The truth at any cost lowers all other costs — curated by former US spy Robert David Steele.
If we accept this unnamed official’s argument at face value, then why is this program, and those like it, classified at the special access compartmented level. Could it be that the object of the excessive secrecy is keep the cost and some of the performance data from the American people so that they do not …
Continue reading “Chuck Spinney: Real Cost vs Real Value of Drones? + RECAP”
Occupy the Skies! Protesters Could Use Spy Drones Spencer Ackerman WIRED, 17 November 2011 The proliferation of drones throughout the military — and into civilian law enforcement — can make it feel like we’re living in an airborne panopticon. But flying robots are agnostic about who they train their gaze upon, and can spy on …
Continue reading “Dolphin: Their Drones, Our Drones, and EMP Rays”
DRONES and US Internal Security Signature strikes target groups of men believed to be militants associated with terrorist groups, but whose identities aren’t always known. The bulk of CIA’s drone strikes are signature strikes. Wall Street Journal. Drones are changing the dynamics of warfare in very scary ways. They make oppression much easier (and cost-effective). …
Continue reading “John Robb: Micro Drones Threaten US Citizens at Home”
This unconnected, dispersed approach to intelligence has never worked and this is a clear example of its failure. When one tries to do intelligence remotely, using technological means, one looses the “native atmospherics” that often tell more about what is going on than any sensor. U.S. deaths in drone strike due to miscommunication, report says …
Continue reading “DefDog: Drones Kill US Forces – Once Again, BAD IDEA”
The Psychology of Killer Drones – action against our foes; reaction affecting us G. I. Wilson Fabius Maximus, 28 September 2011 Summary: We now have enough experience with drone warfare to study its effects. Just as in physics, our actions affect ourselves as well as our targets. Social science research shows that drones are a gateway to moral disengagement dehumanization, …
Continue reading “G.I. Wilson: Killer Drones, Moral Disengagement, + War Crimes RECAP”
But they still cannot distinguish between a person taking a dump and one planting a bomb…..technology does not win wars. This does not improve the analytical ability of the force. War Evolves With Drones, Some Tiny as Bugs By ELISABETH BUMILLER and THOM SHANKER New York Times, June 19, 2011 Phi Beta Iota: It also …
COSTS OF MAJOR U.S. WARS COMPARED More than a trillion dollars has been appropriated since September 11, 2001 for U.S. military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. This makes the “war on terrorism” the most costly of any military engagement in U.S. history in absolute terms or, if correcting for inflation, the second most expensive …
