Though U.S. officials have offered to do everything possible to aid in the
\nsearch for more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls, the Nigerian government
\nhas yet to accept drone flights over its restive northeast corner, U.S.
\nofficials say.<\/p>\n
The reason why the Nigerian government has not requested the remotely
\npiloted U.S. surveillance drones is not clear.<\/p>\n
Frustration over the inaction was evident at a Pentagon briefing Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are no active discussions\u201d with the Nigerian government about the
\nuse of \u201cunmanned aerial surveillance,\u201d or drones, said Rear Adm. John
\nKirby.<\/p>\n
In fact, Kirby said, the relatively small \u201ccoordination team\u201d of U.S.
\nmilitary, law enforcement FBI and intelligence officials is the only offer
\nof assistance that the Nigerian government has accepted. Kirby declined to
\nsay what else may have been offered and rejected by the Nigerians, saying
\nonly, \u201cWe urge them (Nigerians) to use all resources at their disposal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Privately, a U.S. official familiar with U.S. intelligence options in the
\nregion, confirmed Kirby\u2019s statement to NBC News that no drones have flown
\nin pursuit of the missing girls. \u201cNo, not yet,\u201d said the official ,
\nspeaking on condition of anonymity. \u201cNo permission, no flights.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.S. would have to get permission as well from neighboring countries
\n— Cameroon, Chad and possibly Congo \u2013 because the mission would also
\nalmost certainly involve overflights there, where Boko Haram troops also
\nare active. \u201cThey cross those borders daily,\u201d said one U.S. intelligence
\nofficial.<\/p>\n
Even without drones, experts and U.S. officials say, Washington has other
\nhi-tech spy technology that could help in the search.<\/p>\n
Dr. Jeffrey T. Richelson, author of the forthcoming \u201cU.S. Intelligence
\nCommunity,\u201d a compendium of Washington\u2019s intelligence capabilities, said
\nthe drone is the ideal platform for tracking Boko Haram and possibly
\nlocating the girls, who were abducted on April 14 from a state-run
\nboarding school in Chibok.<\/p>\n
\u201cDrones have both the loitering capability and the stealth capability for
\na mission like this,\u201d said Richelson. \u201cYou can keep a location in constant
\nview rather than intermittent surveillance that you get with satellites.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.S. has an agreement with the government of neighboring Niger to fly
\ndrones out of Niamey airport — less than 1,000 miles west of the
\nkidnapping site. But intelligence sources say it’s not clear whether any
\ndrones are currently at the airport. One official noted it would take some
\ntime to set up support operations in any case.<\/p>\n
U.S. officials confirm that Predator drones have flown out of Niamey
\npreviously for missions to track members of Al Qaeda in the Islamic
\nMaghreb, a terrorist group based in nearby Mali.<\/p>\n
The U.S. also could fly longer-range Global Hawks or MQ-9s on missions
\nfrom as far away as the United Arab Emirates or England.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Though U.S. officials have offered to do everything possible to aid in the search for more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls, the Nigerian government has yet to accept drone flights over…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26170,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n