The U.S. government has a history of commandeering military technology for use against Americans. We saw this happen with tear gas, tasers and sound cannons, all of which were first used on the battlefield before being deployed against civilians at home. Now, as John Whitehead reveals in this week's vodcast, the drones—pilotless, remote controlled aircraft that have been used in Iraq and
Afghanistan—are coming home to roost. Unmanned drone aircraft used to hunt enemy combatants in Afghanistan will be used for “non-emergency incidents” within the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security plans to spend up to $50 million dollars on a spy system that has been used to hunt insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan for the purposes of “emergency and non-emergency incidents” within the United States. "We need additional technology to supplement manned aircraft surveillance and current ground assets to ensure more effective monitoring of United States territory," Michael Kostelnik, assistant commissioner at Homeland Security. One North Carolina county is already using a UAV equipped with low light and infrared cameras to keep watch on its citizens. The aircraft has been dispatched to monitor gatherings of motorcycle riders at the Gaston County fairgrounds from just a few hundred feet in the air--close enough to identify faces--and many more uses, such as the aerial detection of marijuana fields, are planned. That raises not just privacy concerns, but also safety concerns because of the possibility of collisions with commercial and general aviation aircraft.
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WE ARE OUR OWN GOVERNMENT'S ENEMY
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