Category Archives: Drones

“The Human still has stone age feelings, medieval institutions and god-like technology. That’s what we have to deal with.” – Edward O. Wilson The famed biologist wasn’t talking about drones when he made that statement, but given the emotional motivations … Continue reading →

From today’s NYT: Opening a new front in the drone wars against Al Qaeda and its affiliates, President Obama announced on Friday that about 100 American troops had been sent to Niger in West Africa to help set up a … Continue reading →

Even if they are glad Mr. Awlaki is dead, many Americans are uneasy that a president can use secret evidence to label a citizen a terrorist and order his execution without a trial or judge’s ruling. Hence the idea of court oversight for targeted killing, which on Thursday, unexpectedly, got serious discussion from senators and Mr. Brennan.
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From ThinkProgress, on Obama’s decision to finally release to Congress his legal justification for his assassination-by-drone policy: The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence — of which Wyden is a member — gets access to information surrounding drones, but struggled to … Continue reading →

From today’s NYT: The United States military command in Africa is preparing plans to establish a drone base in northwest Africa to increase unarmed surveillance missions on the local affiliate of Al Qaeda and other Islamist extremist groups that American and other Western officials … Continue reading →

When Predator drones made their debut years ago, they were strictly reconnaissance platforms. But of course, they “evolved”–first, the CIA armed them, then the military followed. The beast in the image here is innocuously named the Legged Squad Support System … Continue reading →

From this week’s CQ Weekly cover story piece: According to a June poll by Monmouth University in New Jersey, a majority of Americans supports the expansion of drones into U.S. skies for a variety of purposes, such as border protection, … Continue reading →

The piece, by Anna Mulrine, raises the three most commonly cited problems: the fear of copy-cat attacks, killing innocent civilians, and the lack of oversight over the program(s). In fact, it’s Obama’s assertion of his unilateral authority to use drones … Continue reading →

From his piece on CNN’s website today, discussing the implications of the spread of drone technology to at least 70 nations: But without an international framework governing the use of drone attacks, the United States is setting a dangerous precedent … Continue reading →

When I went to Georgetown University over 20 years ago, I felt the standards for hiring and retaining faculty were relatively high. If you need any evidence that they’ve slipped–badly–you need only read this piece by GU faculty member Christine … Continue reading →