Several members of Congress have said they either didn't know the United States had troops in Niger or the numbers involved, but Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker said Tuesday lawmakers got notification about the troops earlier this year.
"We got congressional notification earlier this year we had 600 troops there." the Tennessee Republican told ABC's "Good Morning America" host George Stephanopoulos.
"I know those grow over time and I visited the area," Corker added. "There's a tremendous amount of extremism we're countering. Those details about the mission we don't know but we do know in the general area there are a lot of people that wish us harm, so throughout this we have a large number of forces."
The African nation is now under focus following the deaths of four Green Berets there earlier this month, but Corker said he agrees the troops are needed.
"A week from yesterday I'll begin debate about the use of force," Corker said. "What's happening through the years these efforts have spread throughout the world without a lot of congressional input and I know Sen. [John] McCain and others and myself want to make sure Congress is playing the appropriate role."
Meanwhile, the bigger issue is about what's going on around the world, Corker told NBC's "Today" show, as troops on the ground "have been hamstrung."
"This is going to begin a bigger debate that was under way," Corker said on the Niger issue.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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