Senators Angry They Didn’t Know About Niger But Were Told Several Times

CNN interviewed some of our illustrious leaders to find out if they knew we had military in Niger and some had no idea.

“I didn’t know there was 1,000 troops in Niger,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, told NBC’s Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press” Sunday. “They are going to brief us next week as to why they were there and what they were doing.”

Bob Casey, D-Pennsylvania told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on “New Day” he didn’t know.

Graham also said during the interview that his longtime friend and colleague in the Senate, Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, is frustrated, “rightly so.”

“We don’t know exactly where we’re at in the world, militarily, and what we’re doing. So John McCain is going to try to create a new system to make sure that we can answer the question (about) why we were there,” he said. “We’ll know how many soldiers are there, and if somebody gets killed there, that we won’t find out about it in the paper.”

Graham also said during the interview that his longtime friend and colleague in the Senate, Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, is frustrated, “rightly so.”

“We don’t know exactly where we’re at in the world, militarily, and what we’re doing. So John McCain is going to try to create a new system to make sure that we can answer the question (about) why we were there,” he said. “We’ll know how many soldiers are there, and if somebody gets killed there, that we won’t find out about it in the paper.”

They have been busy trying to pin this on the President. However, it’s on them. We know they don’t read bills, but how about memos from a President?

This correspondence from the President in June: The region remains vital for the U.S. military. In a letter to Congress in June, President Trump notified lawmakers that U.S. military personnel in the Lake Chad Basin “continue to provide a wide variety of support to African partners conducting counterterrorism operations in the region.” He said there were approximately 645 U.S. military personnel deployed in Niger to support these missions. (The Pentagon said Thursday the number was 800.)

And the head of Africa Command, Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, testified to the Senate armed services committee in March there were “approximately 1,000 personnel conducting 12 named operations across a nine-nation region.”

“One of the fights I’m having with the administration is the armed services committee is not getting enough information,” McCain said Monday on ABC’s “The View.” “We deserve it.”

Perhaps he should take notes at briefings and read his memos.

They even voted on it in September of last year and in 2015.

The House committee has been briefed six times, including notification on the day of the incident, according to one committee source. CNN didn’t know how many times the Senate was briefed but they were briefed.

The Pentagon and White House have previously notified Congress about the US mission in Niger several times this year, CNN was informed.

These Senators should look inward before throwing stones. They don’t even know what they know.

Perhaps Rand Paul has it exactly right.

You know you are in too many wars in too many places when even warmonger Lindsay Graham can’t keep track anymore

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) October 23, 2017

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