CHALLENGING DRONOTOPIA - War Is A Crime .org

Congress held no hearings, and there was no debate, before the passage of provisions in
the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill, signed into law by President
Obama in 2012, that will allow drones of any kind, including those carrying weapons, to
fly in US airspace after September 2015.
The Stanford/NYU report, mentioned above, notes:
“US manufacturers’ exports of drones have been limited to date because of export
controls; however, significant pressure has been brought to bear on Congress, particularly
by drone manufacturers, to loosen the export regime… In September 2012, it was
reported that the Pentagon had given approval for drone exports to 66 countries…
Representative Howard Berman (D- Los Angeles), ranking Democrat on the House
Foreign Affairs Committee, recently announced that his committee would soon review
drone sales, declaring that ‘it’s crazy for us to shut off sales in this area while other
countries push ahead.’… The Wall Street Journal reported in July 2012 that the US plans
to provide Kenya with eight hand-launched Raven drones, which, while currently
unarmed, have sensors for pinpointing targets. … The drones are part of a military
assistance package aimed at helping African partners combat Al Qaeda and al Shabaab
‘militants’ in Somalia. …”
Drone Jobs, Drone Bubble, Drone Distraction
Drones are being promoted by the Dayton Development Coalition and the State of Ohio
as jobs makers. But, as we pointed out on the tour, a 2009 report from the University of
Massachusetts (Amherst) finds that spending on weapons produces fewer jobs than
spending on green energy, health, education and other non-military work.
As indicated in the statement of Congressman Turner, the prospect of drone jobs is a big
deal in the Miami Valley. The Examiner.com of July 30, 2012 estimated that 30,000
people in the Dayton area lost their jobs between 2006 and 2012 because of the closing of
the General Motors Moraine assembly plant and other business and public-sector layoffs.
We found that Miami Valley people with whom we spoke were willing to consider our
arguments about better alternatives for job spending. But the reality is that there are
about 29,000 people employed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base with more in drone
and aerospace businesses clustered around the base. Criticism of the drone attacks was
most often rejected because of the view that drones are keeping Americans and America
safe, but one suspects that this was also a surrogate argument for keeping jobs safe.
At the same time, it is very possible, if not probable, that the hype for drone business and
drone jobs is generating an unsustainable bubble of drone expectation.
The Stanford/NYU study finds that drone attacks are almost certainly creating more
enemies for the US. It is also becoming very obvious that drone warfare in Afghanistan
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