So lazy Democrats and some Republicans made the rounds on the Sunday news shows, claiming they had no knowledge about the operations in Niger which resulted in the death of 4 U.S. servicemen. Either, slime bags like chuck Schumer or flat out lying, or they simply aren’t reading the reports they are being given. Trump notified Congress about the operations in Niger back on June 6th. I’ll go with the Schumer is a liar options, since it’s far more believable.
| Trump told Senate about Niger actions June 6 |
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Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said Sunday he was not aware of the scope of the operations in Niger. The New York Democrat suggested reopening the authorization for use of force debate.
“We are in a brave new world, you know, there are no set battle plans. You don’t declare war and then fight three weeks later. But having said that, the Constitution says Congress has the power to declare war, and if you’re in a long-term war, Congress ought to keep that ability. So we need to re-examine this. We’re on a AUMF that extends 16 years, from right after we were attacked at the World Trade Center. So I would be for re-examining it,” Schumer said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Little is publicly known about the deaths of four U.S. soldiers in the west African country, but the reality of American boots on the ground should not have been such a surprise.
Congress was notified of the U.S. work on counterterrorism in the Lake Chad Basin region of Africa, which, as of June 6, included about 645 servicemembers in Niger itself. The reality is it’s likely many members of Congress did not read that notification.
It came in a routine letter sent by President Donald Trump to Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin and Sen. Orrin G. Hatch of Utah in his capacity as president pro tempore of the Senate.
The June letter also referenced U.S. activity in Somalia against the terrorist group al-Shabab, the basing of U.S. forces in Djibouti for actions in the region, and the better-known actions in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan.