1984 Foreword: "homeland"

[pynchonoid]

May. 13, 2003	
Homeland Security Studies Drone Patrols
LESLIE MILLER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The Homeland Security Department is
considering the use of unmanned aircraft to track drug
smugglers, illegal immigrants and terrorists along the
porous U.S. border with Mexico, a top official told a
Senate panel Tuesday.

[...] With no human on board, Predators and other
remote-controlled aircraft can watch over a potential
target for 24 hours or more and fly for hundreds of
miles. They can carry cameras, sensors, communications
equipment or missiles.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge endorsed the use
of drones last month before members of the Senate
Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

[...] Support is growing for unmanned aircraft since
their success during the conflicts in Iraq and
Afghanistan. [...] In November, an unmanned Predator
drone killed suspected al-Qaida operatives in Yemen.

[...] Armed Services Committee chairman John Warner,
R-Va., wrote a letter to President Bush on April 9
saying that unmanned aircraft could monitor long
stretches of border, nuclear power plants, pipelines
and dams. They could also be used to augment Coast
Guard patrols of the U.S. coastline.

"I believe that the potential applications for this
technology in the area of homeland defense are quite
compelling," wrote Warner.

Jay Stanley, spokesman for the American Civil
Liberties Union, cautioned that aerial surveillance is
limited now by the cost and difficulty of flying a
plane over a target. The use of drones could
significantly expand the amount of surveillance on
Americans, he said.

"It definitely evokes the most paranoid visions of Big
Brother's eye in the sky," Stanley said.

[...]

ON THE NET

Department of Homeland Security: http://www.dhs.gov

<http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/breaking_news/5852230.htm>



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