US senators said on Sunday the White House has not been forthcoming with details about the military's presence in Niger after the deaths of four soldiers there earlier this month and they want more answers on US operations in the west African country. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer said in separate interviews that they support Republican Senator John McCain's effort to get answers from the Pentagon on the ambush and more broadly on the US fight against ISIS in Niger.
Graham and Schumer said they had been unaware of the large US presence in the country and said Congress needs more information on what could become a long and open-ended involvement. "I didn't know there was 1,000 troops in Niger," Graham said on NBC's Meet the Press. "This is an endless war without boundaries and no limitation on time and geography," he added. "You've got to tell us more and he is right to say that."