American Drones Flying Over America... Why?

Family of Teledyne Ryan targets and RPVs

Drones, or the official name of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) which I will use every now and then, are becoming a common talking point in our political climate lately. Last year, it was reported by several news outlets that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was in possession of drones (UAVs) similar in design to those that were being used against terrorists overseas, albeit without the guns. Not only did they have UAVs but they were flying them over local farms in Nebraska and Iowa to spy one them and monitor any violations of the Clean Water Act, which is a ridiculous waste of time and resources. Everyone was wondering why the government would be flying drones over our own airspace to simply spy on farmers.

We still don't know why drones were permitted to fly over farms, but the discussions still rage on today. On March 6, 2013, the House of Representatives voted to require the Department of Defense (DoD) to release information of whether UAVs were indeed being used to conduct surveillance on American citizens. The bill, rising out of the Appropriations committee, calls for newly appointed Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to disclose what "policies and procedures" are in place "governing the use" of home-based UAVs. This bill comes off the back of Senator Rand Paul's 13 hour filibuster where he raised the profile of the drone misuse issue.

Predator drone firing Missile

According to a recent statement made by Senator Lindsey Graham, over 4,700 people have been killed by drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia over the course of "America's secretive drone war". Further research conducted by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism estimates that somewhere between 474 and 881 civilians have been killed by the same drone strikes. Concerns about drone strikes have risen sharply over the last 3 years for this very reason as Americans wonder if the flying bombers could ever be used at home. In fact, it reached an all-time high when President Obama released a memo where he gives himself the authority to kill an American citizen, overseas or or at home, who is in imminent threat of committing  a terrorist attack against the United States, an act which was recently confirmed by Attorney General Eric Holder.

Giving one man, even the President, the power to rain hellfire down on one of his own people under even "extraordinary circumstances" is a dangerous notion and the people have a right to be afraid. How do the President or Congress decide what encompasses an "extraordinary circumstance" and would these rare instances condone the risk of killing bystanders in the strike's radius? These questions have to be asked, otherwise we're placing blind trust in our leaders to do the right thing. Even more dangerous when those leaders possess one of the most dangerous weapons ever created by man.