The chairman of the U.S. military's highest command admitted Thursday that he is "very frustrated with the drip, drip, drip of information" coming out of the Pentagon and other sources over the ambush in Niger that left four American soldiers dead.
"It's the world as it is," Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters on a flight from Washington to Seoul, South Korea, according to the Washington Post.
"I'm not making a judgment here. But I would just tell you, my preference would be to get a single document."
Instead, news of the Oct. 4 firefight in Niger dripped out as military sources revealed partial details of the abush. First reports indicated the victims were Green Berets. But the Post reported only two of the dead soldiers were part of a 12-man Special Forces unit on patrol with 30 Niger troops.
Other stories provided sketchy details about the purpose of the mission and whether the troops were betrayed by a villager sympathetic to Islamic terrorists operating in Niger.
Still other reports revealed that the dead U.S. soldiers had little combat experience, although they had all completed the required training for overseas deployment.
The Niger attack also touched the White House, where President Donald Trump engaged in a spat with Rep. Frederica Wilson, the Florida Democrat who accused him of insensitivity in a condolence call to the widow of one of the soldiers.
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