The Drone Makers And Their Friends In Washington. Audio Aired 7/5/12 Drone makers are the rising stars in the defense industry.
Some of the most successful companies making these controversial unmanned vehicles are located in Southern California and elsewhere around the west. And they have big supporters in Washington. SAN DIEGO — You’ve probably heard of the Congressional Black Caucus, or perhaps the Progressive Caucus. Primarily, the caucus advocates for drones — those pilot-less planes infamous for their role targeting insurgents in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Many of the most successful drone manufacturers are based in Southern California and elsewhere around the southwest. The drone caucus — like the technology it promotes — is becoming increasingly important in the nation’s capitol as the government looks to unmanned vehicles to help save money on defense, better patrol the country’s borders and provide a new tool to U.S. law enforcement agencies and civilians.
“You have members that are tapped into sort of key places," he said. Chart. Secret ‘Kill List’ Tests Obama’s Principles. Obama’s ‘Kill List’ Is Unchecked Presidential Power. A stunning report in the New York Times depicted President Obama poring over the equivalent of terrorist baseball cards, deciding who on a “kill list” would be targeted for elimination by drone attack. The revelations — as well as those in Daniel Klaidman’s recent book — sparked public outrage and calls for congressional inquiry.
Obama needs to be held to account for his assassination program, says vanden Heuvel, arguing it's vital that Congress reassert its constitutional authority. (Photo: AP file) Mafia States. The global economic crisis has been a boon for transnational criminals.
Thanks to the weak economy, cash-rich criminal organizations can acquire financially distressed but potentially valuable companies at bargain prices. Fiscal austerity is forcing governments everywhere to cut the budgets of law enforcement agencies and court systems. Millions of people have been laid off and are thus more easily tempted to break the law. Large numbers of unemployed experts in finance, accounting, information technology, law, and logistics have boosted the supply of world-class talent available to criminal cartels.
Meanwhile, philanthropists all over the world have curtailed their giving, creating funding shortfalls in the arts, education, health care, and other areas, which criminals are all too happy to fill in exchange for political access, social legitimacy, and popular support. A Revolution in Crime Conventional wisdom about international criminal networks rests on three faulty assumptions. The Year of the Drone. Hellfire Missiles" Drones, America’s angels of death.
John Brennan Delivers Speech On Drone Ethics. Copyright © 2012 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required. In the first formal acknowledgement of what's been an open secret up till now, White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan publicly stated yesterday that the United States conducts drone strikes targeted on al-Qaida. In a speech that also described the state of al-Qaida a year after the death of Osama bin Laden, Brennan opened many doors on drone strikes. He did address four issues at the center of the debate over the strikes: ethics, wisdom, the standards use for approval. JOHN BRENNAN: As a matter of international law, the United States is in an armed conflict with al-Qaida, the Taliban and associated forces, in response to the 9/11 attacks, and we may also use force consistent with our inherent right of national self-defense.
Second, targeted strikes are ethical. Targeted strikes are wise. As a result, we have to be strategic. Copyright © 2012 NPR. Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly. BOB ABERNETHY, host: In Pakistan, the U.S. government’s use of armed drones to target militants continues to strain relations between the countries.
In the past, the administration has avoided talking about its drone program, but on Monday (April 30), a top White House official strongly defended use of the controversial technology. At the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, John Brennan, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, called weaponized drones both legal and ethical and said their use is consistent with the country’s right to defend itself: John Brennan: “There is nothing in international law that bans the use of remotely piloted aircraft for this purpose or that prohibits us from using lethal force against our enemies outside of an active battlefield.”
ABERNETHY: For more on this, Kim Lawton is here. She is managing editor of this program. PROFESSOR STEPHEN CARTER (Yale Law School): Thank you. CARTER: I think the administration is right.