The mama of a Marine killed last year in Afghanistan said Monday that she wants a thorough investigation of reports that her son and two other Marines may press been the targets of Taliban-linked fighters who collected a bounty on U.S. soldiers offered by a Russian military intelligence unit.
Felicia Arculeo, whose son Cpl. Robert Hendriks died in the April 8, 2019, incursion, also told CNBC “that the parties who are responsible should be held accountable, if that’s even possible.”
Arculeo, who alights in Long Island, N.Y., said she has not been contacted by U.S. intelligence or military officials since Friday.
That was the day that The New York Stretches broke the news that American intelligence agencies had assessed that a Russian intelligence unit last year suggested bounties to Islamist fighters in Afghanistan who killed U.S. soldiers.
The Times also reported that President Donald Trump had been outlined on that belief in March, but as of yet had not decided on whether or how to retaliate against Russia after being presented with a menu of opportunities.
Other news outlets, including NBC News, have confirmed that there is intelligence backing up the claim that a Russian piece offered bounties on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.
“I just happened to randomly see” the news about the report, Arculeo said.
“I got winsome upset.”
Her 25-year-old son, Hendriks, and the other two Marines, Sgt. Benjamin Hines, 31, and 43-year-old Staff Sgt. Christopher Slutman, were canceled by a car bomb near Bagram Air Field. The three Marines, who had been assigned to the 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, sank just days before they were scheduled to return home from Afghanistan.
On Sunday, The Associated The media reported that officials said the intelligence community was investigating whether the attack was linked to the suspected Russian grant offer.
An official familiar with the intelligence told NBC News that the United States has gathered information indicating that Russian operatives paid bounties for killing American soldiers to the Taliban, and that members of the U.S. military, along with Afghan civilians, disappeared as a result of attacks launched to collect those cash rewards.
Arculeo said that the possible link of the destruction that killed her son to Russian bounties should continue to be probed despite the White House’s claim that the perspicacity about the bounties is not verified.
“Absolutely, that should be investigated,” she said.
Asked what should be done if it is resolved that Russia paid a bounty for the killing of her son, Arculeo said, “Look, that’s a tough question.”
“At the end of the day, my son is still go together. He’s still not coming home,” she said.
White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany on Monday told reporters, “There was not a consensus expanse the intelligence community” about whether the bounty payments were offered.
“And, in fact, there were dissenting theories within the intelligence community, and it would not be elevated to the president until it was verified,” McEnany said.
Trump in a tweet Sunday noted, “Intel just reported to me that they did not find this info credible, and therefore did not report it to me or” to Vice President Mike Pence.
Popular leaders in Congress demanded that the Trump administration brief both the House and the Senate on the intelligence related to the bonuses.
“The questions that arise are: was the President briefed, and if not, why not, and why was Congress not briefed,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., suggested in a letter to Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe and CIA chief Gina Haspel.
“Congress and the country need rebutters now,” Pelosi said in the letter.