Drones Over the Americas

Like the School of the Americas, the weaponized drone perpetrates terrorism. As Predator drones come to Ft. Benning, some SOA Watch activists are applying our SOAW experience to “outing” the Predator and Reaper drones already in our midst.

Syracuse’s Hancock Air National Guard Base has become one of the national hubs for piloting — via computer screen and satellite — the Reaper over Afghanistan. For three years upstate New York activists have been trying to educate our public and Hancock personnel about the war crimes being committed by these robotic killers [www.upstatedroneaction.org].

The Reaper, a higher-tech offspring of the Predator, is the Pentagon’s and the CIA’s instrument for aerial surveillance and assassination in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other nations “over there.” Now with those US/NATO wars somewhat winding down, the Reaper – and a slew of its robotic cousins — are coming home to roost in the Western Hemisphere. Also driving this trend are the US and Israeli drone manufacturers eager to expand their markets. Read more >>

Spy in The Sky: Is it Only a Matter of Time Before Drones Replace City Police Patrols?

 There are at least 63 active drone sites around the U.S, federal authorities have been forced to reveal following a landmark Freedom of Information lawsuit.

The Independent reports that drones in service or development today range from a giant with a 400ft wingspan, intended to cruise non-stop for five years, to tiny microdrones powered by miniature batteries; some are the size of a Boeing 727, while the Predators and Reapers in use in Afghanistan are comparable in size to model aircraft. But whatever their shape or size, all of them are designed for one of two purposes: spying or killing.

Their killing power is immense and the surveillance possibilities are endless. Perhaps it's no wonder that the awesome potential of unmanned aerial vehicles is now being so energetically explored – from the battlefields of Afghanistan to the London Olympics. More...