The day before the 2012 election, then-reality TV star Donald Trump, tweeted, "Benghazi is bigger than Watergate. Don’t let Obama get away with allowing Americans to die. Kick him out of office tomorrow."
This was, of course, a reference to the September 2012 attack by an Islamic militant group on an American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, resulting in the deaths of four Americans. The episode would become ingrained in the psyche of the American right, and prompt more than a half-dozen Congressional investigations, all failing to prove the attack was caused by the negligence of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The issue (along with all that stuff about Clinton’s emails) emerged as a major issue in the 2016 election.
On October 4, 2017, four Americans were also killed by Islamic militants, this time in Niger. Curiously, the President—who can’t resist commenting on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “pathetic” ratings, Brigitte Macron’s “beautiful” body, and “son-of-a-bitch” NFL players—was completely mum on the topic for nearly two weeks after the Niger attack.
On October 4, 2017, four Americans were also killed by Islamic militants, this time in Niger.
When a reporter at a press conference thirteen days after attack finally asked, “Why haven’t we heard anything from you so far about the soldiers that were killed in Niger,” the usually loquacious Trump morphed into a stammering Bob Newhart, saying, “I’ve written them personal letters.” while acknowledging that they hadn't actually been sent. He went on to start a weeklong negative news cycle by saying he also planned to make calls, falsely claiming, “President Obama and other Presidents, most of them, didn’t make calls.”
During the last couple of years, the United States has been building two drone air bases in Niger. But France seems to be the defacto Western power in charge. Not only did Niger used to be a French colony, but the French continue to heavily mine uranium out of the country, creating a constant threat of having it fall into the wrong hands. (Remember when President George W. Bush infamously—and falsely—suggested that Saddam Hussein had gotten his hands on uranium? It was uranium from Niger he was talking about.)
The French, it seems, have relied on a neighboring country, Chad, to help keep the area secure. But in retaliation against to Trump's latest travel ban, which inexplicably closed the door to people from Chad, these troops were withdrawn from Niger. A number of observers, including MSNBC host Rachel Maddow and former New York Times foreign affairs correspondent David Andelman, have suggested this was likely a contributing factor to the attack in Niger.
But nobody seems to know for sure. U.S. Senator John McCain, the Republican chair of the Armed Services Committee, said on Thursday that Team Trump had stonewalled him to the point that “it may require a subpoena” for his committee to get information. When asked what information he needed, McCain replied, “everything.” Asked if he thought the administration was being forthcoming, he said, “of course not.”
In fact, several U.S. Senators, including minority leader Chuck Schumer and Lindsey Graham, who chairs the Armed Service Subcommittee on Personnel, did not know that the United States even had about 1,000 troops in Niger. In fairness to Trump, he did say in a June letter to both houses of Congress that there were 645 troops in Niger, but when you have an empire of nearly 800 military bases in 70 countries, it’s easy to lose track.
Clearly, the Trump Administration is trying to avoid its own Benghazi. Good luck with that. Consider this:
President Obama spoke about the Benghazi attacks the following morning in the Rose Garden. It took Trump 13 days to publicly mention the Niger attack.
When the bodies of the Benghazi victims were brought back to the United States on September 14, three days after the attack, President Obama attended and spoke at the Transfer of Remains Ceremony for ten minutes. However, when the remains of the Niger victims were returned, Trump did not attend. He was golfing.
However, when the remains of the Niger victims were returned, Trump did not attend. He was golfing.
Then Trump called the six-month-pregnant wife of La David Johnson, but couldn't seem to remember his name and said, “he knew what he signed up for,” causing the widow to cry. Trump has repeatedly denied this account, which others have substantiated, and continues to suggest the widow is lying. Remember all the complaints of botched condolence calls that Obama made? Me neither.
While it initially misidentified the cause of the Benghazi attack as a “spontaneous” response to an anti-Islamic video, the Obama Administration quickly concluded it was a planned terrorist attack. The Trump Administration didn’t identify the attackers in Niger as an ISIS-related group until October 12, eight days after the attack. And it initially reported that three soldiers were dead but failed to mention that one soldier—La David Johnson—was unaccounted for until the following day.
So there you have it—Benghazi vs. Niger. It looks like Trump has finally found an area where he beats Obama, hands down.