in niger. two other service members wounded and as secretary mattis said the incident is now under investigation but there are a lot of questions about what happened in niger and why we were there. to my colleague at the pentagon hans nichols covering the story for us. hans, general kelly actually added to the intrigue today saying, look, i know more about this that i can t say. this is a, there is a heavy reluctance by the u.s. government not to say why we were there. well, it s complicated. it s very difficult to explain you re there for train, advice and assist, sort of getting local sources up to snuff on counterterrorism. that s across what they call here, the lake chad basin. another more sensitive region, though, and that is because they re building big drone bases there. that has sensitivities local. they need the drone bases to could isr. intelligence surveillance reconnaissance all across.
are getting a new lesson into the threat of isis that is taking place in central mick. hans nichols at the pentagon for us. thank you, sir. a lot more coming up. we ll be right back. wer premium? it s open enrollment. time to open the laptop. .and compare medicare health plans. why? because plans change, so can your health needs. so, be open-minded. look at everything-like prescription drug plans. and medicare advantage plans from private insurers. use the tools at medicare.gov. or call 1-800-medicare. open to something better? start today. bring you more ways to helps reduce calories from sugar. with more great tasting beverages with less sugar or no sugar at all, smaller portion sizes, clear calorie labels, and signs reminding everyone to think balance before choosing their beverages. we know you care about reducing the sugar in your family s diet, and we re working to support your efforts.
the image mattis uses, when you crush a snowball, isis, in his imagery, more flakes out. they re seeing more of it crop up in central and western africa and that s why they re training counterterrorism forces there and had this engage ant, as they said, was not expected. how many troops are in harm s way on any given day in central africa? close to 1,000. whether or not they re in harm s way, a lot of the guys are on the bases building and so-called behind the wire building these drone attacks. doing counterterrorism in niger is about 100. 100 in these cases, u.s. army special forces, green berets. look, mattis had a great line, not a great line, a telling line. there s a reason we send army guys with guns there, not the peace corps. this is a difficult part of the world and in general, chuck, you know, we only really realize how far extended u.s. forces are on counterterrorism when something goes bad. this is one of those cases. an excellent point. hans, i think a lot of people