Trump tries to avoid responsibility for soldiers' deaths in Niger
Donald J. Trump
For three weeks   Donald Trump  wouldnât acknowledge the deadliest combat incident of  his  presidency. On Oct. 4  four U.S. Army Special Operations soldiers were killed in an ambush in Niger  and  the president  had said literally nothing about it  and the White House refused to release a condolence statement drafted by the National Security Council.
Yesterday   Trump  finally mentioned the attack when a reporter asked whether  the president  had authorized the mission.
 TRUMP : No  I didnât. Not specifically. But I have generals that are great generals. These are great fighters. These are warriors and â REPORTER: You gave them authority to do this mission.  TRUMP : I gave them authority to do whatâs right so that we win. Thatâs the authority they haveâ¦. My generals and my military  they have decision-making ability. As far as the incident that weâre talking about  Iâve been seeing it just like youâve been seeing it. Iâve been getting reports. They have to meet the enemy and they meet them tough  and thatâs what happens.
In other words   the president  effectively wants to be seen as a bystander.  Trump  has delegated  his  powers to military leaders; they make decisions; and  the president  gets âreportsâ on what servicemen and women have been up to.  He âs âbeen seeing it just likeâ the rest of us.
If this sounds familiar  itâs because yesterday wasnât the first time heâs tried to pass the buck in the wake of a U.S. combat death. Soon after taking office   Trump  authorized a mission in Yemen  which claimed the life of Navy SEAL William âRyanâ Owens  and when pressed for answers on what transpired   the president  said the buck stops somewhere else.
âThis was something that was  you know  just  they wanted to do â  the president  said  referring to U.S. generals. âThey came to see me they explained what they wanted to do  the generals â¦ and they lost Ryan.â
The chain of command  however  doesnât work this way.  The president  is ultimately responsible because  he âs the Commander in Chief of the worldâs most powerful military. Passing the buck doesnât work because thereâs no one to whom the buck can be passed.
I believe the person who wrote that is named Donald J. Trump.
For three weeks   Donald Trump  wouldnât acknowledge the deadliest combat incident of  his  presidency. On Oct. 4  four U.S. Army Special Operations soldiers were killed in an ambush in Niger  and  the president  had said literally nothing about it  and the White House refused to release a condolence statement drafted by the National Security Council.
Yesterday   Trump  finally mentioned the attack when a reporter asked whether  the president  had authorized the mission.
 TRUMP : No  I didnât. Not specifically. But I have generals that are great generals. These are great fighters. These are warriors and â REPORTER: You gave them authority to do this mission.  TRUMP : I gave them authority to do whatâs right so that we win. Thatâs the authority they haveâ¦. My generals and my military  they have decision-making ability. As far as the incident that weâre talking about  Iâve been seeing it just like youâve been seeing it. Iâve been getting reports. They have to meet the enemy and they meet them tough  and thatâs what happens.
In other words   the president  effectively wants to be seen as a bystander.  Trump  has delegated  his  powers to military leaders; they make decisions; and  the president  gets âreportsâ on what servicemen and women have been up to.  He âs âbeen seeing it just likeâ the rest of us.
If this sounds familiar  itâs because yesterday wasnât the first time heâs tried to pass the buck in the wake of a U.S. combat death. Soon after taking office   Trump  authorized a mission in Yemen  which claimed the life of Navy SEAL William âRyanâ Owens  and when pressed for answers on what transpired   the president  said the buck stops somewhere else.
âThis was something that was  you know  just  they wanted to do â  the president  said  referring to U.S. generals. âThey came to see me they explained what they wanted to do  the generals â¦ and they lost Ryan.â
The chain of command  however  doesnât work this way.  The president  is ultimately responsible because  he âs the Commander in Chief of the worldâs most powerful military. Passing the buck doesnât work because thereâs no one to whom the buck can be passed.
I believe the person who wrote that is named  [TGT] .