WASHINGTON — When four Americans were killed in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012, Republicans moved quickly to pin blame on then-President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Now that four American service members have died in Niger and the Trump administration’s slow response has irked even leading Republicans, Democrats are pressing for answers — and could use the incident as Trump’s Benghazi.
“We had about 4,000 Benghazi hearings,” tweeted Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress, a Democratic think tank. “Why isn’t there a single one on the deaths of soldiers in Niger?”
An aggressive strategy to keep a red-hot spotlight on Niger “seems appropriate from a policy point of view, wise from a political point of view, and quite defensible, given the multiple Republican investigations of Benghazi,” said Marc Farinella, a Democratic strategist.
“Politically it’s important because being the strong man and being the great military leader is one of the few cards, to some degree, that works for Trump — or at least he thinks it works for him — and he’ll keep going back to it,” Farinella said.
Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., was more explicit. She said flatly the ambush deaths of the four could be Trump’s Benghazi. The White House has accused Wilson of politicizing the issue and declined to address her charge
Democratic calls for hearings and probes are mounting. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a member of the Armed Services Committee, called for “a full and prompt investigation,” as well as hearings.
“The administration needs to be much more forthcoming and candid about what American troops are doing there,” he said. “Whatever the reason for this tragedy, there are likely larger lessons here that will enable us to avoid tragedies in the future, and that should be our overwhelming objective, not to castigate politically anyone.”
Asked if there was reluctance in his party to use Niger for political gain, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who has called for an investigation, said, “Not this Democrat. I want to know what happened.”
In the House, Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., has asked House Foreign Affairs committee chairman Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., for a hearing on the incident.
In a letter, Lieu stopped short of blaming the Trump administration, but said it has failed to put forth a clear-cut strategy for counterterrorism efforts across Africa, “nor has it devoted the necessary resources to empower democratic governments to make progress sustainable, combat radicalization and protect human rights.”
What may hold back Democrats most from making Niger into a political flashpoint, though, are some Democrats.
Democrats have been no match for Republicans when it comes to weaponizing issues to reap political benefits. They are not in a good spot now, with Republicans in charge of both chambers.
