TBRNews.org

TBR News January 28, 2010

The Slaughterhouse Informer A Compendiium of Various Official Lies, Business Scandals, Small Murders, Frauds, and Other Gross Defects of Our Current Political, Business and Religious Moral Lepers. Presenting a new magazine that contains material that is not found elsewhere and is very difficult to post on the Internet. The ‘Voice of the White House’ will appear in each issue containing material not found on TBR News for very obvious reasons.This publication will appear once a week, on Wednesday, every week, will be ten pages in length and is available by subscription only. The price is $5.00 a month and can be paid via PayPal or by check. If you don’t like it, and Bush supporters can read the Drudge Report for free, you can cancel at any time. TBR Ebooks Civil insurrection in America and government countermeasures: The official papers By Bradley Moscrip An in-depth study of official American plans to construct FEMA detention centers in America and specific recent U.S. Army domestic counterinsurgency plans. Here is a sampling of the ebook contents: Gun Control by Confiscation As the American general population is known to be the most heavily armed in the world, immediately upon the declaration of Martial Law and the execution by the military of counterinsurgency programs, it has been determined that the BATF, will begin the process of rounding up all rifles, pistols and so-called assault weaponry from the civil population. Lists of gun collectors obtained from firearms dealers, gun magazine subscription lists and other sources will be the basis for these mass confiscations. Gun owners will be supplied documentation by the BATF showing which pieces have been confiscated so that in the future, they will be told, they can recover their weapons when the state of emergency has passed. In actuality, weapons that do not have a high value or are not suitable for arming loyalist police forces, will be destroyed by order This study is available from tbrnews at $5.00 by PayPal The Voice of the White House Washington, D.C., January 18, 2010: “ Well, I see our wonderful Celestial friends have done it again, this time pumping out many millions of deadly, contaminated counterfeit American cigarettes onto the world’s smoking market. This is just another example of what is either arrogant carelessness or some kind of a twisted plot to attack their perceived enemies. There have been rumors of contaminated ripoff smokes for some time now and we wonder what new joys our criminally minded enemies will come up with next? Exploding Easter Bunnies? Cyanide-coated Life Savers? We already have seen lead-encrusted children’s toys and vital aircraft parts made of junk that falls apart, causing plane failures. Perhaps we could stop this by banning all Chinese products or, better, sending them our own special preparations to equal the radioactive wallboard they have jammed into millions of American homes.” Counterfeit Chinese American cigarettes laden with carcinogens January 27, 2010 by Andre Lefebre AFP Washington, D.C.- A soon-to-be released report from the U.S. FDA will expose information that Chinese counterfeit American cigarettes, specifically Marlboros, contain a “very heavy” amount of both Acrylamide and N-Nitrosodiethanolamine (NDELA), both known to be carcinogens, and in amounts stated to be “absolutely deadly” to smokers in even the smallest amounts. The FDA report follows six months of study by their laboratories following what was reported as a “very sharp spike” in cases of lung cancer throughout the world. It has been disclosed that the Chinese counterfeit tobacco has been on the world market for about a year and that it is conservatively estimated that “over 20,000,000 packs of contaminated” cigarettes have been shipped from Chinese sources to outlets throughout the world. A strict embargo on the contaminated tobacco product is due to be implemented “within the week,” according to a spokesperson for the FDA. Marlboro cigarettes are sold in many countries, often used in lieu of currency. Chinese government agencies have so far had no comment. ACORN 'gotcha' man arrested in attempt to tamper with Mary Landrieu's office phones January 26, 2010, by David Hammer The Times-Picayune Alleging a plot to tamper with phones in Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu's office in the Hale Boggs Federal Building in downtown New Orleans, the FBI arrested four people Monday, including James O'Keefe, 25, a conservative filmmaker whose undercover videos at ACORN field offices severely damaged the advocacy group's credibility. Also arrested were Joseph Basel, Stan Dai and Robert Flanagan, all 24. Flanagan is the son of William Flanagan, who is the acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Louisiana. All four men were charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony. An official close to the investigation said one of the four was arrested with a listening device in a car blocks from the senator's offices. He spoke on condition of anonymity because that information was not included in official arresting documents. According to the FBI affidavit, Flanagan and Basel entered the federal building at 500 Poydras Street on Monday about 11 a.m., dressed as telephone company employees, wearing jeans, fluorescent green vests, tool belts and hard hats. When they arrived at Landrieu's 10th-floor office, O'Keefe was already in the office and had told a staffer he was waiting for someone to arrive. When Flanagan and Basel entered the office, they told the staffer they were there to fix phone problems. At that time, the staffer, referred to only as Witness 1 in the affidavit, observed O'Keefe positioning his cell phone in his hand to videotape the operation. O'Keefe later admitted to agents that he recorded the event. After being asked, the staffer gave Basel access to the main phone at the reception desk. The staffer told investigators that Basel manipulated the handset. He also tried to call the main office phone using his cell phone, and said the main line wasn't working. Flanagan did the same. They then told the staffer they needed to perform repair work on the main phone system and asked where the telephone closet was located. The staffer showed the men to the main General Services Administration office on the 10th floor, and Flanagan and Basel went in. There, a GSA employee asked for the men's credentials. They said they left them in their vehicle. The U.S. Marshal's Service apprehended all four men shortly thereafter. Landrieu said: "This is a very unusual situation and somewhat unsettling for me and my staff. The individuals responsible have been charged with entering federal property under false pretenses for the purposes of committing a felony. I am as interested as everyone else about their motives and purpose, which I hope will become clear as the investigation moves forward." Landrieu's Republican counterpart, Sen. David Vitter, called for a racketeering investigation against New Orleans-founded ACORN last year in the wake of O'Keefe's videos. "I've seen the news reports and it's obvious this is a very serious matter. We're blessed with an extremely competent U.S. attorney's office in New Orleans, and I know they'll handle this as aggressively as they have other serious cases," Vitter said in a statement. ACORN spokesman Kevin Whelan said the arrest calls O'Keefe's credibility into question, and used the opportunity to point out that he "edited (ACORN videos) to make things look as bad as possible." He said, for instance, that O'Keefe actually wore a normal dress shirt when he was in the ACORN offices, but spliced in shots of him dressed as a pimp in the final videos. But he also acknowledged that O'Keefe's undercover ACORN footage showed truly improper conduct by ACORN staff. "ACORN's leadership and grassroots leaders have taken a whole series of steps, including commissioning an independent report that shows actually there wasn't illegal conduct by any of the ACORN employees involved, although we fired people involved for improper conduct," Whelan said. O'Keefe on Thursday gave a speech to the Pelican Institute for Public Policy, a libertarian group in New Orleans. Last fall, O'Keefe was hailed as a conservative hero for dressing as a pimp and taping ACORN employees offering advice on how he and a partner could get away with running an international underage prostitution scheme. The New Orleans event was promoted with this glowing statement about O'Keefe by the Pelican Institute: "James has been a pioneer in the use of new media to drive these kinds of important stories. He will discuss the role of new media and show examples of effective investigative reporting." The four men appeared in federal magistrate court Tuesday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Louis Moore wearing red inmate jumpsuits from St. Bernard Parish Prison. Moore is allowing the men to be released on $10,000 bond each. The men have to go to pretrial services, a federal agency, tomorrow morning. Moore allowed three of the men to stay together Tuesday night, but ordered them to not talk about the case. Eddie Castaing is the lawyer representing O'Keefe, Basel and Dai, all of whom are from out of town. He said Tuesday that he was not prepared to comment on the case and would know more Wednesday. He also said he gave one of his clients $60 to take a taxicab from St. Bernard Parish Prison back to wherever they are staying. According to the Phillips Foundation’s Web site, Dai was the editor-in-chief of the GW Patriot, an alternative conservative student newspaper, when he attended The George Washington University in 2006. According to information Dai posted in September 2007 on the university's online alumni directory, he lived in Naperville, Ill., helped run a "Defense Deparment regional defense counterterrorism/irregular warfare program" and then became assistant director of the Intelligence Community Center of Academic Excellence at Trinity Washington University, which prepares undergraduates for careers in intelligence. On Tuesday at 4:40 p.m., O'Keefe, Dai and Basel were released from the jail and were waiting for a cab. Asked to comment, O'Keefe said only, "Veritas," which is Latin for "truth." O'Keefe's biography on the blog site www.BigGovernment.com says he works at VeritasVisuals.com, although that site does not appear to be functioning. ` O'Keefe spent most of the time in the men's room off the jail's lobby, then hustled to the cab when it arrived. As he ran into the back seat, he called out, "The truth shall set me free." Robert Flanagan's attorney, J. Garrison Jordan, said he believes his client works for the Pelican Institute. Asked the motivation for the alleged wiretap plot, he said: "I think it was poor judgment. I don't think there was any intent or motive to commit a crime." Staff writer Laura Maggi contributed to this report. Weird rants from the Jesus Freaks! ‘Pastor’ Hagee Calls Vladimir Putin the Anti Christ - Tells Glenn Beck World will end in 20 Years January 27, 2010 by Stephen K. Ryan As President Obama prepares to deliver his State of the Union message tonight, faith based leaders representing millions of evangelicals, Roman Catholics, and other Christians denominations have delivered a letter to leaders in the Senate urging them to join the House of Representatives in passing tough sanctions on Iran to prevent that terrorist-sponsoring regime from obtaining nuclear weapons. The force behind this initiative is Pastor John Hagee, TV Evangelist and Founder of CUFI who later this year will bring his remarkable apocalyptic end-times show back to Washington D.C. Over 4,000 Christians will gather in Washington to advocate for Israel and simultaneously the end of times on Capitol Hill. Key note speaker last meeting the legendary Nobel Prize winner, Eli Wiesel. The fifth annual summit of Christians United for Israel (CUFI) will bring together Christian leaders and supporters of Israel from around the country. The mystery to many is how does Pastor Hagee attract such luminaries to his side at his meetings, including Joe Lieberman and Gary Bauer, given his stupendously silly apocalyptic world view. For those not yet familiar with Pastor Hagee's colorful world view we direct you to Mr. Glen Beck, the Oprah Winfrey of end-time savants, to get Hagee's views on the record. In a jaw dropping interview a while back on Mr. Beck's television program, Pastor Hagee, in a few short sentences called Vlaidmir Putin the "Anti-Christ" and that the world would end in (20) twenty years. Read for your self. BECK: Pastor Hagee, here we go. Yes or no. You ready? Lightning round. HAGEE: I hope I`m ready. BECK: Is the anti-Christ alive today? HAGEE: I believe he is BECK: Vladimir Putin, is he part of the biblical prophecy? HAGEE: I believe that he`s the man that`s going to cause Russia to unite the Islamic nations against Israel. BECK: End of the world as we know it in five years, 10 years, 20 years? HAGEE: I don`t think we`ll get past 20 years. As television commentator Bill O'Reilly likes to say "What say Mr. Wiesel" Perhaps more bizarre than Pastor Hagee's colorful insights in to future of the world is that some of the most esteemed politicians and leaders of the free world call him a friend and attend his summits. Pastor Hagee, and his new political action committee, Christians United for Israel (CUFI) launched in 2006, represents perhaps the most peculiar cast of characters ever assembled in Washington D.C. Many Washington insiders have great difficulty getting their arms around the whole CUFI phenomenon. CUFI is a tremendous supporter of Israel, yet its founder, John Hagee, megaTV evangelist, has his flock pray, if not directly for Israel's annihilation, certainly some sort of end of times catastrophe involving Jerusalem. Pastor Hagee is on the record saying he hopes to deliver his followers to heaven in a biblical moment of Rapture. What is so confounding to many are Pastor Hagee's pronouncements and prophesies, which are clearly at Israel's expense, are cheered on, unbelievably, by prominent leaders like ex-VP candidate and US Senator Joe Lieberman and TV commentator William Kristol. Senator Lieberman went so far as to call Mr. Hagee some kind of modern day "Moses" and now Nobel Prize winner Eli Wiesel gives speeches on behalf of Pastor Hagee. Charged contractors had checkered military pasts January 25, 2010 by Mike Baker Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- A pair of former Blackwater contractors charged with murdering two people in Afghanistan had checkered pasts with the military before getting hired to work overseas, according to service records disclosed in recent U.S. court hearings. The troubled backgrounds of the two men - including instances of violence, drug use and disregard for authority - are a first sign that Xe, the company formerly known as Blackwater, was staffing its war-zone work force with contractors who might not be suited for the job. The military typically keeps its detailed service records confidential. That makes it difficult to verify the conventional perception that Xe has long filled its rosters with decorated special forces personnel. In the cases of Chris Drotleff and Justin Cannon, prosecutors brought up their records while arguing at hearings this month that both men should be jailed pending their trials Drotleff's three-year service in the Marines ended with an other-than-honorable discharge in 2001 and a military record that included offenses for seven unauthorized absences, two failures to obey an order, assault, disrespect toward a noncommissioned officer and falsely altering a military ID card. Before his service with Blackwater in Afghanistan, the 29-year-old also faced a number of state convictions for reckless driving, disturbing the peace, assault and battery, resisting arrest and DWI. Cannon, 27, was discharged from the Army after going AWOL and testing positive for cocaine. He later petitioned successfully to have his military records officially changed to an honorable discharge. Both men were indicted by a federal grand jury in Virginia this month on two counts of second-degree murder, attempted murder and weapons charges in a 2008 shooting along a Kabul road. They had been in Afghanistan working for Xe subsidiary Paravant under a Department of Defense contract to provide weapons training to the Afghan National Army. Their records were detailed in exhibits and arguments at detention hearings in Virginia and Texas this month. Cannon, of Corpus Christi, Texas, and Drotleff, of Virginia Beach, Va., have been ordered held in custody, with the federal judge in Drotleff's hearing citing his "decade long pattern of refusing to obey laws orders and regulations." "The court finds that the defendant is a danger to the community based on the nature of the charged offense, his history of alcohol abuse and criminal and military history which include crimes of violence," U.S. Magistrate Judge Tommy E. Miller wrote. Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute, said he was surprised to hear that Myock, N.C.-based Xe Services, formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide, would hire workers with questionable pasts when the company is struggling to overcome the 2007 Nisoor Square shooting that left more than a dozen Iraqis dead and the subsequent perception that its staff is undisciplined. He said the evidence suggests that Blackwater's standards aren't even as high as those of the U.S. military. "Why would you take a chance with people who have had other-than-honorable discharges or criminal records?" Thompson said. "The fact that people with spotty records were still in the Blackwater Afghan work force long after the blowups in Iraq suggest that the company needs to pay closer attention to the character of the people it hires." Xe spokesman Mark Corallo said the company "screens and vets applicants pursuant to U.S. Government requirements." Defense Department guidelines require contractors to certify that their personnel are not prohibited from possessing firearms under U.S. law, but instructions released by the department do not discuss how to address specific criminal or military violations. Drotleff's wife, Gina, conceded Monday that her husband had troubles in his past. Still, "they're dredging every single little thing up," she said of prosecutors. "They're ruining our family, our situation and his character. He's a good person, a wonderful father, a great husband and a patriot." Neither Drotleff nor Cannon has entered a plea. Drotleff has an arraignment set for Wednesday. Both have said in interviews with The Associated Press that they were driving along a Kabul road on the night of May 5, 2009, when a speeding car slammed into the first vehicle of their convoy, causing it to flip. Both said they got out of their car to help before seeing the car that caused the accident speeding toward them, leading the men to open fire and saying later that they feared for their lives. Two other contractors who were at the scene have not been charged. All four were fired, with one receiving a termination letter from Xe that cited violation of alcohol policy. Drone surge: Today, tomorrow and 2047 January 26, 2010 by Nick Turse Tom Dispatch One moment there was the hum of a motor in the sky above. The next, on a recent morning in Afghanistan's Helmand province, a missile blasted a home, killing 13 people. Days later, the same increasingly familiar mechanical whine preceded a two-missile salvo that slammed into a compound in Degan village in the North Waziristan tribal area of Pakistan, killing three. What were once unacknowledged, relatively infrequent targeted killings of suspected militants or terrorists in the George W Bush years have become commonplace under the Barack Obama administration. And since a devastating December 30 suicide attack by a Jordanian double agent on a Central Intelligence Agency forward operating base in Afghanistan, unmanned aerial drones have been hunting humans in the AfPak war zone at a record pace. In Pakistan, an "unprecedented number" of strikes - which have killed armed guerrillas and civilians alike - have led to more fear, anger and outrage in the tribal areas, as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), with help from the United States Air Force, wages the most public "secret" war of modern times. In neighboring Afghanistan, unmanned aircraft, for years in short supply and tasked primarily with surveillance missions, have increasingly been used to assassinate suspected militants as part of an aerial surge that has significantly outpaced the highly publicized "surge" of ground forces now underway. And yet, unprecedented as it may be in size and scope, the present ramping up of the drone war is only the opening salvo in a planned 40-year Pentagon surge to create fleets of ultra-advanced, heavily-armed, increasingly autonomous, all-seeing, hypersonic unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Today's surge Drones are the hot weapons of the moment and the upcoming Quadrennial Defense Review - a soon-to-be-released four-year outline of Department of Defense strategies, capabilities and priorities to fight current wars and counter future threats - is already known to reflect this focus. As the Washington Post recently reported, "The pilotless drones used for surveillance and attack missions in Afghanistan and Pakistan are a priority, with the goals of speeding up the purchase of new Reaper drones and expanding Predator and Reaper drone flights through 2013." The MQ-1 Predator - first used in Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s - and its newer, larger and more deadly cousin, the MQ-9 Reaper, are now firing missiles and dropping bombs at an unprecedented pace. In 2008, there were reportedly between 27 and 36 US drone attacks as part of the CIA's covert war in Pakistan. In 2009, there were 45 to 53 such strikes. In the first 18 days of January 2010, there had already been 11 of them. Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, the US Air Force has instituted a much-publicized decrease in piloted air strikes to cut down on civilian casualties as part of Afghan war commander General Stanley McChrystal's counter-insurgency strategy. At the same time, however, air UAS attacks have increased to record levels. The air force has created an interconnected global command-and-control system to carry out its robot war in Afghanistan (and as Noah Shachtman of Wired's Danger Room blog has reported, to assist the CIA in its drone strikes in Pakistan as well). Evidence of this can be found at high-tech US bases around the world where drone pilots and other personnel control the planes themselves and the data streaming back from them. These sites include a converted medical warehouse at al-Udeid Air Base, a billion-dollar facility in the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar where the air force secretly oversees its ongoing drone wars; Kandahar and Jalalabad air fields in Afghanistan, where the drones are physically based; the global operations center at Nevada's Creech air base, where the air force's "pilots" fly drones by remote control from thousands of kilometers away; and - perhaps most importantly - at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, a 12-square-mile (32 square kilometers) facility in Dayton, Ohio, named after the two local brothers who invented powered flight in 1903. This is where the bills for the current drone surge - as well as limited numbers of strikes in Yemen and Somalia - come due and are, quite literally, paid. In the waning days of December 2009, in fact, the Pentagon cut two sizeable checks to ensure that unmanned operations involving the MQ-1 Predator and the MQ-9 Reaper would continue full speed ahead in 2010. The 703rd Aeronautical Systems Squadron based at Wright-Patterson signed a $38 million contract with defense giant Raytheon for logistics support for the targeting systems of both drones. At the same time, the squadron inked a deal worth $266 million with mega-defense contractor General Atomics, which makes the Predator and Reaper drones, to provide management services, logistics support, repairs, software maintenance and other functions for both drone programs. Both deals essentially ensure that, in the years ahead, the stunning increase in drone operations will continue. These contracts, however, are only initial down payments on an enduring drone surge designed to carry US unmanned aerial operations forward, ultimately for decades. Drone surge: The longer view In 2004, the air force could put a total of only five drone combat air patrols (CAPs) - each consisting of four air vehicles - in the skies over American war zones at any one time. By 2009, that number was 38, a 660% increase according to the air force. Similarly, between 2001 and 2008, hours of surveillance coverage for US Central Command, encompassing both the Iraqi and Afghan war zones, as well as Pakistan and Yemen, showed a massive spike of 1,431%. In the meantime, flight hours have gone through the roof. In 2004, for example, Reapers, just beginning to soar, flew 71 hours in total, according to air force documents. In 2006, that number had risen to 3,123 hours; and last year, 25,391 hours. This year, the air force projects that the combined flight hours of all its drones - Predators, Reapers and unarmed RQ-4 Global Hawks - will exceed 250,000 hours, about the total number of hours flown by all air force drones from 1995-2007. In 2011, the 300,000 hour-a-year barrier is expected to be crossed for the first time, and after that the sky's the limit. More flight time will, undoubtedly, mean more killing. According to Peter Bergen and Katherine Tiedemann of the Washington-based think-tank the New America Foundation, in the George W Bush years, from 2006 into 2009, there were 41 drone strikes in Pakistan which killed 454 militants and civilians. Last year, under the Barack Obama administration, there were 42 strikes that left 453 people dead. A recent report by the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, an Islamabad-based independent research organization that tracks security issues, claimed an even larger number, 667 people - most of them civilians - were killed by US drone strikes last year. While assisting the CIA's drone operations in the Pakistani tribal borderlands, the air force has been increasing its own unmanned aerial hunter-killer missions. In 2007 and 2008, for example, air force Predators and Reapers fired missiles during 244 missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, while all the US armed services have pursued unmanned aerial warfare, the air force has outpaced each of them. From 2001, when armed drone operations began, until the spring of 2009, the air force had fired 703 Hellfire missiles and dropped 132 GBU-12s (250-kilogram laser-guided bombs) in combat operations. The army, by comparison, launched just two Hellfire missiles and two smaller GBU-44 Viper Strike munitions in the same time period. The disparity should only grow, since the army's drones remain predominantly small surveillance aircraft, while in 2009 the air force shifted all outstanding orders for the medium-sized Predator to the even more formidable Reaper, which is not only twice as fast but has 600% more payload capacity, meaning more space for bombs and missiles. In addition, the more heavily-armed Reapers, which can now loiter over an area for 10 to 14 hours without refueling, will be able to spot and track ever more targets via an increasingly sophisticated video monitoring system. According to air force Lieutenant General David Deptula, deputy chief of staff for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance, the first three "Gorgon Stare pods" - new wide-area sensors that provide surveillance capabilities over large swathes of territory - will be installed on Reapers operating in Afghanistan this spring. A technology not available for the older Predator, Gorgon Stare will allow 10 operators to view 10 video feeds from a single drone at the same time. Back at a distant base, a "pilot" will stare at a tiled screen with a composite picture of the streaming battlefield video, even as field commanders analyze a portion of the digital picture, panning, zooming and tilting the image to meet their needs. A more advanced set of "pods", scheduled to be deployed for the first time this autumn, will allow 30 operators to view 30 video images simultaneously. In other words, via video feeds from a single Reaper drone, operators could theoretically track 30 different people heading in 30 directions from a single Afghan compound. The generation of sensors expected to come online in late 2011 promises 65 such feeds, according to air force documents, a more than 6,000% increase in effectiveness over the Predator's video system. The air force is, however, already overwhelmed just by drone video currently being sent back from the war zones and, in the years ahead, risks "drowning in data", according to Deptula. The 40-year plan When it comes to the drone surge, the years 2011-2013 are just the near horizon. While, like the army, the navy is working on its own future drone warfare capacity - in the air as well as on and even under the water - the air force is involved in striking levels of futuristic planning for robotic war. It envisions a future previously imagined only in science-fiction movies like the Terminator series. As a start, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA, the Pentagon's blue skies research outfit, is already looking into radically improving on Gorgon Stare with an "Autonomous Real-time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance-Infrared (ARGUS-IR) System". In the obtuse language of military research and development, it will, according to DARPA, provide a "real-time, high-resolution, wide-area video persistent surveillance capability that allows joint forces to keep critical areas of interest under constant surveillance with a high degree of target location accuracy" via as many as 130 'Predator-like' steerable video streams to enable real-time tracking and monitoring and enhanced situational awareness during evening hours". In translation, that means the air force will quite literally be flooded with video information from future battlefields; and every "advance" of this sort means bulking up the global network of facilities, systems and personnel capable of receiving, monitoring and interpreting the data streaming in from distant digital eyes. All of it is specifically geared toward "target location", that is, pin-pointing people on one side of the world so that Americans on the other side can watch, track and, in many cases, kill them. In addition to enhanced sensors and systems like ARGUS-IR, the air force has a long-term vision for drone warfare that is barely beginning to be realized. Predators and Reapers have already been joined in Afghanistan by a newer, formerly secret drone, a "low observable unmanned aircraft system" first spotted in 2007 and dubbed the "Beast of Kandahar" before observers were sure what it actually was. It is now known to be a Lockheed Martin-manufactured unmanned aerial vehicle, the RQ-170 - a drone which the air force blandly notes was designed to "directly support combatant commander needs for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to locate targets". According to military sources, the sleek, stealthy surveillance craft has been designated to replace the antique Lockheed U-2 spy plane, which has been in use since the 1950s. In the coming years, the RQ-170 is slated to be joined in the skies of America's "next wars" by a fleet of drones with ever newer, more sophisticated capabilities and destructive powers. Looking into the post-2011 future, Deptula sees the most essential need, according to an Aviation Week report, as "long-range [reconnaissance and] precision strike" - that is, more eyes in far off skies and more lethality. He added, "We cannot move into a future without a platform that allows [us] to project power long distances and to meet advanced threats in a fashion that gives us an advantage that no other nation has." This means bigger, badder, faster drones - armed to the teeth - with sensor systems to monitor wide swathes of territory and the ability to loiter overhead for days on end waiting for human targets to appear and, in due course, be vaporized by high-powered munitions. It's a future built on advanced technologies designed to make targeted killings - remote-controlled assassinations - ever more effortless. Over the horizon and deep into what was, until recently, only a silver-screen fantasy, the air force envisions a wide array of unmanned aircraft, from tiny insect-like robots to enormous "tanker size" pilotless planes. Each will be slated to take over specific war-making functions (or so air force dreamers imagine). Those nano-sized drones, for instance, are set to specialize in indoor reconnaissance - they're small enough to fly through windows or down ventilation shafts - and carry out lethal attacks, undertake computer-disabling cyber-attacks, and swarm, as would a group of angry bees, of their own volition. Slightly larger micro-sized Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems (STUAS) are supposed to act as "transformers" - altering their form to allow for flying, crawling and non-visual sensing capabilities. They might fill sentry, counter-drone, surveillance and lethal attack roles. Additionally, the air force envisions small and medium "fighter-sized" drones with lethal combat capabilities that would put the current UAS air fleet to shame. Today's medium-sized Reapers are set to be replaced by next generation MQ-Ma drones that will be "networked, capable of partial autonomy, all-weather and modular with capabilities supporting electronic warfare [EW], CAS [close air support], strike and multi-INT [multiple intelligence] ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] missions' platforms". The language may not be elegant, much less comprehensible, but if these future fighter aircraft actually come online they will not only send today's remaining Top Gun pilots to the showers, but may even sideline tomorrow's drone human operators, who, if all goes as planned, will have ever fewer duties. Unlike today's drones, which must take off and land with human guidance, the MQ-Mas will be automated and drone operators will simply be there to monitor the aircraft. Next up will be the MQ-Mb, theoretically capable of taking over even more roles once assigned to traditional fighter-bombers and spy planes, including the suppression of enemy air defenses, bombing and strafing of ground targets and surveillance missions. These will also be designed to fly more autonomously and be better linked in to other drone "platforms" for cooperative missions involving many aircraft under the command of a single "pilot". Imagine, for instance, one operator overseeing a single command drone that holds sway over a small squadron of autonomous drones carrying out a coordinated air attack on clusters of people in some far off land, incinerating them in small groups across a village, town or city. Finally, perhaps 30 to 40 years from now, the MQ-Mc drone would incorporate all of the advances of the MQ-M line, while being capable of everything from dog-fighting to missile defense. With such new technology will come new policies and new doctrines. In the years ahead, the air force intends to make drone-related policy decisions on everything from treaty obligations to automatic target engagement - robotic killing without a human in the loop. The latter extremely controversial development is already envisioned as a possible post-2025 reality. 2047: What's old is new again The year 2047 is the target date for the air force's Holy Grail, the capstone for its long-term plan to turn the skies over to war-fighting drones. In 2047, the air force intends to rule the skies with MQ-Mc drones and "special" super-fast, hypersonic drones for which neither viable technology nor any enemies with any comparable programs or capabilities yet exist. Despite this, the air force is intent on making these super-fast hunter-killer systems a reality by 2047. "Propulsion technology and materials that can withstand the extreme heat will likely take 20 years to develop. This technology will be the next generation air game-changer. Therefore the prioritization of the funding for the specific technology development should not wait until the emergence of a critical COCOM [combatant command] need," says the air force's 2009-2047 UAS "Flight Plan". If anything close to the air force's dreams comes to fruition, the "game" will indeed be radically changed. By 2047, there's no telling how many drones will be circling over how many heads in how many places across the planet. There's no telling how many millions or billions of flight hours will have been flown, or how many people, in how many countries, will have been killed by remote-controlled, bomb-dropping, missile-firing, judge-jury-and-executioner drone systems. There's only one given. If the US still exists in its present form, is still solvent and still has a functioning Pentagon of the present sort, a new plan will already be well underway to create the war-making technologies of 2087. By then, in ever more places, people will be living with the sort of drone war that now worries only those in places like Degan village. Ever more people will know that unmanned aerial systems packed with missiles and bombs are loitering in their skies. By then, there undoubtedly won't even be that lawnmower-engine sound indicating that a missile may soon plow into your neighbor's home. For the air force, such a prospect is the stuff of dreams, a bright future for unmanned, hypersonic lethality; for the rest of the planet, it's a potential nightmare from which there may be no waking. *Nick Turse* is the associate editor of TomDispatch.com and the winner of a 2009 Ridenhour Prize for Reportorial Distinction as well as a James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Nation, In These Times, and regularly at TomDispatch. Turse is currently a fellow at New York University's Center for the United States and the Cold War. He is the author of The Complex: How the Military Invades Our Everyday Lives (Metropolitan Books). His website is NickTurse.com. The Afghan/Iraq Death Toll: January 26 January 25, 2010 by Brian Harring January 4, 2010 The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. Brushaun X. Anderson, 20, of Columbus, Ga., died Jan. 1 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, N.Y. The Department of Defense announced today the death of an airman who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Senior Airman Bradley R. Smith, 24, of Troy, Ill., died Jan. 3 near Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained while supporting combat operations. He was assigned to the 10th Air Support Operations Squadron, Fort Riley, Kan. January 5, 2010 The Department of Defense announced today the death of three soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died Jan. 3 in Ashoque, Afghanistan, from wounds suffered when insurgents attacked their unit with multiple improvised explosives devices and small arms fire. They were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo. Killed were: Sgt. Joshua A. Lengstorf, 24, of Yoncalla, Ore. Spc. Brian R. Bowman, 24, of Crawfordsville, I Pvt. John P. Dion, 19, of Shattuck, Okla. January 7, 2010 The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. David A. Croft Jr., 22, of Plant City, Fla., died Jan. 5 in Baghdad, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device and small arms fire. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. January 11. 2010 The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Sgt. 1st Class Jason O. B. Hickman, 35, of Kingsport, Tenn., died Jan. 7 at Forward Operating Base Salerno, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered earlier that day at Combat Outpost Bowri Tana, when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device and small arms fire. He was assigned to Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska. The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. The initial press release had anincorrect name due to a clerical error. However, the correct family was notifiedby Marine Corps officials. Lance Cpl. Mark D. Juarez, 23,of San Antonio, Texas, died Jan. 9 while supporting combat operations in Helmandprovince, Afghanistan. He was assignedto 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III MarineExpeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Lance Cpl. Jacob A. Meinert, 20, of Fort Atkinson, Wis., died Jan. 10 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. January 12, 2010 The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pfc. Michael R. Jarrett, 20, of North Platte, Neb., died Jan. 6 in Balad, Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, Illesheim, Germany. The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation. January 13, 2009 The Department of Defense announced today the death of three Marines who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. The following Marines died Jan. 11 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan: Staff Sgt. Matthew N. Ingham, 25, of Altoona, Pa. Cpl. Jamie R. Lowe, 21, of Johnsonville, Ill. Cpl. Nicholas K. Uzenski, 21, of Tomball, Texas. Ingham, Lowe and Uzenski were assigned to 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Okinawa, Japan January 15, 2010 The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Spc. Kyle J. Wright, 22, of Romeoville, Ill., died Jan. 13 at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered earlier that day when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device in Kandahar province. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash. The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Sgt. Christopher R. Hrbek, 25, of Westwood, N.J., died Jan. 14 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Sgt. Lucas T. Beachnaw, 23, of Lowell, Mich., died Jan. 13 in Darya Ya, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit using small arms fire. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Camp Ederle, Italy. Army Releases December Suicide Data The Army released suicide data today for the month of December. Among active-duty soldiers, there were ten potential suicides: one has been confirmed as suicide, and nine remain under investigation. For November, the Army reported 11 potential suicides among active-duty soldiers. Since the release of that report, three have been confirmed as suicides, and eight remain under investigation. There were 160 reported active-duty Army suicides during 2009. Of these, 114 have been confirmed, and 46 are pending determination of manner of death. During 2008, there were 140 suicides among active-duty soldiers. During December 2009, among reserve component soldiers who were not on active duty, there were six potential suicides. For the year 2009, among that same group, there were 78 total suicides. Of those, 49 were confirmed as suicides and 29 are pending determination of the manner of death. For 2008, there were 57 suicides among reserve soldiers who were not on active duty. “There’s no question that 2009 was a painful year for the Army when it came to suicides. We took wide-ranging measures last year to confront the problem, from the service-wide stand-down and chain-teach program, to enhanced suicide prevention programs and guidance for our Army units, and the suicide prevention research through our partnership with the National Institute of Mental Health,” said Col. Christopher Philbrick, deputy director, Army Suicide Prevention Task Force. In 2010, the Army will continue to update and conduct suicide prevention training and improve procedures to ensure soldiers and families receive the support they need when undergoing key transitions, such as moving to another duty station or separating from the Army. As part of the ongoing Army Campaign Plan for Health Promotion, Risk Reduction, and Suicide Prevention, the Army Suicide Prevention Task Force will complete a thorough analysis and assessment of each of the Army’s current suicide prevention programs to determine which are most effectively meeting the needs of the Army community. “Our assessment will give us the data we need to make decisions about how our programs should be expanded or adjusted, while at the same time maintaining our focus on saving soldiers’ lives,” Philbrick added. The Army's comprehensive list of Suicide Prevention Program information is located at http://www.armyg1.army.mil/hr/suicide/default.asp. January 16, 2010 The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died Jan. 13 at Combat Outpost McClain, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their vehicle with an improvised explosive device. The soldiers were assigned to the 118^th Military Police Company (Airborne), 503^rd Military Police Battalion (Airborne), 16^th Military Police Brigade (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C. Killed were: Staff Sgt. Daniel D. Merriweather, 25, of Collierville Tenn. Pfc. Geoffrey A. Whitsitt, 21, of Taylors, S.C. January 19, 2010 The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Staff Sgt. Anton R. Phillips, 31, of Inglewood, Calif., died Dec. 31, 2009, at Forward Operating Base Methar Lam, Afghanistan. He was assigned to G Forward Support Company, 77th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Task Force Wildhorse, Forward Operating Base Methar Lam, Afghanistan. The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation. January 20, 2010 The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Spc. Robert Donevski, 19, of Sun City, Ariz., died Jan. 16 in Abad, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo. The Department of Defense announced today the death of an airman who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Tech. Sgt. Adam K. Ginett, 29, of Knightdale, N.C., died Jan. 19 near Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 31st Civil Engineer Squadron, Aviano Air Base, Italy. January 21, 2010 The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Sgt. 1st Class Michael P. Shannon, 52, of Canadensis, Pa., died Jan. 17, in Kabul, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. He was a mobilized reserve soldier assigned to the International Security Assistance Force Joint Command, Kabul. The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation. January 22, 2010 The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Capt. Paul Pena, 27, of San Marcos, Texas, died Jan. 19 in Arghandab River Valley, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 2^nd Battalion, 508^th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4^th Brigade Combat Team, 82^nd The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Staff Sgt. Thaddeus S. Montgomery II, 29, of West Yellowstone, Mont., died Jan. 20 at Korengal Outpost, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo. The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation. January 23, 2010 The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pfc. Gifford E. Hurt, 19, of Yonkers, N.Y., died Jan. 20, in Mosul, Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related accident. He was assigned to the 1^st Battalion, 14^th Field Artillery Regiment, 214^th Fires Brigade, 4^th Infantry Division, Fort Sill, Okla. January 24, 2010 The Department of Defense announced today the death of a sailor who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Petty Officer 2nd Class Xin Qi, 25, of Cordova, Tenn., died Jan. 23, while supporting combat operations in Afghanistan. Qi was assigned to Fourth Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Marine Expeditionary Brigade – Afghanistan.