U.S. Kept Silent About Its Role in Another Firefight in Niger

Joshua Geltzer was quoted by the New York Times on the report on the use of military force that the Trump administration delivered to Congress:

The unclassified report gave only terse descriptions of certain matters while making no mention of key topics like Mr. Trump’s changes to the drone strike rules, suggesting that they were relegated to the classified annex the public cannot see.

“It’s disappointing to see this administration show disrespect for Congress’s effort to obtain public answers to key legal questions of our time,” said Joshua Geltzer, a former senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council in the Obama administration.

“This report was an opportunity to inform discussion on the Hill and, perhaps even more important, across the country on critical questions about when and why our country can take the grave step of using military force. That opportunity for a more robust public debate has now been lost.”