Drone journalism takes off. Updated Tue 21 Feb 2012, 8:10pm AEDT Drones play an increasing and controversial role in modern warfare.
From Afghanistan and Pakistan to Iran and Yemen, they have become a ubiquitous symbol of Washington's war on terrorism. Critics point to the mounting drone-induced death toll as evidence that machines, no matter how sophisticated, cannot discriminate between combatants and innocent bystanders. Now drones are starting to fly into a more peaceful, yet equally controversial role in the media. Rapid technological advances in low-cost aerial platforms herald the age of drone journalism. But it will not be all smooth flying: this new media tool can expect to be buffeted by the issues of safety, ethics and legality. Stalked by a drone.
Commercial Use of Drones. Exclusive: PowerPoint Shows Drone Industry’s Lobbying Plan To Expand Over Domestic, Law Enforcement Markets : Republic Report. Ethical Issues. FAA. Lawfare on Drones. Ten Fun Facts About Drones. Popsci. Almost One In Three U.S. Warplanes Is a Robot. Pakistan al-Qaeda chief 'killed' in US drone attack. 9 February 2012Last updated at 10:30.
Iraq Is Angered by U.S. Drones Patrolling Its Skies. Congress Welcomes The Drones. Pressure builds for civilian drone flights at home. WASHINGTON (AP) — Heads up: Drones are going mainstream.
Civilian cousins of the unmanned military aircraft that have tracked and killed terrorists in the Middle East and Asia are in demand by police departments, border patrols, power companies, news organizations and others wanting a bird's-eye view that's too impractical or dangerous for conventional planes or helicopters to get. Along with the enthusiasm, there are qualms. Drones overhead could invade people's privacy. The government worries they could collide with passenger planes or come crashing down to the ground, concerns that have slowed more widespread adoption of the technology.
Drones With an Eye on the Public Cleared to Fly. Domestic Use of Drones is Well Underway. The use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) within the United States is certain to increase in the years to come, as a new Army policy has recently made clear.
(“Army Foresees Expanded Use of Drones in U.S. Airspace,” Secrecy News, January 19.) But in fact the use of unmanned aircraft or drones within U.S. airspace has already advanced to a degree that is not widely recognized. Drones Will Be Admitted to Standard US Airspace By 2015. The FAA's NextGen update is finally being funded.
The skies are going to look very different pretty soon, and it's been a long time coming. United States Congress finally passed a spending bill for their Federal Aviation Administration, allocating US$63.4 billion for modernising the country's air traffic control systems and expanding airspace for unmanned planes within three and a half years. By Sept. 30, 2015, drones will have to have access to U.S. airspace that is currently reserved for piloted aircraft. This applies to military, commercial and privately owned drones - so it could mean a major increase in unmanned aircraft winging through our airspace.
Doyle McManus: U.S. targeted killing program needs discussion. When it comes to national security, Michael V.
Haydenis no shrinking violet. As CIA director, he ran the Bush administration's program of warrantless wiretaps against suspected terrorists. But the retired air force general admits to being a little squeamish about the Obama administration's expanding use of pilotless drones to kill suspected terrorists around the world — including, occasionally, U.S. citizens. Obama terror drones: CIA tactics in Pakistan include targeting rescuers and funerals. Missiles being loaded onto a military Reaper drone in Afghanistan.
The CIA’s drone campaign in Pakistan has killed dozens of civilians who had gone to help rescue victims or were attending funerals, an investigation by the Bureau for the Sunday Times has revealed. The findings are published just days after President Obama claimed that the drone campaign in Pakistan was a ‘targeted, focused effort’ that ‘has not caused a huge number of civilian casualties.’ Surveillance drone industry plans PR effort to counter negative image. Feinstein tweaks Obama administration for secrecy breaches. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein is steamed with the Obama administration over its public comments about the ostensibly classified armed drone operation that the Central Intelligence Agency runs in Pakistan.
Feinstein didn't call out President Barack Obama by name, but the timing of her complaints at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Tuesday morning suggested she was irritated by the president's comments during a Google online chat Monday in which he publicly confirmed the program for the first time. Courthouse News Service. Holder expected to explain rationale for targeting U.S. citizens abroad. Civil libertarians and other critics have been demanding a more thorough and public accounting of the administration’s logic since the killing of Awlaki in September.
Administration officials have relied on a classified opinion, written by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, that provides a legal framework for the unusual action, but they have refused repeated requests to release it despite intense internal debate on the subject. Holder plans to argue that the killing of an American terrorist abroad is legal under the 2001 congressional authorization of the use of military force, according to an official briefed on the speech, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss its details ahead of its formal release. This official also said Holder plans to say that the U.S. right to self-defense is not limited to traditional battlefields as the government pursues terrorists who present an imminent threat. Major address on security Sen. Drones and the new fog of war - Ideas@Innovations. Posted at 10:00 AM ET, 02/02/2012 Feb 02, 2012 03:00 PM EST TheWashingtonPost The most surprising aspect of this week’s White House Google+ Hangout with President Obama had nothing to do with YouTube or video chat technology.
Instead, it was President Obama’s public acknowledgment and defense of the Administration’s use of military drone attacks in combatant zones such as Afghanistan and Iraq. Drone strike on car in Somalia kills three Al-Qaeda linked foreign militants. Strike comes a day after David Cameron hosted an international conference on Somalia's future in London By Graham Smith Updated: 13:43 GMT, 24 February 2012 At least three foreign Al-Qaeda-linked militants were killed in a strike on a car in a rebel stronghold in southern Somalia this morning, according to a senior Somali intelligence official.
The explosion could have been caused by an airstrike or a missile attack on a car carrying foreign Al Shabaab rebels, he said. The intelligence official, who declined to be named, told Reuters: 'At least three foreign militants were killed in the explosion, and we are investigating if it was air strikes or a missile and whether there are more casualties.'