Thursday 5 October 2017 CNN reported shocking news: Three Green Berets were killed in an action on the border between Niger and Mali, while two others were seriously injured and already evacuated at the Landshut Regional Medical Center in Germany. The conflict had occurred in one of the most delicate areas of the African continent, hunting territory of numerous jihadist groups, first of all Boko Haram which for a long time imitated the ambitions of conquering the Islamic State. Always in agreement with the official reports, 50 Islamist guerrillas had attacked the US patrol supporting a group of Nigerian military. The facts have blurred the eyes of many Americans for whom Niger is just a trivial spot in the global geography of Third World countries and they would never have expected the loss of American lives in that remote corner of Earth. Not everyone knew, however, that the military operations of the US Army in Africa were delayed by 2005 and they enjoyed the support of three presidents (George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump) who never bothered to get official assent of the Congress.
The Bush administration began military engagement that peaked during Democratic Obama's mandate, which intensified the use of drones to find terrorists. Today, President Trump inevitably stumbles on issues created by his predecessors, though the White House's attitude is far from clearing the public's view of the true role of US troops in Africa. Trump, unlike Bush and Obama, shows a certain embarrassment, especially in direct confrontation with the press, oblige the Pentagon's military establishment to talk about hiding the truth and blaming the Special Forces.
The African scenario
Chad, Niger and Mali: these are the three states that play a key strategic role for African jihadist movements; they are, in fact, a point of passage and indispensable exchange on the north-south direction in connection with Libya. Niger is also an attractive area for the presence of gold mines, whose control would serve to fund terrorism. In this vast territorial band, morphologically very arid and inhospitable, beyond Boko Haram opera AQIM (Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb), along with other small organizations often competing with each other.
At the beginning of the 2014, France started the operation Barkhane concentrating his troops in the Sahel sector and then the operation Chammal, a major contribution to the international efforts against terrorism expressed by Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria. In this context, however, the French counted on the US support of the US Africa Command, which provided substantial support to the albanian allies in the ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaisance) sector and a limited deployment of special units for the training of indigenous troops.
The White House's position on military aid to African countries has always been at the center of a heated debate because of the so-called "Leahy Amendment", which states that any form of support for states that has been stained with war crimes is forbidden. An emblematic case of American attitudes over the fight against terrorism in the African continent is what happened to Nigeria, neighboring Niger.
In 2015, then President Barack Obama welcomed the neo-elect Muhammad Buhari, the man of hope whose main task was to clean up Nigeria by rampant corruption. On that occasion the leader Nigerian pointed his finger on the amendment Leahy since its rigid application deprived its country of effective tools against it Boko Haram. The African president rejected any accusation of war crimes, noting how the Nigerian army could never face the same jihadist arms without proper US support. Despite much of the media pointing out that alleged allegations made by the international community were nothing but allegations, President Obama decided to forget Nigeria's faults and - with shameless opportunism - to launch a new political / military relationship with the simple sending some armored means, but without a real training project.
Undoubtedly, the "Nigerian" exception to the principle of the Leahy amendment marked an important step for the White House policy in Africa, induced to strengthen the presence of US soldiers, and in particular the Special Forces. Just in January of this year Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali signed a pact for the creation of an anti-terrorist security force called Liptako-Gourma Multinational Security Force with the aim of countering the dangerous transit of jihadists in border areas. Of course Africans do not own the know-how to set up such an organization must rely above all on international affiliation.
Le Special Forces In Africa
According to the well-known US military site SOFREP, dedicated to special operations, the three Green Berets fallen in the ambush, in the Tongo Tongo region at 130 miles from Niamey capital Nigeria, were part of the ODA 3212 (Operational Detachment Alpha) engaged in a Direct Action against the terrorists of the emerging ISIS GS group (ISIS Greater Sahara). All the soldiers belonged to the 3 ° Special Forces Group in Niger with a rotation variable from 5 to 6 months. SOFREP also stressed that American presence on the African continent is not a secret as it is included in the JCET - Joint Combined Exchange Training. The ODA tasks (detachments made by 12 men) are to form Nigerian anti-terrorism units (BSI), but above all to qualify local soldiers in defeating the IED. Relations between the various units are excellent: US soldiers are highly valued for their Nigerian counterparts, although they face many difficulties in comparing the SOC-Africa chain of command. Based on some of the testimonies gathered by the former, the SFs expressed dissatisfaction with how General Buldoc manages the command, judging him too shy and full of preconceptions over the complexity of the African world.
On the day of ambush the ODA 3212 - always according to news from the Americans - was traveling for a joint mission with the Nigerian soldiers to the village of Tongo Tongo to see if some seniors were or not collusion with hostile elements of the ISIS GS . While the Nigerians agreed with each other, the ODA Team guaranteed the convoy's security when suddenly they were hit by a violent fire of automatic weapons. A part of local soldiers remained isolated, while sergeants Bryan Black, Dustin Wright and Jeremiah Johnson fell, mortally hit by the grenades. The rest of the OA Team, cut off from the enemy's beam, attempted an intense, unsuccessful maneuver; Meanwhile, the commander of the ODA, Captain Michael Perezoni and soldier Brent Bartels remained inactive because they were injured in combat. The soaring airship supported by radio by the Green Berets was really heading to the site of the attack - the French had ordered the take-off of two Mirage 2000 - however, the Transalpine hunters did not have permission to fire since the Nigerian government had blocked any aerial bombing within its borders. According to what the US military said at first, the evacuation of the wounded would be conducted by French Super PUMA helicopters, taken off from the nearby special forces bases. Some days after the official version it was denied, as it turned out that the transportation of American and Nigeria staff was carried out by a private airline contractor, the Barry Aviation. Both hypotheses would seem to be true since both the Armée de l'Air and the contractor would have contributed equally to the removal of the site of the attack. At the final count of the victims and wounded, there was no other American soldier, the mechanical driver David Johnson, immediately declared Missing in Action beyond enemy lines.
When this happens, Fort Bragg rings the red phone alerting a battalion of Cleaning and a squadron of Delta Force, ready H24 to intervene to recover or release any missing. As soon as the news of David's disappearance reached the Bragg districts, a detachment of Delta took off at Niger's side with the 160 ° SOAR (Special Operations Aviation Regiment) who was entrusted with a careful photographic reconnaissance to find any traces of the missing soldier. At this point - as reported by Jack Murphy, SOFREP publisher - some argued that they had seen active signal lights, while others confirmed the presence of someone who could be David. As soon as visual contact is established, the Delta he demanded permission to land, immediately denied by the command because the glow of the full moon made the presence of helicopters too risky. The remains of the American mechanic were found two days after the attack and the team of the Delta was returned to Fort Bragg.
A bad figure
After the deaths of the four American operatives, the Pentagon made a hasty relationship in which it distanced itself from the whole affair, stunning the Special Forces, unfortunately accustomed to coping with political games. Some have compared - perhaps inappropriately - the behavior of the American authorities to what happened in Benghazi, where other operators were left to their fate in the total disinterest of Hillary Clinton and the White House. Public opinion, already in tune with President Trump, has expressed disappointment over the loss of American lives in an unknown and peripheral territory as compared to the heart of the fight against terrorism fought in Iraq, Syria or Afghanistan. Washington's ambiguous attitude further complicated matters by remedying a bad figure even with Niger whose president Mahamoud Issoufou unequivocally expressed his lament for the loss of both Nigerian and American soldiers, defining them as heroes.
The doubts expressed regarding the presence of the American special forces in that area are supported by the fact that the search for information at that level (direct interaction with the locals) could be organized in another way, or entrusted to the French soldiers, certainly more accustomed to the environment. The other obscure point on which the investigations are focusing is how Private La David Johnson was isolated only to be found dead after two long days. If we take SOFREP's declarations at face value, when the Delta Force flew over the area, pick up a signal, and this would prove that immediately after the ambush, Johnson was still alive. In what mysterious circumstances would the American soldier then die?
An interesting article by Barbara Starr and Zacary Cohen, appeared on CNN Politics (v. article of the 20 / 10 / 2017) reveals further shadows on the incident, questioning the unexplained delay with which President Trump has given news of the American dead. Among the most plausible hypotheses was that which saw President Trump in great difficulty on how to clarify to the American people the presence of Special Forces in Niger. Moreover, stating that the ambush authors were militias of the Islamic State, he feared to reinforce the idea that, although ISIS was close to collapse with the loss of Raqqa, it was nevertheless taking power in other parts of the globe.
If it is true that thinking in bad shape in many cases is right, then one might even assume that terrorists were not really terrorists, but rather simple villagers called to an armed reaction because no one knows what reason. Unsubstantiated sources, but for reporting we must report, speak of strong economic interests linked to the presence of gold mines in the Tongo Tongo airfield and that these mining facilities are owned by the United States. We trust the impartiality of ongoing investigations, not so much to safeguard the dignity of the White House - already compromised - as to protect the sacrifice of Nigerian and American military.
(photo: CNN / US DoD / web / US Army)
