reports have suggested. Officials say that during the attack, Johnson and two Nigerien soldiers became separated with the others as they tried to get to a vehicle to escape. The report concluded that Johnson, who was athletic and a runner, was in the lead and got the farthest away, seeking cover in the brush. Officials say there were a number of enemy shells around Johnson, and evidence that he appeared to fight to the end.

Hopefully this will be all there is to this…I am sure that his wife and family want an end to this drama so that he may rest in peace…..

I must be off for now….I will be back later with more stuff….have a good evening my friends…..chuq

Closing Thought–15Dec17

Most everyone knows that the US has been stuck in Afghanistan for almost 17 years now….and it appears that another western nation will follow in our footsteps.

France followed in our footsteps back in the 1700’s and had a revolution that got rid of a monarchy and brought about democracy and liberty….although their transition was are violent than ours….but 5 years ago they took upon themselves to go to Mali to fight terrorists  and now they are stuck…or so it would seem…..

In a recent editorial in Le Monde, French journalist Christophe Ayad draws disturbing parallels between the French military operations in Mali — which will reach their five-year mark in January — and America’s involvement in Afghanistan. At first glance the comparison is compelling, and in some important ways, accurate. Yet these two interventions present some fundamental differences that make the Afghanistan case likely more intractable than Mali’s, and give reason for optimism in France.

Ayad’s argument relates to the course of the wars and the apparent bind in which the American and French militaries now find themselves. Ayad observes that in both cases a lightning offensive gave way to a grinding counter-insurgency. In neither case can one now discern an alternative to continuing indefinitely to pay in blood and treasure to prop up governments that frequently act in ways contrary to good sense or good strategy. One can, in fact, blame those governments, as many critics do, but Ayad insists on Western militaries’ fundamental inability to do what they’re being asked to do in countries like Afghanistan and Mali. They have, he argues, neither “the mandate, the vocation, nor, finally, the qualifications for reconstructing the States in which they are intervening.” They “no longer know what to do” and have to choose between hunkering down in bunkers to prevent useless losses while becoming an army of occupation, or conducting raids to intimidate the enemy but risk accidents and ambushes like that which took the life lives of four American soldiers in Niger in October. Winning “hearts and minds” through civil-military engagements is supposed to be a third option, but, Ayad asserts, this is not really the job of soldiers, “as we saw in Afghanistan, where dozens of billions of dollars were spent for nothing.”

https://warontherocks.com/2017/12/mali-is-frances-afghanistan-but-with-a-difference/

Hopefully the French will not have to endure the decades of war….they did that back in the 50-650’s and it ended their overseas colonies for good.

That be it for me and my pen…..the that writes moves on and so shall I…..see you guys tomorrow hopefully it will be  better day….chuq

Somebody Screwed Up

I wrote several posts about the deaths of 4 special ops troopers in the West African nation of Niger…..(in case you have not been watching this situation)…….

https://lobotero.com/2017/10/30/niger-wtf/

https://lobotero.com/2017/10/27/niger-more-news-more-questions/

https://lobotero.com/2017/11/20/deaths-in-niger-update/

Finally more info aboiut this attack and the deaths…..but as usual the Pentagon states the obvious……

The deaths of eight soldiers, including four U.S. soldiers, in Niger in early October could have been prevented and were the result of an improperly executed mission to collect information on high-ranking Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants, a new report claims.

Sources told BuzzFeed News that the deaths at the village of Tongo Tongo could have been avoided if the mission was better planned and that it is not known whether decisions were made by the soldiers or their commanders back at the base.

http://thehill.com/policy/international/364095-deaths-of-american-soldiers-in-niger-were-avoidable-report

Someone screwed up.  Seriously?  That is the best the Pentagon can do….stating the obvious is not “getting to the bottom” of this situation.

Closing Thought–05Dec17

I had written about the death of a Green Beret at he hands of 2 SEALs in Mali…..read my two posts….

https://lobotero.com/2017/10/31/usafricom-wtf/

https://lobotero.com/2017/11/13/death-in-mali/

Sorry to say there is not much more info about this man death….but there was another article written about his situation recently…….

The family of Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar laid him to rest at Arlington National Cemetery on November 20, five months after his mysterious death during a secret assignment in Africa.

A medical examiner said Melgar was strangled to death, but the most striking thing about the case isn’t that a 34-year-old member of the Army’s Special Forces was killed overseas. It’s that two men under investigation are members of SEAL Team 6, arguably the most revered unit in the entire US military.

https://www.vox.com/world/2017/11/27/16666096/navy-army-seals-homicide-mali

If this report is true then what the Hell is going on in AFRICOM?  What kinda of military is this where Americans are killing Americans?

AS more is released I will be keeping my readers up to date.

I am a bit ashamed that these post have not gotten more attention from my readers…..it will not go away if you ignore it because I will  never let it go until the whole story is told.

Have a good evening….and look for me tomorrow….I will be back…..chuq

Deaths In Niger Update

Recently there were reports on the deaths of four special ops troopers in Niger….the info coming out is confusing at best….the American media reported on these deaths and the circumstances but then all the slap and tickle stories sucked all the energy out of one of American deaths in Africa.

But I have a blog and I will continue to report on their deaths until someone gets the story straight….

This is more on the deaths from witnesses on the ground……

New details of the attack in which four US special forces and four Nigerien soldiers were killed by militants suggest that they fought alone against a far superior force for hours – despite repeated calls for help by local villagers.

Testimony collected by the Guardian suggests that soldiers ambushed in Niger last month faced an overwhelming and coordinated attack – but one that might have been cut short if Nigerien authorities had reacted as soon as they were called.

Over the course of a week, the Guardian interviewed local politicians, military sources and residents of Tongo Tongo – the village where the attack took place last month, and found:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/15/niger-us-troops-military-ambush-attack

At least the UK press is doing their job and reporting the deaths….shame the American press is too wrapped up with the antics of perverts to care about Americans dying.

I shall continue to report on American deaths in these senseless wars that some feel we most fight.

IST feels that every American death is important and needs to be reported….I shall continue until my last breath.