Obama Setting The Stage For A Surveillance Society Monitored By Drones

According to anonymous sources, Obama has drawn up a guidebook that sets forth the circumstances by which targeted assassinations using drones can be carried out. This document seeks to justify the use of unmanned aircraft for the use of a CIA-operated targeted-killing program which is still officially classified.

The Obama administration is deciding whether or not drone killings should be the first response to terroristic suspicions in order to “help allied governments attack their enemies or to prevent militants from controlling territories.”

In May, Obama promoted John Brennan, chief adviser of Counter-terrorism, to assassination Czar and giving him the power to decide who will be assassinated with collaboration of the President direct. Brennan, who was a CIA official during the Bush administration, believes that drone killings are moral, ethical and just.

Brennan can choose which “terrorists” will be targeted for drone attacks or raids. He works with the State Department and the Pentagon (along with various federal agencies) in creating target lists; deciding who lives and who dies. Then his recommendation is delivered directly to Obama for final consideration.

The Congressional Unmanned Systems Caucus (CUSC) or “drone caucus” is a 60 member committee consisting of members of the House of Representatives. They have been instrumental in the overt pressure that Capitol Hill has endured from drone manufacturers in support of making drone technology a more prominent part of the US government’s armed forces response.

The CUSC is focused on educating educate “members of Congress and the public on the strategic, tactical, and scientific value of unmanned systems; actively support further development and acquisition of more systems, and to more effectively engage the civilian aviation community on unmanned system use and safety.”

Their supporters include:

• The Department of Homeland Security
• NASA
• The Federal Aviation Administration
• Private sector corporations
• Drone manufacturers

Thanks to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), 6 national drone test sites wereestablished to coincide with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announcement that by 2015 at least 30,000 drones will be in American skies surveying US citizens in the name of safety, according to Janet Napolitano. President Obama signed the FAA Modernization and Reform Act in February of this year, demanding that the FAA “integrate operation of drones” into National Airspace by 2015.

 These drones will be in civilian airspace, with “the potential for invasive surveillance of daily activities,”says House Representative Ed Markey. Jennifer Lynch, EFF staff attorney, remarked that drones “could be revealing deeply personal details’ about American citizens.” Lynch went on to state: “Drones give the government and other unmanned aircraft operators a powerful new surveillance tool to gather extensive and intrusive data on Americans’ movements and activities.

 As the government begins to make policy decisions about the use of these aircraft, the public needs to know more about how and why these drones are being used to surveill United States citizens. The use of drones in American airspace could dramatically increase the physical tracking of citizens – tracking that can reveal deeply personal details about our private lives.

 We’re asking the DOT to follow the law and respond to our FOIA request so we can learn more about who is flying the drones and why.” The advent of drone use under Obama’s watch may be indicative of a movement toward using this technology to become a sort of counter-terrorism Air Force wherein the US government predetermines the targets and murdering Americans is justified under provisions within the NDAA. Easing the use of drones into the social meme as normal and necessary, is bringing the ideals of asurveillance society to the forefront of American psyche without alarming the masses.

 As we become used to the idea of being watched, we will fight the invasion of our privacy less and less.  Eventually, through incremental steps, it will become second nature.

 Congress is in full support of Obama’s legion of watchers in the sky. Although warrants are still necessary for law enforcement to use drones to spy on citizens, that mandate can be quickly circumvented if the claim that terrorism is being monitored is the excuse. Drones are capable of immense data retention; which is not limited to images but can also provide digital information to support a criminal investigation.

While domestic drones are utilized under authority of the Congress, police departments across the nation break this rule on a regular basis. Knowing that all drones manufactured are being designed with the capability to be equipped with armament is reason enough to become alarmed. This is not just a simple domestic surveillance mission. Every drone air borne has the possibility of being used as a deadly weapon.