Page 25 - Africom News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Guys. that's why they're out there. whether it's niger, iraq or whatever. we don't want to send tens of thousands of soldiers and marines to go fight. i'll take one more. it's got to be from someone that knows -- >> general, when you talk about niger, what does your intelligence tell you about the russian connection and the stories coming out now? >> that's a question for africom or -- thanks very much. as i walk off the stage, understand there's tens of thousands of american kids mostly doing the nation's bidding all around the world. they don't have to be in uniform. when i was a kid, every ...

He is. working alongside those guys. that's why they're out there. whether it's niger, iraq. we don't want to send tens of thousands of soldiers and marines to go fight. i'll take one more but from someone who knows -- all right. >> general, when you talk about night j nig niger, what does your intelligence tell you about the russian connection with them and the stories coming out now supporting that? >> the russian connection, i did not know that. the questions for -- or africom or dod. thanks very much. >> one more please sir. >> as i walk off the stage, understand there's tens of thousands ...

Soldiers and marines there in the thousands. that's what they were doing there. there is an investigation. always an investigation. unless it's a very, very conventional death in a conventional law, there's always an investigation. of course, that operation is conducted by africom that works for the secretary of defense. i talked to jim mattis this morning. investigation doesn't mean anything was wrong. an investigation doesn't mean people's heads are going to roll. the fact is they need to find out what happened and why it happened. but at the end of the day, ladies and gentlemen, you have to...

From the administration or the powers that be at the pentagon so long after such an event where service members have died? >> i would push back that we the press or congress has gotten nothing from the pentagon. we have documented that within the first few hours u.s. africom put out a statement about the incident, the ambush. they said they were looking to it and began giving us details that did start to report. at that point, the problem that has evolved and we've seen this in previous incidents in africa, it's a problem of time, distance and communication. that's why africom has a general of...

Asked the press to hold off reporting. u.s. special operations troops were alerted. u.s., french, and niger forces conducted an intense search on the ground. >> no one was left behind, the sense it was a desolate sight, we went back and didn't search for the soldiers. nothing is further from the truth. >> two days passed before his body was found a contractor influence his body back to the capital. u.s. africom put out a statement. quote, we're working to confirm details on the incident and will have more information as soon as we can confirm facts on the ground. no drones were airborne during...