Retired Green Beret Comment on General Mattis' Nomination for DoD Chief

This is an article written by Travis J. Tritten and published on Stars and Stripes with the header "Retired Green Beret says Mattis left 'my men to die' in Afghanistan".

WASHINGTON – A retired Green Beret officer alleged Friday that Gen. James Mattis, who has been nominated to be the next defense secretary, hesitated to send medical evacuation flights and left soldiers to die during a 2001 friendly fire incident in Afghanistan.

Retired Lt. Col. Jason Amerine, in a Facebook post, said a delay by Mattis in sending rescue aircraft from a nearby base might have led to the deaths of Staff Sgt. Brian Cody Prosser and at least two Afghans after they were hit by a U.S. bomb outside of Kandahar. “He was indecisive and betrayed his duty to us, leaving my men to die during the golden hour when he could have reached us,” wrote Amerine, who is a future of war fellow at the New America think tank in Washington, D.C.

President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday that he picked Mattis for defense secretary, a move that raised cheers from a military community where the retired general is widely respected and popular.

Mattis, whose nickname is Mad Dog, has 44 years of Marine Corps infantry experience that included leading troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and a reputation for colorful comments about warfare.

The Senate must still confirm Mattis and issue a waiver because of a rule requiring any defense secretary to be at least seven years out of military service. Mattis retired in 2013 after leading U.S. Central Command and the allegations by Amerine could come up again as his nomination works through Congress.

So far, the general has support from many lawmakers, including Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the chairman of the Armed Services Committee who promised a quick hearing on the nomination next year.

The 2001 friendly fire incident, which was chronicled in the book The Only Thing Worth Dying For, occurred while Mattis was in command of Camp Rhino in southern Afghanistan where aircraft were stationed. Amerine was leading a group of 10 Special Forces soldiers.

The Green Berets were with future Afghan President Hamid Karzai and were helping to bring about an initial Taliban surrender when the bomb struck.

“Every element in Afghanistan tried to help us except the closest friendly unit, commanded by Mattis,” wrote Amerine, who was awarded a Bronze Star with V device and a Purple Heart for his service during the mission. “Men were ready to drive to get us or send horses from the other side of the country if that was what it took.”

At the time, Mattis was reluctant to send aircraft without knowing the situation on the ground, according to an account in The Only Thing Worth Dying For. “Well, if they’ve taken fire and you can’t tell me definitively how they got all scuffed up, I’m not going to send anything until you can assure me that the situation on the ground is secure,” Mattis is quoted as saying.

The Air Force Special Operations Command dispatched helicopters from Pakistan that took hours to arrive and fly the soldiers and others wounded in the blast to Camp Rhino, which was 45 minutes away, according to Amerine, a whistleblower who was recently investigated by the Army for questioning the FBI’s hostage negotiating tactics with Congress. He was later cleared of wrongdoing. (see follow on article below)

Mattis set helicopters under his command to help with the evacuation after the Air Force medevacs arrived at Rhino, “covering our first load of wounded in dust from their rotor wash as they launched,” Amerine wrote. “Cody died around the time we reached Rhino and I was told at least two Afghans died because of the delay but nobody knows for certain,” he wrote.

SEALS Rescue Hostages in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — U.S. Special Forces troops (actually it was SEAL Team 6) flew into Somalia on a nighttime helicopter raid early Wednesday, freed an American and a Danish hostage and killed nine of the kidnappers in a mission that President Barack Obama said he personally authorized.

The Danish Refugee Council confirmed that the two aid workers, American Jessica Buchanan and Dane Poul Hagen Thisted, were freed and "are on their way to be reunited with their families."

The raiders came in very quickly, catching the guards as they were sleeping after having chewed the narcotic leaf qat for much of the evening, a pirate who gave his name as Bile Hussein told The Associated Press by phone. Hussein said he was not present at the site but had spoken with other pirates who were, and that they told him nine pirates had been killed in the raid and three were missing.

A second pirate who gave his name as Ahmed Hashi said two helicopters attacked at about 2 a.m. about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of the Somali town of Adado where the hostages were being held.

Buchanan, 32, and Thisted, 60, were working with a de-mining unit of the Danish Refugee Council when they were kidnapped in October.

The U.S. military's Africa Command, based in Stuttgart, Germany, confirmed that nine kidnappers were killed.

"Last night's mission, boldly conducted by some of our nation's most courageous, competent, and committed special operations forces, exemplifies United States Africa Command's mission to protect Americans and American interests in Africa," said Gen. Carter F. Ham, commander of U.S. Africa Command.

A Western official said the helicopters and the hostages flew to a U.S. military base called Camp Lemonnier in the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti after the raid. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the information had not been released publicly.

The timing of the raid may have been made more urgent by a medical condition. The Danish Refugee Council had been trying to work with Somali elders to win the hostages' freedom but had found little success.

"One of the hostages has a disease that was very serious and that had to be solved," Danish Foreign Minister Villy Soevndal told Denmark's TV2 channel. Soevndal did not provide any more details.

Soevndal congratulated the Americans for the raid and said he had been informed of the action.

Panetta visited Camp Lemonnier just over a month ago. A key U.S. ally in this region, Djibouti has the only U.S. base in sub-Saharan Africa. It hosts the military's Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa.

The Danish Refugee Council said both freed hostages are unharmed "and at a safe location." The group said in a separate statement that the two "are on their way to be reunited with their families."

Ann Mary Olsen, head of the Danish Refugee Council's international department, was the one who informed the family of Hagen Thisted of the successful military operation. "They (the family) were very happy and incredibly relieved that it is over," she said.

The two aid workers appear to have been kidnapped by criminals — sometimes referred to as pirates — and not by Somalia's al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab. As large ships at sea have increased their defenses against pirate attacks, gangs have looked for other money making opportunities like land-based kidnappings.

The Danish Refugee Council had earlier enlisted traditional Somali elders and members of civil society to seek the release of the two hostages.

"We are really happy with the successful release of the innocents kidnapped by evildoers," said Mohamud Sahal, an elder in Galkayo town, by phone. "They were guests who were treated brutally. That was against Islam and our culture ... These men (pirates) have spoiled our good customs and culture, so Somalis should fight back."

Buchanan and Hagen Thisted were seized in October from the portion of Galkayo town under the control of a government-allied clan militia. The aid agency has said that Somalis held demonstrations demanding the pair's quick release.

Their Somali colleague was detained by police on suspicion of being involved in their kidnapping.

The two hostages were working in northern Somalia for the Danish Demining Group, whose experts have been clearing mines and unexploded ordnance in conflict zones in Africa and the Middle East.

Several hostages are still being held in Somalia, including a British tourist, two Spanish doctors seized from neighboring Kenya, and an American journalist kidnapped on Saturday.