My previous post was on the subject of the deployment of drones in US skies and it included a warning that this would involve the possibility of a catastrophic collision between a drone and a passenger aircraft.
As if on cue, CNN reported today that an unmanned drone over New York City came within 200 feet of colliding with an inbound passenger airliner from Italy. That is a near-miss by any standard! The FBI has launched an investigation into who the unmanned drone belonged to and how it got where it did. It was described as a black drone with four propellers on a fuselage not more than three feet across. This incident vividly demonstrates the accuracy of my statement in that previous post that drones will need to have transponders on them in order for FAA controllers to “see” them and avoid collisions with other aircraft.
Since CNN reports that only local police agencies and federal agencies are licensed to operate such drones, one comes to the inevitable conclusion that the drone belonged to a police unit or a federal agency whose careless use of the drone almost caused a collision with a passenger airliner. The other possibility is that it was operated by a team of potential terrorists from a foreign nation or entity, and that the drone was being used to scout potential sites for a terrorist attack. The public doesn’t know the truth yet, but it does highlight some important realities about using drones in US skies. One fact is that the more all kinds of drones are used in US skies, the greater the likelihood of a collision and major accident. The second fact is that the more drones are used in American skies, the easier it will be for hostile foreign nations, jihadi terrorists from Hezbollah sleeper cells or other terrorists backed by foreign nations to deploy their own drones over America and not have them officially noticed.
The first link cited in my previous post on this subject stated that 50 other nations have drones already although only the USA, Russia, China and Israel have drone-manufacturing facilities. That means if this unmanned drone over New York City wasn’t deployed by an American agency, it was almost certainly a Chinese- or Russian-made drone.
One more comment. My previous post included a National Geographic magazine article link which discussed tiny, experimental drones being developed by the US Air Force in a secret lab in Ohio. These tiny drones, disguised as hummingbirds, bugs or moths (or maybe even bats) are being designed to sneak up on a “man holding a gun and shoot him in the head.” These tiny drones being developed by the USAF under the aegis of the Obama administration are being designed (to use the language in the National Geographic magazine article) to be “pervasive and lethal.” I think all Americans would like to know where these drones are going to be deployed to fulfill their “pervasive and lethal” mission? Will they be deployed to foreign battlefields to attack American enemies or will they be deployed inside America against American civilians who happen to be “holding a gun?”
President Obama wants drones to be integrated into the FAA’s airspace management by September 30, 2015. Does Obama want to also deploy these “pervasive and lethal” drones inside America by that date? Congress better go back and look at their legislation on this matter and check the language of the bill to make sure it forbids the US government or any government agency or its agents or contractors from (A) using any lethal drones against US civilians and (B) using them in any manner that would violate any US Constitutional right. If you agree with me on this matter, you may want to forward this post to your friends and contact your Senator or congressional representative to check this question out.
The Obama administration obviously is developing these lethal mini-drones to use against someone. Who is the “someone” they are preparing to kill?
Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and other senators are already concerned about the use of lethal force against US citizens via drones. They are partiopating in a filibuster against Obama’s CIA nominee re: the issue of Secretary of Justice Eric Holder leaving the door open regarding his belief that Obama could order the killing of US citizens via drones on US soil in certain circumstances (see second link). I suspect if the administration is “given an inch” in the ability to kill Americans on American soil with drones, they may “take a mile” in their justification of doing so in the future.
National Geographic magazine (hardly a fringe publication!) revealed the Obama administration is developing tiny lethal drones to approach people unobtrusively and kill them (see first link in my previous post). Who do you think the Obama administration is preparing to kill with these tiny, lethal drones? It is time for the Congress and the American people to demand some very serious answers from the president and his administration, and also to demand Congress write legislation to make it a crime to use these lethal drones against US citizens under any circumstance other than very tightly-limited situations such as wherein a kidnapper is shot to save a hostage, a terrorist is shot to prevent him from detonating an explosive, etc.
Are we ever living in perilous times, as was prophesied for our current “latter days” (II Timothy 3:1)!
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/06/sen-paul-holds-floor-for-hours-in-filibuster-cia-nominee-over-drone-concerns/
