drones

Drones are an evolving security threat, from intel gathering to targeting individuals. Is the U.S. prepared?

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is considering a plan to integrate drones across U.S. national airspace. Several large corporations have proposed a low-altitude control grid, which they would operate, to manage these unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), popularly referred to as drones. For…

Foz do Iguaçu and Ciudad del Este,Tri-Border Area of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay

The recent clash between Iran and Israel is the latest indication that there’s some unfinished business to attend to in Syria even with the decline of the civil war and the territorial defeat of ISIS. In the skirmish over the weekend Iranian troops launched an Iranian-made attack drone against…

Dear Matt,

Here's a long read for you. Over at Wired UK, there's a very interesting read on the future of urban warfare. Here's the teaser: "Cheap Chinese-made sensors. Mad Max-style vehicle mods. Consumer drones turned into mortar-dropping weapons. The fight against Daesh is showing the high-tech, higher…

The Fourth Amendment is in a sorry state. The constitutional provision intended to protect us and our property from unreasonable searches and seizures has been weakened over decades—a fact that ought to be of acute concern at a time when surveillance technology is increasingly intrusive and…

The Fourth Amendment is in a sorry state. The constitutional provision intended to protect us and our property from unreasonable searches and seizures has been weakened over decades—a fact that ought to be of acute concern at a time when surveillance technology is increasingly intrusive and…

Just days after the U.S. military confirmed the existence of an Islamic State (ISIS) drone factory in Iraq, the coalition targeted four more "unmanned aerial vehicle [UAV] construction facilities." The first drone factory was located near Mosul, while the more recent targets were closer to Tal…

In the first reported strike of its kind, U.S. Central Command (CENTOM) targeted an Islamic State (ISIS) drone facility in the ongoing offensive against the terrorist organization. The attack on the "unmanned aerial vehicle [UAV] facility" near Mosul, Iraq was listed among other routine targets in…

In what is apparently a first, the Dallas police department used a bomb-toting kamikaze drone robot to kill Micah Xavier Johnson, the suspect in the killing of five police officers working parade detail during a Black Lives Matter protest.

The latest official report of a drone in the possession of the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) is tucked in an August 3rd press release from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), the overseers of the air campaign in Syria and Iraq against the terrorist organization. 

Here’s a recent Washington Post headline:

DHS chief Jeh Johnson agreed with Chuck Todd that drones could make protecting 2016 presidential candidates more difficult. And, Johnson said as an example, he was a giving a speech recently when he looked up to see "a little drone flying over my head."

At a Washington, D.C. event hosted by the Foreign Policy Initiative, Senator Ted Cruz defended the use of drones but also expressed some concern. "I'm worried about what I would call video game warfare," said Cruz in response to a question about drones.

There is a shortage of drones in the theater where the U.S. is engaged against ISIS.  They are needed in another theater of operations, one where we do have troops engaged and are committed to getting them out.  As Bryan Bender of the Boston Globe reports:

The U.S. is running up against a shortage of surveillance drones to conduct reconnaissance of the various battlefields where it is engaged.  Right now, the theater where its combat troops are directly engaged is getting priority … as it most certainly should be.

The war in Afghanistan is winding down and al Qaeda is on the run. Perhaps. But the war goes on.

During his counterterrorism speech on Thursday, President Obama defended the use of drones by saying the following:

"The GOP of old has grown stale and moss-covered,” Kentucky senator Rand Paul said Thursday to the Conservative Political Action Conference. “I don’t think we need to name any names here, do we?” he added coyly.

Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus reiterated that he believes Rand Paul’s 13-hour filibuster over the Obama administration’s drone policy was a “unifying moment” for the GOP and that the party is "totally on board" with the libertarian senator.

What to make of Rand Paul’s 12 hours and 52 minutes of fame? Was his filibuster on the floor of the Senate last Wednesday, as Charles Krauthammer said on Fox’s Special Report, though substantively misguided, “a stroke of political genius”? Was it, as Seth Lipsky suggested in a column in the New…

Before Rand Paul even arrived at the Gaylord National Harbor convention center in Maryland for his Thursday afternoon CPAC address, the stage was set for his raucous reception. Outside the convention hall, a team of eager young volunteers began passing out t-shirts, stickers, and posters emblazoned…

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with Bill Kristol, hosted by Michael Graham. 

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast, hosted by Michael Graham, with Stephen Hayes:

Senator Ted Cruz, joining Rand Paul's filibuster on the floor of the Senate:

Senator Ted Cruz, joining in support of Rand Paul's filibuster, said today was the first day he had the chance to speak on the Senate floor. "It don't get no better than this," Cruz said, quoting a beer commercial:

The White House will not comment on Rand Paul's ongoing filibuster on the Senate floor of President Obama's nominee to be the next CIA director. A Huffington Post reporter remarks on Twitter: 

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast, hosted by Michael Graham, with Jim Swift on Senator Rand Paul's filibuster of John Brennan's nomination to be director of the CIA..

Local news reports reveal that last night the Charlottesville, Virginia, city council voted to ban drones:

The U.N. wants to use drones, the French news agency Agence France-Presse reports. "The United Nations wants to use drones for the first time to monitor fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where Rwanda has been accused of aiding rebels," says the report, quoting U.N. officials.

The Electric Frontier Foundation (EFF) has succesfully acquired thousands of pages of documents from the Federal Aviation Administration on the use of drones in America. The documents include "extensive details about the specific drone models some entities are flying, where they fly, how frequently…

A notional woman named “Julia” recently made her debut on the Obama campaign’s website. Julia, it seems, needs help at every stage in her life, and if the president has his way, the government will be there to assist her in, among other things, getting a college education, finding a job, securing…

New York Times: "New Focus on Incendiary Words in Paul’s Newsletters"

Mitt Romney had a strong performance Thursday night in the final debate before the January 3 Iowa caucuses. From Medicare reform to foreign policy to the economy, Romney provided mostly succinct answers within the mainstream of Republican ideas. And because he did not spend much time engaging his…

Noah Shachtman reports for Wired that "A computer virus has infected the cockpits of America’s Predator and Reaper drones, logging pilots’ every keystroke as they remotely fly missions over Afghanistan and other warzones."

In Newsweek, Eli Lake reports that “Obama Sold Israel Bunker-Buster Bombs.” Actually, as the story notes, it was George W. Bush who ordered the bombs toward the end of his second term. Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert wanted them delivered in 2007, but Bush told him to wait until…

"Global race on to match U.S. drone capabilities"