Will Niger be Trump's Benghazi?

Myesha Johnson, pregnant widow and mother of Sgt. La David Johnson's two children, sobs over the casket of her husband as his remains arrive from where he was killed in an ambush in Niger. (Photo/CBS Miami News)

On October 4, 2017, four American green berets were killed and two others were injured in an ambush by up to 50 ISIS fighters in the northern African country of Niger.

In the image above from left to right, Staff Sgt. Bryan Black, 35, Sgt. La David Johnson, 25, Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright, 29, and Staff Sgt. Jeremiah Johnson, 39, were tragically killed serving their country.

Since the announcement of what occurred in Niger, the country has been shaken with sadness and controversy, arisen from the alleged statement between President Donald Trump and the family of Sgt. La David Johnson, witnessed by congresswoman Frederica Wilson (D-FL).

The tragic story of a soldier’s death in combat with ISIS militant suddenly turned into a political debacle over what was and wasn’t said.

Wilson, as backed by Sgt. Johnson’s widow Myesha Johnson and aunt Cowanda Jones-Johnson, alleges the president stated that Sgt. Johnson “knew what he had signed up for”. The statement upset the family of Sgt. Johnson, congresswoman Wilson and many Americans. At first, the president denied stating that phrase.

However, after days passed with testimonies of other gold star families who received phone calls from Trump, the allegations the president made about his predecessors not making phone calls to the family of killed soldiers, the subsequent response by presidents Obama, W. Bush and Clinton to reject those allegations, the summoning of Chief of Staff John Kelly to give his case while also taking shots at congresswoman Wilson and, (after...ALL that) one thing is still unclear:

How was it possible for American green berets, members of elite special forces in the American military that are trained for foreign missions, endure rigorous training and whom are trained for unconventional combat, victims of such an overwhelming ambush?

Many people will remember the multiple excruciating investigations and hearings that occurred after the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya on the evening of September 11, 2012 which ended with the deaths of four American officials at the suspected hands of terrorist group Ansar al-Sharia.

For those subsequent days, weeks, months and years, many television pundits and American citizens pointed the finger at President Barack Obama and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Everyone wanted to know how the attack had occurred and how the United States government didn’t prevent it.

In this attack on American green berets in Niger, how could the U.S. government or military have not seen up to 50 ISIS fighters in the area? How could these American soldiers walk into a certain death trap without any warning or assistance?

According to CNN, the military knew there were local terrorist groups controlling the transit routes in Mali, Niger and Chad. This could explain the obvious danger to American soldiers operating in the area.

It does not, however, explain the experienced group of soldiers could have fallen for a trap like the one that occurred on October 4.

Especially when according to Lt. Gen. Kenneth Mckenzie, there had been no confrontation between those group of soldiers and any opposing fighters in 29 previous trips on the route in the previous six months, with “no indication an attack would occur”.

Donald Trump may be questioned in his skills as commander-in-chief following the attack in Niger. In this photo, Donald Trump speaks at the Heritage Foundation's President's Club meeting. (Photo/Martin H. Simon/Getty Images)

The suddenness of the attack combined with the lack of immediate response by the Trump administration combines for what could be, as congresswoman Frederica Wilson alluded to, Trump’s Benghazi.

Arizona senator and chair of the Senate Armed Service Committee, John McCain, suggested he may consider seeking a subpoena to get more answers from the Trump administration.

An investigation may be brewing in Washington and for President Trump, what he did or didn’t say in the phone call to Myesha Johnson may become the least of the worries.