Showing posts with label drones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drones. Show all posts

Tuesday, 6 March 2012

US Attorney general on assassinations: due process is not necessarily judicial process

US Attorney General Eric Holder and the Drone - Imminent Threat - cartoon by John Cole

The U.S. boldly claims and "explains" that extrajudicial assassinations are legal!

Words of Eric Holder, the Attorney General of the U.S., selected by president Barak Hussein Obama:
"Some have argued that the President is required to get permission from a federal court before taking action against a United States citizen who is a senior operational leader of al Qaeda or associated forces. This is simply not accurate. “Due process” and “judicial process” are not one and the same, particularly when it comes to national security. The Constitution guarantees due process, not judicial process."
In his speech at at Northwestern University, Chicago, Mr Holder elaborated on the question of when the US could exert its "inherent right of national self-defense" by assassinating individuals.

Under international law, an "imminent threat" represents the earliest point at which a country has the right to use such force.

Again in Holder's words:
 "The evaluation of whether an individual presents an 'imminent threat' incorporates considerations of the relevant window of opportunity to act, the possible harm that missing the window would cause to civilians, and the likelihood of heading off future disastrous attacks against the United States."
So let America not complain like a spoiled child if Russia kills a Chechen in Denmark, Russia terminates an Uighur in Pakistan...

... or if their own people are at the receiving end of such "justice"!

What about an Iranian drone popping a few people preparing an "imminent threat" in Arlington, VA, still kosher?

Arguably Mr Holder is building a case to make himself, his boss and his buddies legitimate targets!


Drone over the Pentagon: a simple vice-versa on the Attorney General's logic and the entire US administration are legit targets!

Saturday, 4 December 2010

Combating piracy with Drones, not warships

Indian Ocean piracy area off Somalia
source: Google Earth blog

Millions of Euros have been spent in the inglorious mission of "Combined Task Force 150", the fleet based in Djibouti responsible for fighting piracy in Horn of Africa region.

Over and over again the fleet has captured pirates only to free them, allowing for repeated piracy acts to continue. Seldom have pirates been prosecuted with success.

Interested countries have a much more effective and economical way of solving this issue: Drones.

Drones have been used multiple times over Somalia and have to range to cover the area effectively. They also have the cameras and sensors to identify pirates beyond doubt without being detected. (Often pirates just drop their weapons on the water after seeing a naval vessel in the horizon). Furthermore, drones have the perfect weapons to sink with precision the pirates' vessels. Furthermore no risk of collateral damage exists!

The US can launch them from the usual places (the equipments are already in place). France can use bases in Djibouti... China and Russia also have their Unmanned Aerial Vehicles...

Will anyone miss the sunk pirates?

NATO / US, China, Russia - what are you waiting for?
MQ-9 Reaper / Predator drone in flight