SOCOM got sloppy/arrogant in Niger and put Special Forces Soldiers on a limb with no support!

via NBC News.

The U.S. military is still searching for answers on what happened in Niger two weeks ago when four U.S. soldiers were killed during an ambush, apparently by a branch of ISIS.

Now the Pentagon's Africa Command (AFRICOM) has sent a team to the African nation to conduct a "review of the facts," according to two U.S. defense officials. The officials are careful not to call the inquiry an investigation, but admit they simply don't know what happened on Oct. 4.

"We need to collect some very basic raw facts," one defense official said.

In addition to the Pentagon, a top Senate Republican wants answers. Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain of Arizona told reporters this week that the Trump administration was not being forthcoming about what happened in Niger.

"I want the information that the Senate Armed Services Committee deserves and needs," he said.

Some of the facts the AFRICOM team needs to collect, said one defense official, are: Where were U.S. forces when the attack occurred? Did they have adequate personal protective equipment and were they prepared for the attack? Was there adequate intelligence in advance of the mission and adequate response to the attack?

Story here. 

They need basic raw facts?

Bullshit!

We all know what happened.  SOCOM and the Pentagon is so enamored of small unit actions, training/assistance, and its conduct of the war on terror that they've become arrogant and sloppy.

They know that they had terrible intel, inadequate personal protective equipment and did not have proper support.

You don't need to send a team to "find that out".  I can tell you that from my chair!

How do you prevent future tragedies?  It's quite simple.  You put the Combatant Commanders in a cage.  You monitor the force and make sure that they're not strung out from one side of the globe to the other performing too many missions in too many countries without adequate support.  You setup a desk in the SecDef Office to monitor all this and before ANY exercise or mission is approved they must get his ok.

You properly supervise them.  You end these mini-kingdoms.  You rationalize this thing.  We can't keep going like we are or we'll see more of these incidents in the future.