Posts Tagged ‘drones’

American Drone Strikes Found to be Illegal and Ineffectual

Tuesday, September 25th, 2012

A recent Stanford/NYU Law study analyses the United State’s growing reliance on unmanned aircraft as remote executioners, and they’ve found out what many of us already know: the use of drone strikes needs to be halted immediately.

Interviewing 130 people in Pakistan about their personal experiences with U.S.-led drone attacks – 69 of which had either survived or lost family to a strike attack – the report builds on findings by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which counted ‘474 to 884 civilian deaths since 2004, including 176 children’ while ‘only about 2% of drone casualties are top militant leaders.

The report also shows that American UAV attacks violate international law, making them illegal war crimes. Obama is now complicit in human rights violations and should stand trial alongside the Bush Administration.

Furthermore, the team found drone strikes to be ineffectual  and counter-productive, stating: ‘Evidence suggests that US strikes have facilitated recruitment to violent non-state armed groups, and motivated further violent attacks. One major study shows that 74% of Pakistanis now consider the U.S. an enemy.’

So that settles it, right? No more need to prolong the injustice. Tell everyone you know about how wrong drone strikes are, and together we can finally put an end to long distance murder.

So Long Privacy, Hello Transparency

Saturday, April 14th, 2012

Patsy politicians pandering to plutocratic priorities threaten to pilfer our precious privacy. Lousy legislation like ACTA, SOPA and now CISPA have come to the forefront of this fight, and these bills will all be, hopefully, crushed without mercy beneath  the feet of millions of vigilant citizens.

Still, as disheartening as it may be to hear, these exercises could ultimately prove pointless because privacy is fast going extinct. (more…)

American Drones Comprimised

Friday, October 7th, 2011

Hackers have successfully infiltrated the American government’s favorite tool for discretely murdering people from a distance: unmanned aircraft.  A computer virus infected the computers controlling America’s Predator and Reaper drones, exposing a major security flaw with these remotely flown weapons.

The malicious software seems to resist detection and removal, and could very well be a highly advanced attack orchestrated by foreign agencies, not unlike the Stuxnet virus which successfully delayed Iran’s nuclear efforts.

These drones in the sky, controlled remotely by computers and radio waves, are like sitting flying ducks, ready to be taken over and used for nefarious purposes. (Although what’s more sinister than American’s being slaughtered by their own government?)

Governments are investing billions upon billions into these state-of-the-art weapons, but what’s the point if control can so easily be stripped. All you’re doing is giving more advanced arms to whoever controls the digital space.

So, rather than spend more on war, why not channel these funds into humanitarian causes. For the cost of one of these pilot-less killing machines, you could dig wells for hundreds of thousands of people without access to clean water. Think about it for a second… which route would ultimately bring a more secure world?