What Happened

On October 4, 2017 four American Marines were killed in an ambush as they left a meeting with local officials in Niger. Nothing else seems to have any clarity in regards to this event. We don’t know why they were there, what they were talking about, or what group is responsible for the attack. We also don’t know why the president refused to make an official statement on the event for thirteen days.

Today, October 20, (16 days after Americans gave their lives for some unknown reason) the public conversation surrounding this tragedy is focused on the hurt feelings of our president because of Congresswoman Frederica Wilson’s strong criticism of his sympathy call to the widow and parents of one of the soldiers.

I am not naïve enough to think that you and I will ever know exactly how this whole tragedy went down, nor do I think we should. I spent a decade and a half as a military wife and repeated said goodbye to my husband without the guarantee that he would return to me. I was good with not knowing the details of the mission, because his safety depended on keeping that information out of the hands of the enemy. I would like to have the confidence that this information will be shared with the proper investigative groups.

Here are the things that are grinding against my sensibilities. The ambush happened on October 4. The following day we learned of 3 deaths and two wounded. No official statement from the president. Then a fourth body was retrieved on the 6th. No statement from the White House. The days dragged on as new widows and grieving parents were notified with no official statement from the president, in spite of repeated questions from the press.

It took 13 days for the president to comment on the deaths and to contact the families of these men. I’m not going to spend a lot of time or words on the insensitive comments he made to the family of Sgt. Johnson. I can well imagine he was making an attempt to comfort them with words given to him by General Kelly. I realize he is incapable of sincere expressions of empathy and he screwed it up.

Here are my observations. Something went wrong. There was an intelligence breakdown of some kind. These men, these green berets, are the best of the best. They operate under the most efficient information gathering networks available, the highest securities, the best logistics. Everything they do is dangerous, and they know that. They plan for everything. They don’t like surprises. Why were these men surprised on October 4?

Trump has made no secret of his disdain for the intelligence of the United States. He has installed people with questionable security issues in his cabinet positions and in White House positions. He himself has broadcast state secrets to Russian actors in the Oval Office. There are still several people, including his own family members who are under suspicion of questionable interactions with Russians. The Russians are our enemy. Russians are part of the fabric of unrest in Africa. Did one of Trump’s close advisors, like Miller or Gorka or Donald, Jr. let slip some secure information about the meeting in Niger? I have the same questions about the disastrous raid in Yemen in February.

We don’t know. We can’t accuse. There is no proof. But I have no confidence in the security of this president and most of his administration. He is a proven liar who also requires that members of his administration lie to support him. We can no longer have confidence in the statements or declarations issued from the white house.

He lacks a good moral base. He is childish and without dignity, ethics or basic honesty. He is unable to empathize. I found his actions regarding this ambush suspicious. His were the actions of a guilty man.

I think he and his administration are a danger, not only to our democracy, but to the very lives of the men and women he so cavalierly sends into harm’s way. He is like a child playing with his toy soldiers, without the reality check of knowing these soldiers will bleed and die and not be able to be brought back to life.I think he is a danger to our way of life. I consider him to be the biggest enemy of the State to ever hold the office.

I want to end by sending my condolences to the families of: Staff Sgt. Bryan Black, St. La David Johnson, Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright and Staff St. Jeremiah Johnson. These are heroes who have made a mark in history. These men fought hard and bravely and paid the ultimate price for our freedom. May they all be honored for their service and may they rest in peace.