Tech | April 18, 2011 | 43 comments

Lobbying Report: Drones Fly Through Congress to Enter US Skies | Truthout

source: http://www.truth-out.org/lobbying-report-drones-fly-through-congress-enter-us-skies/1302937200

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figgdimension
by: Nick Mottern, Truthout

Reaper drone. (Photo: US Air Force)

Within weeks and possibly days, President Obama is likely to sign into law a bill that will bring unmanned aerial vehicles - drones - into US general airspace, crisscrossing the country in company with passenger planes and other human-carrying aircraft.

The story of how planes without on-board pilots will gain entry into our crowded airspace, where birds are life threatening, possibly within the next three years, is one involving campaign contributions, jobs and fear. As we will see, safety appears not to be the top priority.

I became aware of the pro-drone legislation from a February 10, 2011, Syracuse Post Standard report that Sen. Charles Schumer (D-New York) was supporting an amendment to the pending Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill (S. 223) that would create test zones for the introduction of drones into general airspace.

Senator Schumer was interested in the pro-drone amendment because MQ-9 Reaper drones, killer drones that are flying over Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, are stationed at Hancock Air Base near Syracuse. However, FAA safety restrictions have limited drone flights out of Hancock.

"If Schumer's legislative move succeeds this week," said the Post Standard, "it would help ensure the future of 1,215 jobs at the (air) base in Mattydale (New York) and potentially lead to millions of dollars in radar research contracts for local defense companies."

Bad Drones - Good Drones?

Drones have a grisly war history of misidentification. For example, on April 11, 2011, The Los Angeles Times carried a story of how a failure of US Air Force drone operators at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada to accurately identify the enemy led to the deaths in February 2010 of at least 15 non-combatant Afghani men, the wounding of 12 more and the deaths of a woman and three children.

"Technology can occasionally give you a false sense of security that you can see everything, that you can hear everything, that you know everything," said Air Force Major Gen. James O. Poss, who oversaw the Air Force investigation, according to the Times. "I really do think we have learned from this."

The newspaper said that survivors were compensated with $2,900 and families of the dead got $4,800.

Drones like the Reaper are also used for assassination, killing people without trial or conviction, a violation of international law, compounded by the problem of misidentification.

The Reaper can also be used strictly for surveillance and there are a variety of drones that can perform either killer or surveillance functions. Drones are also being produced for commercial uses, which include scanning land and oceans for agricultural, mining and fishing enterprises.

Given the deadly record of drones, I and others in New York State and elsewhere, moved to lobby Senator Schumer to end his support of the drone amendment.

Drone Envy

We knew we were starting very late. On February 15, we presented a letter (appearing at the end of this article) at Senator Schumer's Peekskill, New York, office urging him to abandon the drone amendment. He did not respond and his staff did not provide any information to us until well after the FAA reauthorization bill, with the pro-drone language embodied in an omnibus amendment, cleared the Senate on February 17.

According to Open Secrets.org, Senator Schumer received $10,000 for his 2010 re-election campaign from Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin is one of at least 50 companies making drones of various sizes and types and it produces Hellfire missiles, used by drones and other aircraft. Lockheed employs 2,200 in Syracuse.

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) also supported the drone amendment, saying in a press release: "This bill is about making southwest Ohio a critical part of this high-growth initiative. UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) could be used for a host of important purposes, from patrolling the border, to surveying Kandahar province, to combating drug smuggling and it's critical that Wright-Patterson Air Force Base plays a key role in their development and testing. I've worked on a bipartisan basis - first with (former) Sen. (George) Voinovich and now with Sen. (Rob) Portman - to enable the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright Patterson and the Springfield National Guard to test unmanned aerial systems in Southwest Ohio." (EEEKKK now we see why the wars are so important developing spyware and drones to use on US! damn Ohio WTF...?)
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43 comments // Lobbying Report: Drones Fly Through Congress to Enter US Skies | Truthout

  • KSirys
    • +4
      KSirys  

    • I see the US has figured out the value of life... survivors were compensated with $2,900 and families of the dead got $4,800. What else do we want? lol... what fucking bullshit!

    • 1 year ago
  • SAINTJULE
    • 0
      SAINTJULE  

    • Are they out of their ever loving heads. What about private aviation competing for air space now, and I'm told that the control of these things can be hacked. If that is true, I can imagine some high school junior now hacking and taking control of these cute little things. Anyway hope this is a joke. Schumer? Really?

    • 1 year ago
  • DianaCancer
  • ampersand
  • Ragan
  • scooter3282
    • +9
      scooter3282  

    • Big Brother is already watching. Whenever you see legislation like this written it means it's already being used. Just like when W. got his henchmen Bybee and Yoo to write legal opinion to justify his torture program that was already in place, you can bet we've all been caught on the government's candid cameras prior to the pen ever hitting the page on this legislation.

    • 1 year ago
  • Gravity_Man
    • -2
      Gravity_Man  
    • scooter3282:

      Weaponless Drone crashes Pregnant Mom's Windshield News at 11. Oh, and they all died. Baby too, so sad, que sera sera Ba-bee.

      Say, not to be complaining or nuthin but how the hell do people on the ground supposed to know they have weapons on board or not? Just wondering.

      Personally I see less hijackers living til they reach a prison cell. Ditto for car chases.

    • 1 year ago
  • Gravity_Man
  • Gravity_Man
  • Gravity_Man
  • KB723
  • scooter3282
  • KB723
  • Leen61
    • +7
      Leen61  

    • What a nice way to surveil the American people. 1984 is totally here. Obama will sign this into law. It benefits the MIC. This paragraph stood out at me:

      "Drones like the Reaper are also used for assassination, killing people without trial or conviction, a violation of international law, compounded by the problem of misidentification."

      Wow. They are always finding new ways to kill us.

    • 1 year ago
  • David_H
  • Leen61
  • SpencerTreeGarden
  • corderodedios
  • maasanova
  • corderodedios
  • corderodedios
    • 0
      corderodedios  
    • maasanova:

      Though speaking of which, that is one freaking video over at the Spitzer/Cooper link in news.

      I have heard people here use the term "belief" in regard of President Obama as if he were some sort of religious myth.

    • 1 year ago
  • Conniepae
    • +2
      Conniepae  

    • Follow the money. Who stands to gain from this endeavor? How much will it cost us? We are taking away from seniors. How can we spend money to keep unmanned planes flying over America. Nothing is free. How much will it cost you and me, while making profits for those who will be paid? Military industrial complex and oil companies.

      I don't think our tax dollars are well spent, buying fuel for planes to invade our privacy. Back yards will be viewed from above. No more privacy, even with a privacy fence. It's sad really. I love my back yard. We can't afford to just go for rides anymore.

      It costs us a lot, to have a home and a private back yard. I don't want to give up that privacy in the name of security, when it should really be called profit for the industrial military complex.

      Some things just go to far. We need to tell our Congress and Senate, we don't want drones flying over our homes, invading our privacy. Our homes and yards are part of our castles. Our privacy does not come cheap. We go to work every day to be able to afford a modest home and a private yard. I don't want them to take that away!

    • 1 year ago
  • ANONRRR
    • +4
      ANONRRR  

    • Insidious. This would be a slippery slope. I do not believe there is any good reason to fly drones over American air space...financial, jobs, immigration or otherwise. Let's keep an eye on this one.

    • 1 year ago
  • COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM
  • Debra_
    • -5
      Debra_  

    • This reminds me a lot of the young men and their fathers flying remote control planes in the park near where I live.

    • 1 year ago
  • COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM
  • Conniepae
    • +5
      Conniepae  

    • Drones over American skies. How sad! I guess if 'they' do it to other countries, why would they stop there? Drones are a sign of the times. Worse than a police state. They are totally devoid of what it means to be 'free' in America!

      We have the false 'claim' of freedom and they strip everything away from us. Claiming to be free, while using un-manned drones to police our skies is not free. It's a false claim, based on spin.

      Sometimes I wonder if they really think it's for our own good? Everything done by our politicians leaves a bad taste in the mouth of ordinary Americans. Democrat, or Republican doesn't matter. Even if the Democrats 'claim' to be for ordinary Americans, they are actually enablers of those who resent our freedom.

      Osama Bin Laden said we would be destroyed from within. I think this is the straw, which broken our free backs.

    • 1 year ago
  • bailey78
  • jonlemnh
    • +3
      jonlemnh  

    • this is BULLSHIT!!!!!!!!!!!! How is it our own country spies on us Is this what Russia was like during the COLDWAR!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • 1 year ago
  • ozoneocean
    • +1
      ozoneocean  

    • Red herring.

      Absolute and total red herring. Think for a second: drones are just a surveillance tool like any other- there's not much that a drone can do that hasn't already been done or that is not ALREADY being done by conventional means- manned aircraft etc.

      So what's the story here? People being distracted by meaningless shit.
      You've got the wars that're bleeding the world dry that no one is seriously trying to stop and you've got republicans strangling the entire USA just so they can keep a couple of rich dudes happy and you're distracted with this kid's stuff?

      Go back to playing with your GI Joes. Cobra Command isn't going to kick it's OWN but.

    • 1 year ago
  • Milieu
    • +1
      Milieu  
    • ozoneocean:

      Got to go with you on this one. There's way more important stuff we need to be worried about. There are military corridors where these will be safe to test/use.

      And I like anything that makes our service people safer and more likely to make it back home healthy.

      If they're flying over you and you don't like it; just shoot the stupid thing down. They're less protected than a Cessna 150 or a Gruman TR-2

    • 1 year ago
  • H3ADLINE
    • +4
      H3ADLINE  

    • Just another step into the darkness of fascism. At this rate, we'll have the government monitoring all of our digital communications without warrants. Oh wait. Already there.

    • 1 year ago
  • Schnookums
  • EmperorThan
  • bailey78
  • mapczar
    • +7
      mapczar  

    • Sanitizing war will encourage endless war. We should engage in war only when there is a precious price to be paid and are willing to lose those precious lives because the cause is so just and compelling. Warriors of old knew this. Now we are in the age of winning at any cost, whether it be war or money accumulation does not matter thanks to Ayn Rand and her ilk. We have lost our collective humanity.

      As for un-manned drones over US territory -- are we declaring a police state? What possible usage would surveillance/weapon drones have within the context of the Constitution over US territory?

      Authoritarian government is coming but it will not be declare in advance. It will come one small step at a time, wrapped in the flag, and claiming patriotism as its support and the blind will not see they have been led into a trap until it is too late. Better make sure your passport is in order.

      =====
      "It is well that war is so terrible. We should grow too fond of it." -- Robert E. Lee

    • 1 year ago
  • ampersand
    • +1
      ampersand  
    • mapczar:

      Passport? (check) Foreign bank account? (check) Spot picked out in a fine foreign country having a strong system of privacy laws and not subject to bullying by the US (check)
      Given the vagaries of modern life--when things can change almost over night with little notice, any responsible and informed individual would be wise to have a good exit strategy.

      I've always thought we had a duty to protect what's good and precious in the lives that depend on us. Sometimes in history that means not being afraid to vote with your feet.

      The victims of political repression and holocausts are most often the ones who just couldn't believe things could "really get that bad."

      This is a beautiful country, but as an amateur historian knows, so was Argentina before it's government was taken over by the military.

      As an insight into that process, I'd recommend studying up on Emilio Eduardo Massera if you have a moment. It's mind-bending to see how distorted language can become under a self-justifying military regime. Massera was the commander of the "dirty war" in Argentina but he still had friends at the Vatican Bank, as well, of course, among arms dealers.

    • 1 year ago
  • artemis6
    • +5
      artemis6  

    • No good can come from this . It is a dishonorable way to kill and too fraught with errors . Tools of a cowardly Empire .

    • 1 year ago
  • ejasun
  • Ragan
    • +2
      Ragan  
    • ejasun:

      Don't you know yet when Bush was elected He replaced the Constitution and anything the government does is far above the laws of Man and the christian god, This new American Government does not have to be accountable to any one or any sovereign nation. We are the bloody golden standard for international Law and order..

    • 1 year ago
  • ejasun
  • figgdimension
    • +4
      figgdimension  

    • This is an old one they are developing ones that are small and look like insects and birds criminy I hope thats not whats flying around outside what a a bunch of screwy war-mongers and I liked Sherrod damn NOT GOOD FOR OHIO or anywhere for that matter !

    • 1 year ago
  • letsliveinpeace
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