Small Wars Journal

Experts Differ with Official Report on Niger Ambush

Tue, 06/12/2018 - 12:06pm

 

Experts Differ with Official Report on Niger Ambush by Thomas Di Fonzo and Nancy Youssef – Wall Street Journal Video

Last October, four U.S. servicemen were killed following an ambush by suspected Islamic State militants in Niger. Recently, the Pentagon released a report on the mission, in part based on interviews with witnesses, including some of the survivors. The Defense Department also released a 22-minute video describing what happened. The military leadership concluded that poor training, complacency and excessive risk led to the Ill-fated mission. But not all experts agree. In this video, Donald Bolduc, the former commander of special operations in Africa, and Jack Murphy, an eight-year army special forces veteran, speak about the report. Some of their assessments differ from the findings laid out by the Pentagon about what went wrong.