Page 34 - Drone Base News Today

So that -- the terrorists that seek sanctuary, part of the mission that came out of afghanistan was to deny terrorists sanctuary. so this is where isis and al-quaida have been fleeing to. libya, mali, niger. those areas. so its right that we have that drone base there. its right that we have the green berets there and perhaps other national assets on the ground as well. >> martha: general tata, thanks very much. good to see you. >> thanks, martha. >> martha: so coming up in just a moment as we m...

Some serious challenges that the nigerian government that thas t with. we dont want to have safe places where terrorists can operate. but its the ultimate speedometer responsibility of places like nigeria and chad to be able to enforce the rule of law in their country. and we can be very helpful in providing resources, particularly intelligence resources, which is why we have the drone base there to try to provide more information realtime to folks on the ground. >> but were seeing the reality n...

Happening is that were building a drone base in a town, which is kind of in the center of niger. that takes the most man power. there are other forces of course, including the special forces such as the ones involved in h that fire fight, and they are there to assist the nigerien forces in conducting their own missions. its something called foreign internal defense, and that kind of mission is basically a training mission. it -- they train the local forces to do the work that we would like them ...

Establish a larger presence is in africa. we know how important libya and the sinai have been to the islamic state. we know how much they have tried to get into east africa. and of course the scenario were talking about here today in west africa. >> so right now, according to general dunnford, we have 6,000 troops in 53 african countries. general, if this is the next place where militants are trying to build a base, is that number of troops enough? do we have the right strategy? i think these ar...

These places are very important. because as we say, when you squash down on isis main force, its like stepping on a ball of mercury. they break up and spread out. >> about the uranium, about the yellow cake in particular. are we looking out? is this a matter of keeping it out of the affiliates or a question of the chinese getting it and using it for their nuclear programs? >> well, the china own it already. they have the license on the major field which by the way is about 200 kilometers, you kn...

Saying they were not aware of the size and scale of the u.s. military presence in that west african country. lets listen. >> i can say this to the families, they were there to defend america, they were there to help allies. i didnt know there was 1,000 troops in niger. john mccain is right to tell the military, because this is an endless war without boundaries, no limitation on the time of geography, you have to tell us more. >> you heard senator graham he didnt know we had 1,000 troops in niger...

>> reporter: adding to the confusion, senators claimed over the weekend that they were unaware the u.s. had so many troops in niger in the first place. >> i didnt know there was 1,000 troops in niger. you heard senator graham, didnt know we had 1,000 troops in niger. did you? is. >> no, i did not. >> reporter: the pentagon and the white house, however, say they did notify congress about the u.s. mission in niger several times this year. via briefings and letters. today, approximately 800 u.s. tr...

Affiliates near the niger/mali border. there has been conflicting information about what the american troops were doing at the time of the ambush and how they came under fire from the isis insurgency. >> obviously there is something that they even dont know at this moment. >> reporter: another key question, why was the body of sergeant la david johnson found nearly a mile away from the scene of the ambush? its one of the many questions that sergeant johnsons widow still has today. >> i dont know...

Is that because they didnt have access to the information because the pentagon wasnt telling them or simply because were so spread out that most members of congress even at a senior level dont necessarily go looking for this kind of information? >> there are pro forma notifications to congress when they are doing this. the trump administration has done that previously. obama administration had done that. they informed congressmen and sometimes need funds when they say building a new drone base a...

Arent in niger to hunt extremists. >> our missions are advise and assist, we are not directly involved in combat operations. >> reporter: a senior congressional aide tells nbc news the ambush stemmed in part from a massive intelligence failure. congress now demanding more information on counterterrorism missions across africa. >> have to keep us informed so we can make good decisions about do we want 1,000 soldiers in niger? if we dont want them, the way to deal with it is to cut off funding. >>...