NIMBY Drones? Think Again.

By PAUL SWANSEN
Published: March 11, 2013 | 0 Comments

Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) Drones, think again. There has been much cussed and discussed recently about drones and their use here in the skies over the United States. If you stop and clear away all the political speak out of Washington, D.C., regarding the issue there is another question that comes to mind. Where are they keeping all these drones?


The good folks at Public Intelligence,did some research and came up with the following.


The map provides both current drone sites and those future selected sites for housing drones. The link also indicates what type of drone’s and the service branch responsible for the drones housed at the sites.

The drone program’s have historically raised the hackles of privacy advocates, in addition to the constitutional concerns of Senator Rand Paul.

In 2013 drone operators often sit in relative comfort, unlike their historical counterparts. The drone operator is in no direct danger from the actions or proximity of his drone. The current drone operators live in a disconnected world, from the actions of their drones.

The recently released Department of Justice (DOJ) “White Paper,” gives an insight to the Obama administration and their thought process in the use of drones over the United States. The DOJ memo states:

‚Ä broader concept of imminence‚ than actual intelligence about any ongoing plot against the U.S. homeland. The condition that an operational leader present an ‚imminent‚threat of violent attack against the United States does not require the United States to have clear evidence that a specific attack on U.S. persons and interests will take place in the immediate future.‚Äù

‚…informed, high-level‚ official of the U.S. government may determine that the targeted American has been ‚recently‚involved in ‚activities‚posing a threat of a violent attack and ‚there is no evidence suggesting that he has renounced or abandoned such activities.

The DOJ memo give erroneous credence to, an ‚informed, high-level‚ official of the U.S. government… having constitutional authority to respond to a threat of a violent attack against the United States.


For the second time since 2011, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Patrick Leahy [D-VT], have sent a letter to President Obama requesting the legal opinions prepared by the Department of Justice regarding legal justification for the targeted killing of American citizens abroad. (The Senators are continuing to await a response from the President to their letter.)

The U.S. Military is prohibited from active operations on U.S. soil, and to date there is no evidence that they have done so. Privacy advocates however worry about the accidental public spying and the archiving of the spy data while agencies argue over what to do with said data.

Currently many of the drone sites are well away from major city centers. The drones used at these sites are the smaller and less sophisticated Raven and Shadow model drones. These drones are limited in their mechanical endurance and operational range. Given the types of drones being used it currently appears that these sites are for the most part being used for military training.

NIMBY Drones? Think Again. - Liberty News