military industrial complex

The Drone War Doctrine We Still Know Nothing About

"In these attacks, known as 'signature strikes,' drone operators fire on people whose identities they do not know based on evidence of suspicious behavior or other 'signatures.' According to anonymously sourced media reports, such attacks on unidentified targets account for many, or even most, drone strikes. Despite that, the administration has never publicly spoken about signature strikes. What is the legal justification for signature strikes? What qualifies as a 'signature' that would prompt a deadly strike? Do those being targeted have to pose a threat to the United States? And how many civilians have been killed in such strikes?" Continue reading →

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Lobbyist: Use Drones to ‘Zap’ Americans on U.S. Soil

"Testifying against a bill that would put limits on the use of unmanned drones in Washington state, industry lobbyist Paul Applewhite shocked a House Committee hearing when he said that drones had been used for 'indiscriminate killings,' while arguing that the technology should be approved for 'lethal force' within the United States." Continue reading →

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Drones patrolling U.S. borders spark controversy over privacy

"Intended to protect the borders from illegal crossings and the import of illegal drugs, ten drones flown by U.S. Customs and Border Protection have also sparked a controversy over privacy. The plane are piloted remotely and their images are reviewed in real time by agents at Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista, Arizona. The data is used to help direct agents on the ground or in a helicopter to make a bust. 'The fact we can turn the lights off, we are almost stealth,' said director of Air Operations Dave Gasho. And that, critics say, that is the problem." Continue reading →

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U.S. Government: The Truth Is Too Complicated and Dangerous to Disclose to the Public

"Secretive, unaccountable agencies are making life and death decisions which effect our most basic rights. They provide 'secret evidence' to courts which cannot be checked … and often withhold any such 'evidence' even from the judges. The government uses 'secret evidence' to spy on Americans, prosecute leaking or terrorism charges (even against U.S. soldiers) and even assassinate people. All of this happened in Germany – as in America today – because the governments whipped up so much fear of attack by demonizing the enemy and declaring an open-ended war that people became complacent and stopped thinking for themselves." Continue reading →

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Imagining a Legal Basis for Obama’s Overseas Assassinations

"Thanks to someone who has reservations about Obama's murders and leaked it, we have a copy of a secret legal opinion that is supposed to lay out the conditions under which such presidentially-directed murders are legal. This heretofore secret document imagines a legal basis for Obama's overseas assassinations. Imagine is not quite the right word. It fantasizes such a basis. It makes it up by stringing together words that are supposed to make a plausible case. On inspection, however, this case collapses. It is rather like setting a wall on what is supposed to be concrete, but actually is pudding." Continue reading →

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NDAA Judge: Executive Branch “Known To Make Things Up”

"Mr. Constitutional Law Professor insisted that he signed the bill with 'serious reservations.' He also promised that he would never, ever use NDAA's powers -- he merely collects such prerogatives as you or I would books or china cups, so he can set them on a shelf and admire them. And for a guy who so unenthusiastically signed the legislation in 2012 -- and in 2013 as well -- he has most vigorously defended it. Judge Katherine Forrest declined to cooperate with evisceration of the Constitution and suspended the NDAA. Ole Reluctant Signer immediately appealed to the Second Circuit to overturn her ruling. That hearing took place yesterday in NYC." Continue reading →

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Raisons d’État: Justifying Assassination and Murder of American Citizens

"From Niccolo Machiavelli and Cardinal Richelieu to George W. Bush and Barack Obama, survival of the state has been the highest priority of political authority. Any means necessary regardless of morality or legality is sanctioned for reasons of state (raisons d'État). In statecraft, the ends justify the means. I suspect that many of these craven individuals (of both parties) will soon be marching in lock-step unison in shouting their support of an earlier assassination of an American citizen by the top tier of the National Security establishment fifty years ago who was seen as a traitor to his nation during the height of the Cold War." Continue reading →

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Obama’s Drone War Could Legally Kill Americans But Not Anywhere

"Obama is stretching the terms 'imminent threat' beyond recognition to justify dubious unilateral presidential action, now targeting regional al Qaeda affiliates in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia—all of which had no role in the 9/11 strikes and which focus their attacks mainly against local governments. This expanded war is congressionally unauthorized, and so it is illegal and unconstitutional to kill anyone in these countries—Americans or foreign peoples. There is now talk about setting up a secret court to approve adding Americans to the terrorist kill list, much like the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court does for spying on Americans." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama’s Drone War Could Legally Kill Americans But Not Anywhere

Upstate New York bids to become federal drone testing site

"A coalition of upstate New York universities and defense contractors has submitted a bid to become a federally designated testing and research site for the integration of unmanned aircraft systems, or UAS, into domestic airspace. Drones are expected to be used for everything from search and rescue, to crop dusting, to newsgathering. One of the key issues the FAA will have to assess is the ability of drones to communicate with air traffic controllers, manned aircraft and other drones. The massive growth of drone use is expected to create an economic boom in the U.S." Continue reading →

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“Klaatu, Barada, Bar Code”: Bar Codes Visible from Outer Space

"What are these all about? We are told that they were camera calibrating devices. American spy planes in the 1950s and 1960s flew overhead, taking photos. But to take a good photo, a camera needs precise measurements for focusing. These bar codes provided the masters. Anyway, that’s the official line. In half a century, none of this leaked out. It makes you wonder. How many things have never leaked out? How many don’t leak out today, and won’t for 50 years?" Continue reading →

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