US Forces Combat in Niger is a Nightmare

What are the goals and history of US military intervention in Niger? The first time most Americans heard of US operations in the west african country was when a group of US Army Special Forces were ambushed during a patrol on October 5th, 2017. The ambush near the village of Tongo Tongo was the deadliest incident for US forces in Africa since the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu. As a result the American public was both confused and outraged at the lack of information about US military missions on the African continent.

Written by: Chris Cappy & Diego Aceituno
Video Edited by: Michael Michaelides

This prompted a series of congressional inquiries and a Department of Defense investigation. These have had lasting consequences that reach all the way to the events unfolding in Niger today. The reports ended up blaming the individual soldiers and lower levels of command instead of higher ups taking responsibility. So what really happened in Niger? Why was the Pentagon accused of lying about the incident? Was there a CIA cover up? And why were over 800 US troops even in Niger in the first place? What were American interests were they really protecting? I’m your average infantryman Chris Cappy you're watching Task & Purpose let's analyze that.

Niger is a large landlocked country in West Africa that is home to over 25 million people. 80% of the country is covered by the Sahara desert which means most of the population live in the Sahel. The Sahel This is a narrow band of transitional desert-savanna climate along the south that crosses through Niger and its neighboring countries. The dry landscape and frequent droughts make for a harsh environment. This has led to the country having the unfortunate distinction of ranking highest in the world on the UN Poverty Index. Niger is a former French colony that gained independence in 1960, but government instability, corruption, and ethnic divisions made for a rocky 50 year period. This all culminated in a military coup in 2010 that returned the country to some semblance of parliamentary democracy for a period.

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#AFRICA #WAR #BATTLE

[wilfdarr]

"...A private who loses a rifle suffers far greater consequences than a general who loses a war." -- Lt. Col. Paul Yingling

[CrotchetyElder]

Im from staff sgt Dustin Wrights home town and knew him personally. I dont believe a word the pentagon says about the operators going rogue. They got hung out to dry were refused back up multiple times and then were blamed for the superiors sloppy work. Dustin was a man of integrity and bravery. He deserved better from the military than what he recieved. RIP buddy 😢

[rickkennerly]

It was particularly distasteful when the bar stool commandos threw Johnson—-the black troop—-under the bus…..calling him a coward & deserter. He was later found dead with 18 bullet wounds & empty magazines. Video recovered later confirmed Johnson fought to the end. Awarded the Silver Star.

[eddy]

As someone who has personally been deployed to that region around the same timeframe, I can attest to the absolute lack in support and resources to soldiers there. Closest QRF to us was in another country, with a 3+ hour transit time. Not to mention we weren't even on a U.S. operated base, with chain-link fencing and partially missing c-wire around it as our main defense. You have to be lacking brain cells to believe what the pentagon said about the situation.

[jameslewis]

This sounds suspiciously like a failure of leadership from someone with authority and connections who has been doing all they can to push the blame away from themselves.

[andyL]

We often talk how badly Mexican, Russian or Ukrainian governments are corrupt. We just do a better job at covering up…

[EriktheRaidsD]

Cpt Perozeni was my PL in Afghanistan. The real deal. He saved my ass big time once when I did some dumb shit over there. He's always about the well being of his guys. Talk about an officer that will go to bat for ya. It was an honor, sir. Guaranteed it wasn't his fault.

[MrLolrobinson]

I just discovered this channel. Mad respect for you for covering and educating us in an away none of the mainstream have been able to. Subscribed. I think you should present a video on how you and analyze the situation.

[bradenjones]

As an American I’m so tired of us getting involved into things constantly, most Americans don’t support these pointless wars it’s the government that does

[markstrickland]

In Vietnam, air power was just minutes away from a team in trouble. If a team was about to be over run, they called "broken arrow" over their radio. This required every available aircraft to fly toward the team. Sometimes there were so many aircraft, they were stacked up, circling and waiting to drop their ordnance. I would say that the US Army was at fault in Niger for not having a plan. So it's classified.

[RobinP]

As a former SF operator years ago i always hate to hear when the guys at the ODA level get blamed for crap that took place several levels above them. Unfortunately it happens all too often. Thanks for reporting this one. We still have PMC in place there, that’s not classified or I wouldn’t know about it being long out of the service. A friend just came back from there last year.

[모-qz]

Wherever there’s oil, there’s the US “protecting that country’s interests except for their own Keystone pipelines.

[sendittobrandon]

10/10 channel I couldn’t dream of getting this type of coverage from an actual news/information network. Thank you for your service

[aleekamui]

The instability in Libya is definitely caused by the US taking out the government and then bouncing

[robertdelacruz]

Excellent video! Somewhat like you, I was an Average Airborne Infantryman, and this situation absolutely smacks of malfeasance by superior officers. Keep up the good work!

[sealstech]

My bossmans son enlisted in the USMC around February this year 23’. He had orders to ship out to training sometime around march next year. Seemed stupid long. He gets a call this past monday, hes ship date is now this coming monday, they dont even know what time his plane leaves yet, a seriously frantic move on behalf of the Corps. This kid is smart and can weld so he was told his MOS or whatever changed. Hes no longer a civil engineer, hes a combat engineer effectively immediately for 2 years. This tells me Sam is anticipating breaching a front line soon since thats what combat engineers do. They clear the way for infantry. Install bridges and clear mines and such. Makes me nervous.

[ArchonShon]

Watching the footage pissed me off so much. They fought bravely and never abandoned each other. Truly brothers in arms R.I.P.

[joela.]

This has always been a criminally underrated channel. Cappy holds it down with interesting topics, fair analysis and decent humor

[TucsonHat]

My cousin swapped places with one of the guys killed during the Tongo Tongo ambush. It was supposed to be an "easy" job, and guy was supposed to go home in a few days to meet his new daughter. So cousin, not knowing enough about the job, traded him an undisclosed "hard" job for an "easy" job, and cousin ended up doing light work while his friends and team members ended up on LiveLeak screaming for support. Cousin was in the heavily armed team that tried to support the TT team and was made to stand down. TT had asked for armored vehicles and armed ISR support along with a QRF team in advance and were denied. Like the video states, command did not expect a major issue and they were sent in bare assed

[WabbitSwayer]

Close air support is one of the greatest tools modern commanders have at their disposal. Why any mission that might result in enemy contact isn't planned with CAS from the start is beyond me. 😥