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BammerFan
Doubletree Resident
(140.32.107.150) on 3/6/2013 - 10:22 a.m. says: ( 164 views
, 7 likes
)
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"The Bammer Who Came In From the GWOT" |
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Since I am no longer in this particular business and a few years removed from those duties"¦I will shed some light on my background and give my opinion on the below conversation.
*Disclaimer, I know nothing of the drone program in Pakistan. Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. Up until mid-2011, I was working for DIA at USCENTCOM as a counterterrorism/counterinsurgency analyst for SW Asia, in support of special operations forces (UBL getting shot in the face was a birthday present of sorts for me). We used drones. A lot. Mostly unarmed drones to conduct ISR in support of kinetic operations (aka, kill/capture). They are very useful tools, which allowed us to locate and fix targets for ground operations and conventional airstrikes. We also had some limited access to armed drones, which we used when there was no available aircraft or ground forces to action the target. We also used drones as a means to action targets in "denied areas,"¯ which is to say a hostile environment controlled by terrorists/insurgents that would probably make any mission there a one-way trip to martyrdom for SOF or conventional forces. That being said, why drones in the United States? There are no "denied areas"¯ here. The feds have enough ninjas (what we refer to the odd habit of federal paramilitary personnel [FBI HRT, ATF/ICE SWAT, etc.] covering their faces with balaclavas for nothing more than cosmetic effect) to take down single and small group targets without conducting an airstrike. I can think of no scenario where and armed Predator would be necessary within our borders. All of your scenarios are laughable, in my professional opinion. Terrorism in the homeland is a LAW ENFORCEMENT issue, not a military issue. Posse Comitatus prohibits the use of federal troops in law enforcement activities. You don't agree with Posse Comitatus? Then let us mass troops on the border to keep the illegals out"¦it would be a much more cost effective and potent deterrent than the ineffective (due to administration handcuffing) Border Patrol and ICE we currently have there. The Constitution guarantees U.S. citizens the right of due process, not trial and execution by someone in a darkroom with a joystick. This isn't Call of Duty, it is not a video game subject to the arbitrary whims of the Executive Branch. Unless we have a foreign army invading and don't have the resources to respond, armed drones should never be part of the equation. We have the National Guard, police, federal agents, and their respective paramilitary branches to respond to homeland threats. Are you seriously suggesting we give law enforcement armed drones and the authority to bypass due process? I have zero doubt that the same ones defending Obama would be #badword#ting the bed if this were a Bush policy. I remember some of you having emotional meltdowns over the Patriot Act, and that doesn't even involve hellfire missiles. Now, you all just "don't agree"¯ with Obama strengthening the Patriot Act. My soapbox is about to break from my hysterical laughter. That is all. |
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-- Starred by: TxGator FLVOL JimG8R LAGator MichiGator Inspector Vol chigatorbri -- 
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The Bammer Who Came In From the GWOT BammerFan 3/6/2013 - 10:22 a.m.
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