美国国家公共电台 NPR Pentagon Niger Ambush Report Will Not Assign Blame For Soldiers' Deaths

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We are breaking news this morning on a Pentagon investigation¹ into the deaths of four American soldiers. What's known is they were ambushed² by ISIS fighters in the West African country of Niger. What wasn't known is, did they have proper training and equipment? And were they taking too many risks? NPR's Tom Bowman has learned how the report answers those questions.

TOM BOWMAN, BYLINE⁴: The report will say there was no single failure, no deficiency as a sole reason the men died outside the village of Tongo Tongo on an October afternoon. But the report says the soldiers did not have the necessary training before arriving in Africa and before the mission. And there was a contradicting and confusing approval process for missions up the chain of command of the American special operations forces. The four soldiers were part of a 12-member team, together with Nigerien soldiers, that started out on a mission just to meet village elders. But then it switched to a more dangerous one, visiting a site recently vacated by a terrorist leader and his fighters.

Drone footage showed the site was empty. And the soldiers were ordered by a junior officer to check the site for any intelligence information. A synopsis⁵ of the report focuses on the Special Operations Command in Africa, although it does not blame any individuals. It leaves many questions unanswered - who should have approved the mission and at what level? And what was the responsibility of the top generals of Africa Command, who oversee⁶ all military operations? And why did the chief of staff from Africa Command write the report instead of an independent officer?

The report says the Americans were outgunned by dozens of ISIS fighters and that all four soldiers died relatively⁷ quickly along with five Nigerien soldiers. All team members fought bravely, the report says. And some went back to try to help their doomed⁸ comrades. French Mirage⁹ jets showed up as the ambush³ was coming to an end, made several low passes, scattered¹⁰ the terrorists but did not fire. That's because the pilots could not distinguish between friend and foe¹¹. Still, the report says, the French action saved lives. One retired¹² officer with experience in Africa tells NPR, the American team heading to the terrorist site should have planned better, had heavier firepower, a medevac and a quick reaction force in case something went wrong. Now, officials say, all special operations missions will include a drone flying above and a medevac two hours away.

Tom Bowman, NPR News, Washington.