The First Rule Of The Drone
Program Is That You Do Not Talk About The Drone Program
...One of the first things they told me was, you’re not even to acknowledge the drone
program,” Gibbs said on MSNBC’s “Up With Chris Hayes” this past weekend. Gibbs said that he was told “You’re not
even to discuss that it exists.” Noting that the notion was “inherently crazy”, Gibbs said “You’re being asked a
question based on reporting of a program that exists.” “So you’re the official government spokesperson acting as if
the entire program—pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” Gibbs, who was Press Secretary between 2009 and
2011, said.
...Gibbs stated that he expects the drone program to remain secret for the most part,
despite moves in Congress to force more transparency. “I have not talked to him about this, so I want to be
careful,” Gibbs said, “but I think what the president has seen is, our denial of the existence of the program when
it’s obviously happening undermines people’s confidence overall in the decisions that their government
makes.”
...Akram, who noted that US drone strikes had killed more than 1,000 civilians in
Pakistan, also said “We find the use of drones to be totally counterproductive in terms of succeeding in the ‘war
against terror’. It leads to greater levels of terror rather than reducing them.
(Article Below)
Former Obama Press Secretary Was Ordered To Act As If Drone Program
Did Not Exist
Drones: We're Watching You
Published on Mar 9, 2015
We have all heard about the impending threat
to our civil rights that government owned drones pose to all Americans. This report focuses in primarily on the
flip-side of this emerging technology. Tonight, Rex Jones, making his Infowars Nightly News debut, talks with drone
expert Gerard Juarez about civilian drones and the new economy that they have already begun.
The commercial drone industry is in its infancy, so much so, that the FAA is having a difficult
time separating aerial drone photography from actual commercial use. One thing the FAA seems to have a clear
understanding of is Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ intent to fill our skies 400 feet or below with drones whizzing packages
to Amazon’s Prime Members. Amazon has been awarded the FAA’s Experimental Airworthiness Certificate. Allowing Bezos
to adhere to the FAA’s provisions. What could go wrong?
This is how the government finally unleashes the death blow to the average American’s right to
privacy. A smooth transition for a dictator to operate without getting his hands dirty as we approach the
Singularity. So enjoy those speedy deliveries. Amazon Prime is already rolling out its
Unreasonable haste is the direct road to error (Moliere). Jon Bowne reports.
The first rule of the drone program is
that you do not talk about the drone program
Steve Watson
Infowars.com
Feb 25, 2013
In a rare admission, Robert Gibbs, the former White House
Press Secretary under Obama, told reporters Sunday that he was ordered to act as if there was no such thing as an
active US drone program.
“When I went through the process of becoming press secretary, one of the first things they told me was, you’re
not even to acknowledge the drone program,” Gibbs said on MSNBC’s “Up With Chris Hayes” this past weekend.
Gibbs said that he was told “You’re not even to discuss that it exists.”
Noting that the notion was “inherently crazy”, Gibbs said “You’re being asked a question based on reporting of a
program that exists.”
“So you’re the official government spokesperson acting as if the entire program—pay no attention to the man
behind the curtain.” Gibbs, who was Press Secretary between 2009 and 2011, said.
Gibbs stated that he expects the drone program to remain secret for the most part, despite moves in Congress to
force more transparency.
“I have not talked to him about this, so I want to be careful,” Gibbs said, “but I think what the president has
seen is, our denial of the existence of the program when it’s obviously happening undermines people’s confidence
overall in the decisions that their government makes.”
While the program itself remains classified, it is no secret that Obama has vastly expanded the US drone war
since entering office in 2009. Daily drone strikes are raining down on Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as
Somalia.
A recent report released by Washington based think tank, The New America Foundation
revealed that the number of secret US drone strikes in Yemen almost tripled in 2012, compared to 2011.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, has found that at least 171 civilians, including 35 children, have been
slaughtered in Yemen by secret US drone strikes over the past ten years.
Communications released by WikiLeaks in 2010 revealed that the US and Yemen have repeatedly attempted to cover
up the use of US warplanes to bombard Yemen.
Last week it was announced that despite the fact that drone strikes have killed thousands of innocent civilians
in Yemen and Pakistan, the Pentagon is to reward drone operators with medals.
The DoD is creating a new ribbon, called the Distinguished Warfare Medal that will be awarded for “extra
achievement” related to a military operation. This will encompass sitting at a computer console and pressing a
button to release Hellfire missiles from Predator drones hundreds and thousands of miles away.
The medal will become the fourth-highest ranking combat decoration, placing above the Bronze Star.
Despite the official secrecy, the president has referred to the drone program several times in public, as have
officials such as counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan.
Last year, the New York Times ran a major piece on the program revealing that the White House
has asserted the right to carry out state-sponsored assassination anywhere in the world without having to
provide any evidence or go through any legal process.
The administration merely has to state that the target is
a terrorist and it doesn’t matter whether they are an American citizen or not, as we saw in the case of American-born Anwar al-Awlaki and his son, who were both killed last year.
In December of last year, Obama administration lawyers reaffirmed their backing for state sponsored
assassination, claiming that “U.S. citizens are legitimate military targets” and do not have the right to any
legal protection against being marked for summary execution.
During a CBS 60 Minutes interview in January, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta
revealed that Obama himself personally approves the policy to kill American citizens suspected of terrorism
without trial on a case by case basis.
Perhaps the real reason that the administration wants the details of the programme kept under wraps is that, as
reported by Propublica recently, the programme is potentially much bigger in scope than
anyone had previously thought.
The administration’s figures do not add up, they are chock full of contradictions and discrepancies, and there
can be little doubt that there have been many many more civilian deaths as a result of drone attacks than have been
publicly acknowledged.
Akram, who noted that US drone strikes had killed more than 1,000 civilians in Pakistan, also said “We find the
use of drones to be totally counterproductive in terms of succeeding in the ‘war against terror’. It leads to
greater levels of terror rather than reducing them.
Many also contend that the attacks infringe the national sovereignty of Pakistan and constitute an act of
war.
In 2010,
a report by Washington think tank The New America Foundation found that 32% of the more than
1,200 people killed since 2004 in Pakistan, or around 1 in 3, were innocent bystanders rather than dangerous
terrorists.
As Obama grandstands and uses the Sandy Hook crisis to, in
the words of Eric Holder "brainwash the public" that guns are bad and the cause of violent crime and misery, We
decided to show just a few of the documented cases of drone attacks that he personally ordered where children
were killed. Drone attack after drone attack you will see the real face of the Globalists. This man does not
care about children he cares about disarming the American people to bring in a totalitarian
government.
Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer
forPrison
Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a
regular fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show and Infowars Nightly News.
The American love affair with drones (officially called
unmanned aerial vehicles) extends to both military and law enforcement uses. The U.S. isn’t the only country that
uses drones, but it is the most regular user in the world.
Which Countries Have Drones?
The biggest owners of military drones in the world:
U.S. 670
France 23
Germany 9
Italy 5
Turkey 32
U.K. 7
Russia 3
China 11
India 39
Iran 1
Israel 29
Note: Numbers are minimums, as many countries’ levels are unknown.
Business is Booming
Global spending on unmanned aerial vehicles will surge in the next 10 years, rising by a predicted 128
percent. Projected global spending on drones
2014 $5,200,000,000
2023 $11,900,000,000 Ranked drone spending over the next decade by region
1st U.S.
2nd Asia-Pacific
3rd Europe
Terror From Above?
The U.S. has been widely criticized for its use of drones to fight terrorism. In Pakistan alone, the U.S. has
launched thousands of drone strikes since 2004. Fatalities in Pakistan from U.S. drone attacks (since 2004)
Children 175
Civilians 535
Other 2,390*
High-profile targets 49
* The U.S. classifies all adult men in Pakistan as potential terrorist targets in casualty calculations
Targeting Americans?
Many Americans assume these devices are used only to launch offensives in foreign countries. That’s a false
assumption. Over the years, dozens of agencies across the U.S. have used drones for a variety of purposes, many of
them classified.
This article was posted: Tuesday, December 3, 2013 at 3:52 pm
Haunted by a mission gone wrong, U.S. drone sensor operator Calvin Williams begins to
feel suspicious about drone warfare and the implications it could have on freedom domestically. When his suspicions
turn into reality, he is forced to act. Written and directed by Johan A. du Toit
"I freed a thousand slaves; I
could have freed a thousand more, if only they knew they were slaves."
Only the vigilant can maintain their liberties, and only those who
are constantly and intelligently on the spot can hope to govern themselves effectively by democratic
procedures.
"A society, most of whose members spend a great part of their time,
not on the spot, not here and now and in their calculable future, but somewhere else, in the irrelevant other
worlds of sport and soap opera, of mythology and metaphysical fantasy, will find it hard to resist the
encroachments of those who would manipulate and control it.”
