Probe finds deadly Niger mission lacked proper approval

BOHICA....After reading this I come away with the sickening feeling the probe results are looking like a cover-up. The wording is very insightful,

. "Officials say it now appears the team went after Chefou from the onset, without outlining that intent to higher level commanders. As a result, commanders couldn’t accurately assess the mission’s risk....questions remain about whether higher-level commanders — if given the chance — would have approved or adjusted the mission, or provided additional resources that could have helped repel the ambush...."The reporting failure meant those commanders lacked a complete picture of what the unit was doing, so concluded the mission was unlikely to encounter enemy forces. Had the unit gotten proper oversight and approvals, officials said, it might have been better equipped or included additional personnel more capable of sustaining a fight."

My reading between the lines, it appears like a very heavily nuanced attempt to shift the blame on to the four Soldiers because "in essence" the findings are saying they went rouge without proper support. But really set me off was this, "Such missions require approval by senior Special Operations Command officers who would’ve been in Chad or at Africa Command’s headquarters in Germany." Hello, Germany!!! How could an O6 commander in German make a clear assessment of action on the ground thousands of miles away. Even with good communications (which they did really have) the distance alone makes getting approvals an exercise in futility.

SINCE this news article is based on an in-named source and leaked material @, I am going to wait until the final "official" report before I say anything more. But I am old school in that "A Commander Is Responsible for What His/her command does or fails to do."

@ SGM Matthew Quick COL Tom Lewis COL Mark Ellis 1LT Sandy Annala LTC (Join to see)