81–90 of 134 posts
I don't get it. With a budget of millions for these UAVs was it so hard to fit the thing with an IRS unit, or even an older INS unit to augment the GPS? Then one could add a single if statement checking if the GPS location has diverged greatly from where it was in the last NMEA statement? What am I missing here???
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Everyone spys on everyone. We do it with drones and satellites, they do it with people.
Doesn't mean it's right. In fact it's fucking wrong. The CIA should be abolished. And this saber-rattling against a country that poses no risk to us is disgusting and wrong. The US is the most dangerous country in the world and must be stopped.
I would argue that mutual spying in general is a good thing and that it generally has the potential, properly managed, to prevent war. The problem has to do with leadership and less to do with spying itself.
During the cold war, both the US and USSR had extensive satellites deployed that would provide an early warning for the launch of ICBM's. As Lt. Robert Bowman pointed out in "Star Wars: A Defense Expert's Case Against the Strategic Defense Initiative," this had a stabilizing effect because both sides could be certain they were not being attacked and therefore would not be inclined to mistakenly counter-attack. Spying can have a similar effect in that it can provide additional reason to believe that another party is not in the process of preparing an attack.
The larger problem though is that geopolitics is real. We didn't invade Iraq for the reasons we were told. We did it for geopolitical and domestic political reasons, and every piece of data would be tortured enough that it would say what the government wanted it to say, even if no reasonable person could put all the data together and make it say what Bush wanted it to say. In this area then spying is beside the point.
We shouldn't forget that the CIA exists to offer a counterbalance to military intelligence which is more likely to rattle sabres than a civilian agency.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You are correct in that this (and many other related articles) are not directly saying what Iran did is wrong... however, I feel the general tone and overall implication is that Iran have "taken" a drone that doesn't belong to them, and clearly are not about to give it back. So as you say, "law" doesn't really apply, it's more of a moral decision as to whether a country should spy on another country. We can clearly s…
What's your point? Do you think Iran doesn't have spies?
I don't think a country is the bad guy when they are simply trying to stop another country from spying on them.
(Prelude edit: A few people seem to be missing the point I'm making here. I know quite a lot about the predator, and a bit about the Global Hawk. I do not know much about the Sentinel. The jab about building a drone with parts on my kitchen table is a joke, meant to illustrate that this is either an absurd level of incompetence on the part of Lockheed Martin [not likely] or the article is incorrect, the latter being…
I don't know how serious you are, but every state and local law enforcement agency in the US will be looking to buy smaller, more affordable drones for traffic and crime uses in the very immediate future (if they aren't already).
see: http://www.npr.org/2011/12/05/143144146/drone-technology-fin...
I know this is an aside to the original article ... I just wanted to say that, if you were serious, I would totally invest money into such an endeavor :)
In the early to mid 2000s, the US rendered military aid to Georgia, in both training and equipment. This included unmanned aircraft. In 2008, Russia invaded Georgia, and presumably captured some of those aircraft. No security system should rely on the secrecy of its function, but in practice, many do. If any agency in the world can break the security of US UAVs, it'd be Russia. Remind me again how the Russians and Ir…
But this then brings one to the heart of the problem.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What's your point? Do you think Iran doesn't have spies?
My point is that Iran is being made out to be the "bad guy" because they've taken something important and supposedly secret that belongs to the USA and won't give it back. I don't think a country is the bad guy when they are simply trying to stop another country from spying on them.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What's your point? Do you think Iran doesn't have spies?
My point is that Iran is being made out to be the "bad guy" because they've taken something important and supposedly secret that belongs to the USA and won't give it back. I don't think a country is the bad guy when they are simply trying to stop another country from spying on them.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Everyone spys on everyone. We do it with drones and satellites, they do it with people.
Doesn't mean it's right. In fact it's fucking wrong. The CIA should be abolished. And this saber-rattling against a country that poses no risk to us is disgusting and wrong. The US is the most dangerous country in the world and must be stopped.
That doesn't change the fact that it'd be an absolutely disastrous approach to running a county.