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CIA Expands Use of Drones in Terror War - Los Angeles Times
by Rattle at 2:06 pm EST, Jan 30, 2006 |
Despite protests from other countries, the United States is expanding a top-secret effort to kill suspected terrorists with drone-fired missiles as it pursues an increasingly decentralized Al Qaeda, U.S. officials say. Current and former intelligence officials said they could not disclose which countries could be subject to Predator strikes. But the presence of Al Qaeda or its affiliates has been documented in dozens of nations, including Somalia, Morocco and Indonesia. "We have the plans in place to do them globally," said a former counter-terrorism official who worked at the CIA and State Department, which coordinates such efforts with other governments. "In most cases, we need the approval of the host country to do them. However, there are a few countries where the president has decided that we can whack someone without the approval or knowledge of the host government."
Well, for better or for worse, the age of Nintendo warfare has arrived. Not only are NSA robots conducting searches, but CIA robots are conducting air strikes. |
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RE: CIA Expands Use of Drones in Terror War - Los Angeles Times
by noteworthy at 2:51 pm EST, Jan 30, 2006 |
Rattle wrote:
Well, for better or for worse, the age of Nintendo warfare has arrived. Not only are NSA robots conducting searches, but CIA robots are conducting air strikes.
Perhaps you are already familiar with the joystick problem: CARDILLO: ... our National Technical Means, that the euphemism for our capabilities to image across the globe. Those are the ones that my committee, OPSCOM, manages, all right? And we manage those, again, for the military, and for CIA, and for the National Security Council, for all customers. The icons you see on this chart, for example, there's a U2, and a Global Hawk, and a Predator right above that. Those, in general, are managed by the military services, though predominantly the Air Force. They build collection plans for those assets, but there is a coordination process between the two. So I share what I'm doing with assets that are delegated to us, the Air Force shares what they're doing on their airborne platforms. And while it isn't pretty today: I mean, there are issues with classification levels and connectivity, even in things such as what software people are using, but there's a much better coordination process today. So if you're General Franks, and you're fighting OIF, you can be confident that the collection deck I'm building is not just compatible with, but coordinated and synergistic with those airborne assets. Like I said, we've got a ways to go to improve that, to really make it more efficiently executed online, desktop and whatnot. But the intent certainly is there, and when it needs to happen, it happens very well. FRANCICA: From an ideal operational perspective, all of these collection platforms would eventually come under your auspices to collect and disseminate all of the information that any commander in the field would require? CARDILLO: That's a dicey topic, and I'll tell you why. There are sensitivities in our communities about joystick control, and ownership of assets.
It's like two kids arguing over whose turn it is to play. "Mom, sis' isn't taking turns!" |
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RE: CIA Expands Use of Drones in Terror War - Los Angeles Times
by Rattle at 3:48 pm EST, Jan 30, 2006 |
CARDILLO: That's a dicey topic, and I'll tell you why. There are sensitivities in our communities about joystick control, and ownership of assets.
I remember reading somewhere that the basic Sony PS2 controller is the controller of choice in many circles. Makes sense to me. Its my favorite game controller. I like the general symmetry of its design, as compared to the Nintendo and XBox controllers. Of course, I'm not that big of a gamer. I still think the good-ole' 8-bit NES was the best game console ever. However, I can't picture an NES controller being good for flying a real plane. I wonder if that really is the issue.. I find the idea of people in the Air Force and CIA arguing over what controller is superior to be seriously funny, even though I can understand the reasoning. "D4h s0ny P$2 c0ntro113r 0wnz! I will not r0x0r 1r4q w1t ne'th4ng 3ls3!"
"l4m3r! j00 sh0uld us3 cu5t0m g0vm3nt g3er! w3 g0tz d4 w4r3z fr0m d4' d3n3r4l dyn4m1cs! 0-d4y, n0n-PD, el1t3 c0ntr0l3rz!"
"s1t 0n y3r 31337 c0ntr0l3rz 4nd sp1n. n00b." |
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RE: CIA Expands Use of Drones in Terror War - Los Angeles Times
by noteworthy at 4:46 pm EST, Jan 30, 2006 |
Rattle wrote:
I wonder if that really is the issue.. I find the idea of people in the Air Force and CIA arguing over what controller is superior to be seriously funny, even though I can understand the reasoning.
The issue is not the physical "joystick"; the term is being used metaphorically, to talk about who's in charge of what at any given point in time. Picture a dozen people trying to play (simultaneously) one instance of The Legend of Zelda on an NES Classic with one controller. Every one of them has a different idea about where to go next, who to talk to, how to respond to the prompts, etc. But there's only one Link. |
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RE: CIA Expands Use of Drones in Terror War - Los Angeles Times
by Rattle at 4:54 pm EST, Jan 30, 2006 |
The issue is not the physical "joystick"; the term is being used metaphorically, to talk about who's in charge of what at any given point in time. Picture a dozen people trying to play (simultaneously) one instance of The Legend of Zelda on an NES Classic with one controller. Every one of them has a different idea about where to go next, who to talk to, how to respond to the prompts, etc. But there's only one Link.
Ahh.. Thank God. That's much more reasonable of a reason for a dispute. |
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