DRONES OVER TEXAS

[SMiles]

DRONES OVER TEXAS

http://news.google.com/news/search?en&q ... over+texas

SEND IN THE DRONES: PREDATORS TO FLY ABOVE TEX-MEX BORDER
Tue Apr 27 2010 19:39:41 ET

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told a Senate hearing Tuesday that unmanned aerial drones will soon fly through Texas skies!

"Big Sis" declared that over the past 15 months, federal law enforcement initiatives have made the border more secure than in any other time in history, the SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS reports in Wednesday editions.

The new "predator bees" have the capability to fly at altitudes used by commercial aircraft, and are designed to enhance intelligence capabilities of federal, state and local law enforcement.

But a recent analysis of the use of unmanned aerial vehicles found that they were twice as likely to crash as manned aircraft, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Developing...
http://www.drudgereport.com/flashhs.htm

In Cat Vs. Drone, Cat Wins
Sharon Weinberger
Contributor

AOL News (April 22) -- The drone campaign over Afghanistan and Pakistan has captured national headlines and highlighted how modern technology is creating a push-button war, with pilots operating unmanned aircraft from outside Las Vegas. Less publicized, however, is how the fragile communication system linking man (or woman) to drone can be disrupted by something as seemingly harmless as a house cat.

That's essentially what happened in one instance when operators in the U.S. lost control of a drone.

"Actually, a cat climbed into one of the electronic nodes and fried everything and shut down the comms link," Air Force Col. Grant Webb, the director of training for the unmanned aircraft center at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, told an audience at an aviation conference in Texas last week.

The Air Force currently practices what are called "remote split operations" for its fleet of Predator and Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operating in Iraq and Afghanistan. That means the launch and recovery of the drones are controlled by operators in the area of military operations, but once the drones are at altitude, they are handed over via satellite to pilots at Creech, who actually conduct the mission.

Webb noted that there are "a lot of potential points of failure" in that sort of operation.

This isn't the first time communication problems with drones have been cited. In an article published in Esquire last year, Air Force officials described cases when the operators at Creech lost communication with the drones they were supposed to be controlling after power surges at the base.

"We have to find it," Air Force Capt. Andrew Dowd told the magazine of these cases. "It's like hide-and-seek."

As the use of unmanned aircraft has grown, so too have the concerns over communications. A report released last month by the Government Accountability Office said the Defense Department hadn't adequately prepared for disruptions in communications with its fleet of unmanned aircraft.
The vulnerability of drones and drone communications was also highlighted earlier this year when The Wall Street Journal revealed that insurgents in Iraq were able to use commercial software to hack into the aircraft's live video feed, allowing them to see what the military was seeing.

Aerospace writer Stephen Trimble observes that, more than an amusing story, the case of the intruding cat highlights "a point of philosophical friction between Army and Air Force officers." The Army, which operates its version of the Predator -- the Sky Warrior -- prefers to have its operators located in the area of military operations, while the Air Force prefers to operate the drones remotely.

"Of course, as long as UAVs are controlled from the ground, the communications link will remain a single point of failure regardless of where the ground station is physically located," Trimble writes.
Filed under: Nation, World

http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/in ... s/19450090

Al-Qaeda cat infiltrates Creech, chaos ensues
By Stephen Trimble on April 17, 2010 12:05 PM

Al-Qaeda has trained cats to infiltrate Creech AFB, sneak into the power substations and posthumously inherit 72 virginal kittens by shorting out the communications link to the US Air Force's Predators and Reapers flying over Afghanistan.

That is my satirical interpretation, anyway, of the following remarks yesterday at the Quad-A convention by Col Grant Webb, a Creech resident and director of training at the joint unmanned aircraft systems center of excellence. (Fast forward to about the 40-second mark.)

[youtube]K5Vd6U_if5U[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5Vd6U_if5U

More seriously, this anecdote helps explain Creech power outages reported last October by Esquire magazine, and noted on The DEW Line.

It also offers a glimpse into a point of philosophical friction between army and air force officers. For many army officers, the very idea of remote split operations is antithetical to the service's warrior mentality. As the army starts deploying its version of the Predator/Reaper family -- the MQ-1C Sky Warrior, the ground-based controllers will be stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. That's because the army believes that UAS crews and the troops they protect should be co-located. The air force prefers to station controllers at Creech, located comfortably on the outskirts of Las Vegas, relying on satellite communications to pilot Reapers and Predators flying half a world away.

Of course, as long as UAVs are controlled from the ground, the communications link will remain a single point of failure regardless of where the ground station is physically located. The Al-Qaeda suicide cat brigade is just one of the threats.

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-d ... creec.html

Aerial drone will fly on Texas border soon, Napolitano says

12:00 AM CDT on Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Gary Martin, San Antonio Express-News

WASHINGTON – Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told a Senate hearing Tuesday that an unmanned aerial drone will soon fly through Texas skies as drug-cartel violence continues to escalate on the U.S.-Mexico border.



ROSS D. FRANKLIN/The Associated Press
A Predator drone unmanned aerial vehicle will be sent to Texas soon, the homeland security secretary says. Texas is the last border state to receive a Predator drone, and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said the absence of one has hurt intelligence capabilities of federal, state and local law enforcement.

"I'm concerned that some of the assets that could be deployed to help not only quell the violence, but also keep our borders secure, are not being deployed because of unnecessary foot-dragging," Cornyn said.

Napolitano said Texas was the last Southwest border state to receive a drone because "Texas airspace is more crowded."

Napolitano, under questioning by senators, said the timeline for placing a drone in Texas remains a decision for the Federal Aviation Administration.

"The FAA now has to go in and carve out, as I understand it, space for the Predator," she said.

The drone tentatively would be stored in Corpus Christi. It would help law enforcement officers identify drug and immigrant smugglers and relay that information to authorities on the ground.

Napolitano testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which held an oversight hearing into programs under the Department of Homeland Security.

The secretary said that over the past 15 months, federal law enforcement initiatives have made the border more secure than at any other time in history.

Operation Stonegarden, which provides federal aid for local law enforcement assistance, sent $90 million to states, counties and cities for police and investigative efforts. Of that, 85 percent went to the Southwest border.

She said the number of Border Patrol agents has doubled from 10,000 to 20,000 in five years, and 653.3 miles of border fence have been built.

Still, she said, more needs to be done to build partnerships with the Mexican government, which remains in an intense battle against narcotics cartels.

Napolitano said the recent deaths of a Douglas, Ariz., rancher and U.S. consulate employees in Juarez, Mexico, were tragedies "that serve to remind us of how drug violence can directly affect Americans and our nation's interests."

More than 23,000 people have died in Mexico in the "drug war" since 2006, Cornyn said.

Gary Martin,

San Antonio Express-News

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 2da2f.html

TribBlog: DHS Says Skies Too Crowded For Drones
by Julian Aguilar
April 27, 2010

Texas’ congested air space is preventing the deployment of unmanned aerial drones to the southern border; a problem one U.S. senator said is working in favor of Mexican drug cartels.

“I’m upset that there are none in Texas. We have a 1,200-mile border with Mexico,” U.S. Sen. John Cornyn told Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. “And as I understand it none of those predators are being used by the Border Patrol or Customs and Border Protection in Texas.”

Cornyn’s comments came during a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, where he reaffirmed his belief that the carnage in Mexico, specifically Ciudad Juárez, was spilling over into El Paso. It was evidenced, he said, by the 150 victims of violence who have been hospitalized in El Paso.

“There is a war going on, as you know, and I am worried that the Mexican government may not be poised to win that war,” he said.

Cornyn and Texas Gov. Rick Perry have repeatedly argued that unmanned aerial drones would assist the federal government in its efforts to secure the border. They had been greeted with little, if any, response. U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, has said repeatedly, however, that unmanned Predator drones have been conducting training operations along the border for about 10 years.

Tuesday Napolitano explained why none of the five drones currently used are keeping a permanent eye on Texas.

“The plain fact of the matter is that Texas’ air space is more crowded than the other airspace that needs to be protected along the border,” she responded. “The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) now has to go in and carve out space for the Predator but that is under way.”

Despite the explanation, Cornyn said he plans to personally approach FAA officials for an explanation of what “their posture is.”

“It seems like the delay just keeps extending on and on and on, and I would ask for your help to try to expedite this,” he told Napolitano.

http://www.texastribune.org/blogs/post/ ... ed-drones/

[Carlos]

Yawn, you guys are little late to the party! The US military has been using the smaller RPV's down on the border since 9/11. They've been using radar blimps in the BigBend region for at least 14 years that I'm aware of . These are tethered vehicles but still spy aircraft none the less. These were operated by the US military out of the Air Force Station near Marfa.

[SMiles]

Yawn, you guys are little late to the party! The US military has been using the smaller RPV's down on the border since 9/11. They've been using radar blimps in the BigBend region for at least 14 years that I'm aware of . These are tethered vehicles but still spy aircraft none the less. These were operated by the US military out of the Air Force Station near Marfa.

Did I say that I was unaware of such drones already being used?

In fact I reported on my own probable drone sighting in Central Austin in 2002.

[Carlos]

It seems to me that the UAV thing may not be as effective as its proponents want us to believe.

http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/ ... ss_080708/

UAV operators suffer war stress

By Scott Lindlaw - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Aug 8, 2008 13:48:14 EDT

MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, Calif. — The Air National Guardsmen who operate Predator drones over Iraq via remote control, launching deadly missile attacks from the safety of Southern California 7,000 miles away, are suffering some of the same psychological stresses as their comrades on the battlefield.

Working in air-conditioned trailers, Predator pilots observe the field of battle through a bank of video screens and kill enemy fighters with a few computer keystrokes. Then, after their shifts are over, they get to drive home and sleep in their own beds.

But that whiplash transition is taking a toll on some of them mentally, and so is the way the unmanned aircraft’s cameras enable them to see people getting killed in high-resolution detail, some officers say.

In a fighter jet, “when you come in at 500-600 mph, drop a 500-pound bomb and then fly away, you don’t see what happens,” said Col. Albert K. Aimar, who is commander of the 163rd Reconnaissance Wing here and has a bachelor’s degree in psychology. But when a Predator fires a missile, “you watch it all the way to impact, and I mean it’s very vivid, it’s right there and personal. So it does stay in people’s minds for a long time.”

He said the stresses are “causing some family issues, some relationship issues.” He and other Predator officers would not elaborate.

But the 163rd has called in a full-time chaplain and enlisted the services of psychologists and psychiatrists to help ease the mental strain on these remote-control warriors, Aimar said. Similarly, chaplains have been brought in at Predator bases in Texas, Arizona and Nevada.

The North Dakota Air National Guard wing in Fargo flew its first Predator mission overseas last year. The Grand Forks Air Force Base also is getting an unmanned aircraft mission, and the University of North Dakota is preparing to provide Predator training.

In interviews with five of the dozens of pilots and sensor operators at the various bases, none said they had been particularly troubled by their mission, but they acknowledged it comes with unique challenges, and sometimes makes for a strange existence.

“It’s bizarre, I guess,” said Lt. Col. Michael Lenahan, a Predator pilot and operations director for the 196th Reconnaissance Squadron here. “It is quite different, going from potentially shooting a missile, then going to your kid’s soccer game.”

Among the stresses cited by the operators and their commanders: the exhaustion that comes with the shift work of this 24-7 assignment; the classified nature of the job that demands silence at the breakfast table; and the images transmitted via video.

A Predator’s cameras are powerful enough to allow an operator to distinguish between a man and a woman, and between different weapons on the ground. While the resolution is generally not high enough to make out faces, it is sharp, commanders say.

Often, the military also directs Predators to linger over a target after an attack so that the damage can be assessed.

“You do stick around and see the aftermath of what you did, and that does personalize the fight,” said Col. Chris Chambliss, commander of the active-duty 432nd Wing at Creech Air Force Base, Nev. “You have a pretty good optical picture of the individuals on the ground. The images can be pretty graphic, pretty vivid, and those are the things we try to offset. We know that some folks have, in some cases, problems.”

Chambliss said his experience flying F-16 fighter jets on bombing runs in Iraq during the 1990s prepared him for his current job as a Predator pilot. But Chambliss and several other wing leaders said they were concerned about the sensor operators, who sit next to pilots in the ground control station. Often, the sensor operators are on their first assignment and just 18 or 19 years old, officers said.

While the pilot actually fires the missile, the sensor operator uses laser instruments to guide it all the way to its target.

On four or five occasions, sensor operators have sought out a chaplain or supervisor after an attack, Chambliss said. He emphasized that the number of such cases is very small compared to the number of people involved in Predator operations.

Col. Rodney Horn, vice commander of the 147th Reconnaissance Wing at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base near Houston, said his unit went out of it way to impress upon sensor operators the sometimes lethal nature of the job. “No one’s walking into it blind,” he said.

Master Sgt. Keith LeQuire, a 48-year-old sensor operator here, said the 163rd asks prospective sensor operators whether they are prepared for the deadly serious mission. “No one’s been naive enough to come in to interview but not know about that aspect of the job,” he said.

Unlike soldiers living together in the war zone, the Predator operators do not have the close locker-room-style camaraderie that allows buddies to talk about the day’s events and blow off steam. But many Predator operators at Creech employ a decompression ritual during the long ride home, said Air Force Lt. Col. Robert P. Herz.

“They’re putting a missile down somebody’s chimney and taking out bad guys, and the next thing they’re taking their wife out to dinner, their kids to school,” said Herz, a Ph.D. who interviewed pilots and sensor operators for a doctoral dissertation on human error in Predator accidents.

“A lot of them have told me, ‘I’m glad I’ve got the hour drive.’ It gives them that whole amount of time to leave it behind,” Herz said. “They get in their bus or car and they go into a zone — they say, ‘For the next hour I’m decompressing, I’m getting re-engaged into what it’s like to be a civilian.”’

Col. Gregg Davies, commander of the 214th Reconnaissance Group in Tucson, Ariz., said he knows of no member of his team who has experienced any trauma from launching a Predator attack.

Himself a Predator pilot, Davies said he has found the work rewarding. The Arizona Air National Guard unit flies Predators in both the Iraq and Afghanistan war zones. It has often provided protection for American convoys, and its personnel have seen insurgents planting roadside bombs.

“If we can have an effect there where we can take people out, that’s a real plus in terms of saving American lives,” Davies said. “Our folks look at it as they’re in the fight, they’re saving lives. They don’t feel too bad about that.”

[SMiles]

In 2002 I witnessed from my front yard a drone aircraft flying over South/Central Austin. No lights, no sound and because of its height I could see no markings. It appeared to be greyish black and following main roadways.

Then in 2007 I began to read reports that Houston was "secretly" experimenting with drones for police surveillance and even for traffic / speeding ticketing:

Unmanned Drone On L.I. Sparks Terror Investigation (videos)
By Jonathan Dienst / August 22, 2008
http://www.wnbc.com/news/17266645/detail.html
http://video.wnbc.com/player/?id=287130

UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS
Federal Actions Needed to Ensure Safety and Expand Their Potential Uses within the National Airspace System
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08511.pdf

Report Finds New Concerns For Police Use Of Drone Aircraft
Click 2 Houston.com, TX – 14 hours ago
Houston police say drones are still being studied with FAA and they are far from beginning patrols with the aircraft.
http://www.click2houston.com/investigat ... etail.html

Houston Police Work To Address Drone Safety Concerns
December 6, 2007
http://www.click2houston.com/investigat ... etail.html

Pilots Worry HPD Drones Could Cause Danger In Air
December 5, 2007
http://www.click2houston.com/investigat ... etail.html

Local 2 Investigates Police Secrecy Behind Unmanned Aircraft Test (video gone)
By Stephen Dean / November 21, 2007
http://www.click2houston.com/investigat ... etail.html

CNN: ‘Houston police use drone planes’ Katie Baker (video)
Published: Sunday November 25, 2007
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/CNN_Houst ... _1124.html

AOPA renews call for UAV regulations
http://www.aopa.org/advocacy/articles/2 ... 26uav.html

More UAV Flights For Law Enforcement In US Airspace Planned
Other Unauthorized Flights Reported Following Houston Incident
http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?Cont ... f44247babc

Houston, Texas to Deploy UAV Speeding Ticket Drones
Nov 23, 2007 … Unmanned spy planes could issue speeding tickets in Houston, Texas by June 2008.
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/20/2084.asp

Houston Police Department Drone in Iraq – Insight UAV
Nov 28, 2007 … The company that built a UAV for an FAA-approved test in Texas has confirmed that the model was the Insight, a 44-pound, long-endurance …
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science ... 34272.html

Civilian UAVs: Five More Unmanned Aircraft
By Erin McCarthy / Illustrations by Transluszent.de
Published in the April 2007 issue.
Bell Eagle Eye:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science ... tml?page=2
Killer Bee: (video)
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science ... tml?page=3

Then in 2008 we learned of Predator drones being used to map the Texas coast before the approaching hurricane:

Predator drone being used to map hurricane damage | AP Texas News
Sep 5, 2008 … An unmanned drone equipped with sophisticated radar capabilities that’s normally used … Houston residents get what they need to stay or go …
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5986181.html

In the wake of learning about the coastal drones my co-host Mack White spoke with someone close to him about their strange Predator Drone sighting over Round Rock, Texas neighborhood:

[quote]

PsiOp Radio 56 – 080916
http://psiopradio.com/media/2008/PsiOp% ... 080916.mp3

PsiOp Radio: Spy Drone Over Austin?



PsiOp Radio returns tonight, live, with an exclusive report: two eyewitnesses have reported to me that last night at 3 am a strange aircraft matching the description of a Predator drone was seen circling over north Austin. My co-host SMiles Lewis and I will discuss the details of this disturbing incident, as well as a bunch of other news stories tonight starting at 7 pm CDT / 0100 UTC. The show is two hours long and is carried on Anomaly Radio and Revere Radio. Don’t miss it, and be sure to call in. We’d love to hear from you …

posted by Mack White at 5:08 PM
http://mackwhite.blogspot.com/2008/09/p ... -over.html

[SMiles]

Clean, quiet eye in the sky
Winnipeg Free Press - Barry Prentice - ‎Jan 5, 2010‎
... but in UAV mode they can loiter or traverse areas of interest for more than 24 hours. The Moscow police have proven that airship technology can operate ...
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinio ... 85312.html

Border Agencies to Fly Maritime Unpiloted Aircraft in Caribbean
National Defense Magazine - Stew Magnuson - ‎Dec 14, 2009‎
Along with patrolling the border, the UAVs have been used in humanitarian missions as well, such as the Red River floods last year in North Dakota. ...
http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/ ... bbean.aspx

Will a robot be the next great humanitarian?
MinnPost.com - William Dowell - ‎Jan 6, 2010‎
Draganfly, a Canadian company based in Saskatchewan, produces several light UAV (un-manned aerial vehicles) that can carry a small TV camera. ...
http://www.minnpost.com/globalpost/2010 ... manitarian

WallstreetStockReview.com MNDP Subsidiary in New Partnership
India Business Blog (blog) - ‎Jan 6, 2010‎
COM, January 06, 2010 ) Del Mar, CA MNDP subsidiary, Airstar is in business with Altitude Inc. to supply UAV's and services for geological survey for the ...
PINK:MNDP
http://trak.in/india/wallstreetstockrev ... omy-48389/

[SMiles]

Local development agency looks to hire full-time UAV coordinator
Grand Forks Herald - Kevin Bonham - ‎Jan 6, 2010‎
A recent survey indicated the Grand Forks region has 72 people working in the unmanned aerial system field, from education to law enforcement and private ...
http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/a ... id/146742/

Airplanes are still a vital tool in law enforcement
Police News - ‎Dec 14, 2009‎
That is hardly the case, as airplanes are still extensively used in a wide range of airborne law enforcement operations. Helicopters are excellent law ...
http://www.policeone.com/airborne-marit ... forcement/

[SMiles]

US drones collecting 'too much information'
US remote-controlled spy drones used over Afghanistan and Iraq are producing so much video intelligence that analysts are finding it more and more difficult to keep up with it, according to The New York Times.

Published: 7:00AM GMT 11 Jan 2010

The newspaper said the Air Force drones collected nearly three times as much video over Afghanistan and Iraq last year as in 2007 -- about 24 years' worth if watched continuously.

That volume is expected to multiply in the coming years as drones are added to the fleet and as some start using multiple cameras to shoot in many directions, the report said.


Related Articles
CIA suicide bombing 'was revenge for drone attacks'
15 killed in US drone strikes in Pakistan
MoD 'slow to appreciate' potential of drone aircraft in Iraq and Afghanistan, MPs say
Gen Sir Richard Dannatt: 'We need more resources in Afghanistan'
Remote-controlled planes could spy on British homes
Al-Qa'eda's American-born propaganda chief may have died in predator attackA group of young analysts already watches every second of the footage live as it is streamed to Langley Air Force Base in Virginia and to other intelligence centers, and they quickly pass warnings about insurgents and roadside bombs to troops in the field, according to the paper.

But military officials also see much potential in using the archives of video collected by the drones for later analysis, like searching for patterns of insurgent activity over time, The Times said.

To date, only a small fraction of the stored video has been retrieved for such intelligence purposes, the paper said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... ation.html

[SMiles]

Surveillance Drones To Zap Protesters Into Submission
The future of policing: Dissidents to be tortured into compliance by marauding unmanned vehicles

Paul Joseph Watson
Propaganda Matrix
Friday, February 12, 2010

Illustrating once again that the prison planet being built around us far outstrips anything Aldous Huxley or George Orwell ever imagined, a Wired News report details how police forces worldwide are preparing to unveil drone aircraft that can not only conduct surveillance of protesters, but also zap them into submission with non-lethal weapons.

As part of their ongoing mission to "protect and serve" the new world order, cops across the world are getting access to military drones which allow them to "carry out surveillance on everyone from protesters and antisocial motorists to fly-tippers," reports Wired News.

The report details how the future of policing will resemble something approaching a combination of They Live and The Running Man, with unmanned drones replacing police helicopters whizzing around everywhere torturing and knocking out anyone who misbehaves.

According to the report, this is a natural progression from CCTV cameras that shout at passers-by, currently deployed in several UK cities, only now drones will be fitted with LRAD acoustic devices, torture sound weapons that were indiscriminately used and abused during the G20 summit in Pittsburgh on innocent members of the public who were just walking down the street and had not even dared to engage in the criminal activity of expressing their First Amendment right to assemble.

"The LRAD has been tested on the Austrian S-100 unmanned helicopter, and the technology is ready if there is a police requirement," states the article.

Also available to police will be a drone that can fire tear gas as well as rubber pellets to disperse anyone still living under the delusion that they were born in a democratic country.

"French company Tecknisolar Seni has demonstrated a portable drone armed with a double-barrelled 44mm Flash-Ball gun," states the report. "Used by French special police units, the one-kilo Flash-Ball resembles a large calibre handgun and fires non-lethal rounds, including tear gas and rubber impact rounds to bring down a suspect without permanent damage -- "the same effect as the punch of a champion boxer," claim makers Verney-Carron."

Of course the fact that the Flash-Ball devices have caused "permanent damage" in the form of head injuries is glossed over.

Another option will be a mini-flying saucer drone fitted with a Taser gun, primed to shoot 50,000-volts into anyone who refuses to bow down at the feet of global government.

"Taser stun guns are now so light (about 150 grams) that they could be mounted on the smaller drones. Antoine di Zazzo, head of SMP Technologies, which distributes tasers in France, says the company is fitting one to a small quad-rotor iDrone (another quad-rotor toy helicopter), which some have called a "flying saucer".

Since police routinely use Tasers as a method of "pain compliance," ie torture, and not in genuinely threatening situations, abuse of the devices is widespread in every country that has introduced them. Since June 2001, over 350 people have died in the United States after being hit with these "non-lethal weapons". Imagine how incidents of abuse would skyrocket once the personal element of using a Taser is removed and they are strapped to marauding surveillance drones, eliminating any responsibility for deaths and injuries that occur.

Why not just equip the drones with hellfire missiles and have done with it? Now it's admitted that the authorities treat any dissenter, any protester, anyone who questions the system, even anyone who takes a photograph in public as a terrorist, why not just blow us all away like they do to "insurgents" in Afghanistan?

The fact that every one of these fascistic and futuristic tools of enslavement is being primed to be used mainly against protesters only confirms that the police state is not coming, it's not some future threat, it's here in 2010 - we're living in a world that does not tolerate dissent against its overlords, we're truly living on a prison planet.


http://www.propagandamatrix.com/article ... esters.htm

[SMiles]

DESCRIPTION OF ACTION

FIRST PROTEST AGAINST CIA DRONE ATTACKS
COMING TO LANGLEY, VIRGINIA

"Every one of these dead non-combatants represents an alienated family, a new revenge feud, and more
recruits for a militant movement that has grown exponentially even as drone strikes have increased."
- David Kilcullen (Counterinsurgency Expert) Center for New American Security

On January 16th, 2010 from 1pm to 4pm activists will descend upon the home of the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Virginia to protest the immoral, illegal, and inhumane use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs--also known as "drones").

Speaking at this event will be:

- Cindy Sheehan (world renowned U.S. anti-war/peace activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee)
- Cynthia McKinney (former six term member of the U.S. House of Representatives and former Green Party candidate for President of the United States)
- Hadi Jawad (Pakistani-American and Co-founder of the Crawford Peace House)
- Kathy Kelly (U.S. peace activist, pacifist and author, a three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee, one of the founding members of Voices in the Wilderness, and currently a co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence)
- Debra Sweet (Brooklyn-based director of World Can’t Wait)
- Bruce Gagnon (coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space)
- Joshua Smith (anti-war/peace activist, analyst and coordinator)
- David Rovics (musician)

By some reports the current implementation and planned operational expansion of the strike-capable drone programs in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan have to date yielded up to 33% civilian (non-combatant) deaths. To any sane and honorable person this statistic alone should prove that the "actionable intelligence" and robotic delivery vehicle do not yield a proper basis and/or method for credible attack. The primary and proven case against drone attacks is that they pose a public danger that can only be deemed as indiscriminate bombing. On the day of the event, activists will demand that the United States and its allies adhere to the protection of civilians (non-combatants) in international armed conflicts in accordance with the multiple existing conventions, protocols and customary international laws. These same activists will, of course, also demand an end to the wars and occupations currently under way and an immediate withdrawal of all troops and contractors.

Drones operate in the theater of war by being fueled and maintained at airbases within their locale but which are remotely piloted via satellite connected ground control stations half-way around the world and from an environment disassociated with any human connection to reality of their actions. The psychological aspect of this endeavor will ultimately create a false sense that war is easier to condone, safer to conduct and more acceptable in U.S. public and political opinion to initiate.

Recently, it has been reported in mainstream media that the United States Central Intelligence Agency has been working in cooperation with Private Military Contractors (PMCs--also known as "mercenaries") in waging secret operations in utilizing drone attacks. Under this veil secrecy it can only be assumed that impunity for war crimes is being actively cultivated within the highest level of Department of Defense operations via proxy by the Central Intelligence Agency (which then sub-contracts out the directives).

The most well known drone is the propeller driven Predator A (MQ-1). This drone began as merely a streaming video reconnaissance tool but was soon armed with Hellfire missiles. The United States Military then upgraded the entire drone arsenal with what has become a an even more ruthless killer--the Predator B "Reaper" (MQ-9). With millions upon millions, of U.S. taxpayer funded dollars the Reaper became higher, faster and stronger with increased size and fuel capacity, quicker engagement via a turbo-prop engine and a larger weapons payload/assortment. The Reaper is seemingly a "steroid raged monster" that cowardly stalks it's prey. The next evolution is the Predator C "Avenger" which will employ stealth design/materials, jet engine and highly advanced optics systems.

Within the oration of the activists at this event the most frightening aspect of future drone programs will be explained and spelled out to attendees and to the press. The three most notable facts are (1) that drone programs currently under development will soon yield a series of UAV aircraft that will operate in a fully autonomous mode (meaning that no human will be controlling the craft remotely), (2) that the UAV program is destined to become the primary type of air power for the U.S. military which will also be tasked with the ability to carry out nuclear strikes, and (3) the use of drones will morph into rapid and various domestic roles as well (operating in, around and over cities of the United States).

Location: Langley, VA – Route 123 (Dolley Madison Blvd) between Potomac School Rd & Savile Ln.
Google map is here.

UPDATE: (January 12, 2010) Previously announced speaker Ann Wright is due for some well deserved rest after spending a full month in Cairo, Egypt facilitating the Gaza Freedom March logistics and governmental negotiations. She will be replaced by Hadi Jawad.

http://www.cindysheehanssoapbox.com/peacePage.html

http://www.ipdop.org/cia_drone_protest_flyer_cssb.pdf