By L Todd Wood | January 5, 2020

As a former special operator myself, I think I’m entitled to make this criticism. One problem with the American military is that sometimes the leadership becomes so entrenched they cannot see the forest for the trees, meaning they become corrupt in a thirst for rank, make stupid decisions, at the expense of U.S. personal and equipment. The lack of accountability in the Obama administration made this problem one that cannot be ignored for much longer.

I don’t know exactly what happened at Manda Bay Airfield in Kenya which was attacked by the terror group al-Shabaab, where it seems at least several aircraft were destroyed, some matching the type of aircraft favored by U.S. Special Operations Command (I know I flew for them for years).

With the backdrop of the attacks in Nigeria against SOF forces that were not supported in a proper manner, in which several brave American warriors were ambushed and killed, or more recently against the backdrop of Iranian threats after the killing of Quds Force General Qassem Soleimani, the fact that aircraft could be destroyed so easily, with possible loss of life, at a joint American base with Kenyan partners, is simply inexcusable.

When you include the obvious corruption in withholding accountability for leadership responsible for the Nigerian fiasco, the stakes become much higher, and the problem becomes more clear.

The lack of force protection is simply astounding. Heads need to roll. I hope POTUS reads this article and they do.

Our special operators deserve better.

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This piece originally appeared on CreativeDestructionMedia.com and is used by permission.

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