Who Leaked the Drone 'White Memo'? Prolly the White House

[pro]

All conspiracy theory points to the obvious: White House Damage Control

To get out of the hot water over Benghazi they've orchestrated a leak to make it appear as if they are shuffling up their cabinatte

When in fact, very little is going to change and we've still by and large lost miserably in the Middle East.

Now Panetta comes out and says Obama was 'absent' during the attack.. He want peanut butter with that Jelly?

 

[waltky]

Granny says dey could let Judge Judy head up the drone court...

Gates: Drone program, while useful, would benefit from more oversight
February 10th, 2013 - The number of innocent victims of drone strikes remains "extremely small" and doesn't outweigh the benefits of using drones to take out al Qaeda operatives, former Defense Secretary Robert Gates argued Sunday.

But the former Pentagon chief said a better system of checks and balances could be constructive when the unmanned aerial devices are used to target Americans, aligning himself with lawmakers concerned about unfettered power in the hands of the president. Gates served under George W. Bush during the beginnings of the drone program and later under President Barack Obama as the use of drones spiked. Recently lawmakers, both Democrats and Republicans, have forcefully questioned the use and oversight of the lethal devices. "I'm a big advocate of drones," Gates told CNN chief political correspondent Candy Crowley on "State of the Union," detailing how as CIA director under Bush, he pressed for ramping up the use of drones to monitor and target suspected terrorists. While innocent people are killed by drones, "the numbers, I believe are extremely small," Gates said. "You do have the ability to limit that collateral damage more than with any other weapons system that you have."

The New America Foundation estimates that in Pakistan, between 1,953 and 3,279 people have been killed by drones since 2004 - and that between 18% and 23% of them were not militants. The nonmilitant casualty rate was down to about 10% in 2012, the group says. In Yemen, the group estimates, between 646 and 928 people have been killed in a combination of drone strikes and airstrikes, and 623 to 860 of those killed were militants. Only about 2% of those killed have been high-level targets, the group said. Gates' remarks came as the U.S. Senate considers the nomination of John Brennan to become the next CIA director. As Obama's chief counterterrorism adviser, Brennan was a vocal advocate for using drones to target America's enemies. Some lawmakers, along with human rights organizations and civil libertarians, have questioned the oversight procedures dictating the use of drones, particularly when they're used to target American citizens overseas. That was the case when New Mexico-born Anwar al-Awlaki - who officials said played an operational role in al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula - was killed by a U.S. drone in 2011.

On Sunday, two senators decried the system currently used for deciding when to use drones to take out Americans overseas, saying it was a constitutional violation that demanded reform. "It's very unseemly that a politician gets to decide the death of an American citizen," Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, said on CNN. "There needs to be a trial for treason. The president, or a politician, Republican or Democrat, should never get to decide someone's death by flipping through flash cards," Paul continued. "I don't know how often this will happen, but I agree with Rand Paul," said Angus King, the independent senator from Maine. He was elected in November and caucuses with the Democrats. "The Fifth Amendment says that no person shall denied life, liberty or pursuit of happiness. These may be Americans that have committed treason by signing up with another country or another group against us, but it just makes me uncomfortable that the president, whoever it is, is the prosecutor, the judge, the jury, and the executioner, all rolled into one," he continued.

What's needed, King argued, is a check on the president's power that would retain the ability to order stealth surveillance and rapid action. "Where there is time, go in, submit it to a third party, a court, in confidence, and get a judgment that there is sufficient evidence," King said. "Some say these people should have a whole trial. I don't believe that. But I think some independent check on the executive is healthy for our system." That type of independent body should be considered, Gates said, if it gave Americans confidence the government was acting in good faith. "Whether it's a panel of three judges or one judge or something that would give the American people confidence that there was, in fact, a compelling case to launch an attack against an American citizen - I think just as an independent confirmation or affirmation, if you will - is something worth giving serious consideration to," he said.

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Drone court considered
February 9th, 2013 - Should federal judges weigh in on a president's decision to pursue and kill terrorists overseas?

The suggestion, raised at this week's nomination hearing of John Brennan to be CIA director, goes to the heart of the debate on whether President Barack Obama or any U.S. leader should have unfettered power to order the targeted killing of Americans overseas who are al Qaeda terrorists. Some Democratic senators argued there should be a check on the president's authority to use lethal force, particularly against Americans, as occurred in September 2011 when a CIA-operated armed drone killed American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen. Al- Awlaki was a senior operational planner for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula who had been linked to a number of terrorist plots against the United States. One solution offered at the hearing was to create a new court to oversee such presidential decisions.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Dianne Feinstein, D-California, said she would review ideas for legislation "to ensure that drone strikes are carried out in a manner consistent with our values," including a proposal to create "an analogue of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to review the conduct of such strikes." The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) is a top-secret body that reviews federal warrants to intercept electronic communications of suspected foreign agents and terrorists. One reason is to protect Americans from improperly or inadvertently having their communications collected.

Creating a similar type of court to oversee lethal actions taken overseas may be easier said than done. The intelligence panel has yet to begin drafting legislation, a Feinstein aide told Security Clearance. For now, the panel was reading through proposals and suggestions by experts and commentators. According to the aide, who spoke on condition of not being identified, writing a bill raised "a lot of questions to wrestle with." Consultations with the Judiciary and Armed Services Committees as well as the White House must occur before a final proposal can be developed, the aide added. Ben Powell, the former general counsel for the Director of National Intelligence, said legislators will have to deal with "a number of thorny legal issues ... with very complex implications" to put an FISC-style court together.

According to Powell, major questions that must be addressed include specifying what the court would rule on, such as whether the target was part of al Qaeda or posed an imminent threat or was unlikely to be captured. In addition, legislation would have to define whether the court's rulings would cover U.S. citizens who don't belong to al Qaeda but pose an imminent threat, as well as what role it would have in issues outside the United States, he said. Powell also said legislators would have to clarify how the new court interacted with the president's constitutional power to defend the nation, specifically whether a new law would seek to limit such power. Some legal experts believe the court's review would be limited to determining whether an individual should be put on a target list.

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[waltky]

Who's in charge of domestic drone privacy policy?...

GAO: ‘Unknown at This Point’ Who’s in Charge of Privacy Policy for Drones in U.S. Skies
February 15, 2013 – Experts could not answer questions about privacy concerns related to incorporating unmanned aerial vehicles, (UAV) or drones, into U.S. airspace at a House hearing on Friday.

The House Science, Space and Technology Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight invited officials from the Federal Aviation Administration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Government Accountability Office to testify on progress the FAA is making with its congressional mandate to integrate drones into the national airspace system (NAS). The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 tasked the agency with completing the job by September 2015.

Ranking member Dan Maffei (D-N.Y.) asked panelists about privacy concerns during the hearing, which was chaired by Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.). “The chairman and I both have expressed concerns about privacy and civil liberties,” Maffei said. “Who is responsible for regulating these issues such as privacy concerns?” “Mr. Maffei, we looked into this, and I think at best we can say is it’s unknown at this point,” Gerald L. Dillingham, director for Civil Aviation Issues at GAO, said. “We did our work. “We asked FAA about it, and FAA said ‘Our area is safety and that’s what we’re going to focus on,’” Dillingham said, adding that they are already regulations and laws on the books to protect the privacy of U.S. citizens. But those laws have not been tested as they relate to drones, Dillingham said.

Karlin Toner, director of Joint Planning and Development Office at FAA, and Edgar Waggoner, director of Integrated Systems Research Program Office with NASA, did not answer the question. The FAA posted a draft plan for protecting privacy on its website on Thursday, launched in conjunction with its announcement inviting states to compete to be selected for six drone test sites. “Along with the test site selection process, the FAA is sending a notice to the Federal Register asking the public to review the draft privacy language and provide comments,” a press release on the plan stated. “The FAA will consider all comments submitted as it develops the final privacy requirements. These requirements will be included in the agreements between the test sites and the FAA,” the press release added.

Dillingham cited the FAA notice, saying privacy is a major concern going forward with its plans. “From our perspective that’s one of the big obstacles to integration – that is public acceptance, public education, public concern about how their data will be used,” Dillingham said. The GAO released a report on drones that included privacy issues in September 2012. “Stakeholder privacy concerns include the potential for increased amounts of government surveillance using technologies placed on UAS, the collection and use of such data, and potential violations of constitutional Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizures,” the GAO report stated. “Currently, no federal agency has specific statutory responsibility to regulate privacy matters relating to UAS for the entire federal government,” it added.

More GAO: ?Unknown at This Point? Who?s in Charge of Privacy Policy for Drones in U.S. Skies | CNS News

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FAA To Kick Off State Drone ‘Competition’
February 14, 2013 – States will soon compete to operate six unmanned aircraft test sites, commonly known as drones, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced on Wednesday.

The FAA wants states to compete for the drone test sites, which were mandated by Congress last year in the 2012 FAA Reauthorization bill. The sites will test the safety of drones before they are introduced into the National Airspace System by 2015. “When will the test site selection begin? I’m sure all of you are asking that,” said Jim Williams, director of the FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Office. “And the answer is, we’re getting closer every day, very close as a matter of fact,” he said. Williams said the agency will release the Screening Information Request, which will allow the FAA to proceed with the program, before March.

At least two dozen states are vying to host one of the six drone testing sites, which could reap hundreds of jobs and attract investments. “The local payoff could be substantial,” wrote the Springfield News-Sun in Ohio, one state interested in participating in the program. “Host states could attract jobs and millions of dollars in business investment.” “The six sites would burnish their national credentials as go-to centers for unmanned aircraft expertise,” the paper said.

The test sites will create certification standards and air traffic requirements for drones and designate airspace for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVS) within the national airspace system. “Unmanned aircraft can help us meet a number of challenges, from spotting wildfires to assessing natural disasters,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood last year. “But these test sites will help us ensure that our high safety standards are maintained as the use of these aircraft becomes more widespread.” As CNSNews.com previously reported, the FAA has already authorized 106 federal, state and local government “entities” to fly drones within U.S. airspace. The FAA’s long-term goal is to permit drones to operate in U.S. airspace “to the greatest extent possible,” according to congressional testimony presented by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

The proliferation of domestic drones, which can fly beyond line of sight and up to 2,000 feet, however raises numerous privacy concerns due to their surveillance capability. “Concerns include the potential for increased amounts of governmental surveillance using technologies placed on UAS as well as collection and use of such data,” said Gerald L. Dillingham, GAO’s director of Physical Infrastructure Issues, before the House Homeland Subcommittee last year. “Surveillance by federal agencies using UAS must take into account associated constitutional Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.” “The protection of public privacy is a concern for all of our stakeholders,” Williams said. “Because the 2012 bill that charged the FAA with safe integration of UAS in the NAS, the issue of protecting people’s privacy has been raised in various forms.”

More FAA To Kick Off State Drone ?Competition? | CNS News