ACLU sues to force release of drone attack records

[maddezmom]

The American Civil Liberties Union asked a federal court Wednesday to force the Obama administration to release legal and intelligence records related to the killing of three U.S. citizens in drone attacks in Yemen last year.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, charged the Justice and Defense departments and the CIA with illegally failing to respond to requests made in October under the Freedom of Information Act. It cited public comments made by President Obama, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and other officials in arguing that the government cannot credibly claim a secrecy defense.

“The government’s self-serving attitude toward transparency and disclosure is unacceptable,” the ACLU said in a statement. “Officials cannot be allowed to release bits of information about the targeted killing program when they think it will bolster their position, but refuse even to confirm [its] existence” when asked for information “in the service of real transparency and accountability.”

In addition to statements by Obama and Panetta, the lawsuit notes that “media reports about the targeted killing program routinely quote anonymous government officials describing details of the program

more; http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/aclu-sues-to-force-release-of-drone-attack-records/2012/02/01/gIQArL6xhQ_story.html

[msongs]

1. execution without charges or trial - today in pakistan, tomorrow in the USA nt

[FiveGoodMen]

3. If Americans had any sense, you could walk out onto any street and hear a chorus of screams.

We are so happy to give up the rights that others have died for.

[boppers]

10. When did you think this didn't exist in the USA?

It was here long before you, or I, ware born, I assure you.

[xchrom]

2. du rec. nt

[Kelvin Mace]

4. Soon, the government will do away with all this "responsibility" nonsense

when it comes to killing people.

The next generation drones will kill people based on software algorithms:

[link:http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-auto-drone-20120126,0,740306.story|
New drone has no pilot anywhere, so who's accountable?
LA Times]

The Navy's new drone being tested near Chesapeake Bay stretches the boundaries of technology: It's designed to land on the deck of an aircraft carrier, one of aviation's most difficult maneuvers.

What's even more remarkable is that it will do that not only without a pilot in the cockpit, but without a pilot at all.

The X-47B marks a paradigm shift in warfare, one that is likely to have far-reaching consequences. With the drone's ability to be flown autonomously by onboard computers, it could usher in an era when death and destruction can be dealt by machines operating semi-independently.

Although humans would program an autonomous drone's flight plan and could override its decisions, the prospect of heavily armed aircraft screaming through the skies without direct human control is unnerving to many.

Ya think?

All military services are moving toward greater automation with their robotic systems. Robotic armed submarines could one day stalk enemy waters, and automated tanks could engage soldiers on the battlefield.

"More aggressive robotry development could lead to deploying far fewer U.S. military personnel to other countries, achieving greater national security at a much lower cost and most importantly, greatly reduced casualties," aerospace pioneer Simon Ramo, who helped develop the intercontinental ballistic missile, wrote in his new book, "Let Robots Do the Dying."

Mandatory viewing for idiots developing these projects:

Terminator
Colossus: The Forbin Project
Fail Safe
War Games
Star Trek: Doomsday Machine
Star Trek: The Ultimate Computer
The Matrix
Battlestar Galactica (new series)
Alien
Blade Runner

I am sure folks here can suggest other titles.

And just to make sure you know this is where it is going, one last quote:

The X-47B will not only land itself, but will also know what kind of weapons it is carrying, when and where it needs to refuel with an aerial tanker, and whether there's a nearby threat, said Carl Johnson, Northrop's X-47B program manager. "It will do its own math and decide what it should do next."

Whether people live or die will soon be a math problem solved by a computer. Will Microsoft be the mother of SkyNet, or will it be Apple?

[Wilms]

5. ^

[cstanleytech]

6. I really doubt the court will side with the ACLU on this case.

[woo me with science]

7. K&R

[DUIC]

8. The ACLU is redefining the FOIA on this one

http://www.archives.gov/foia/foia-guide.html#determine

[Uncle Joe]

9. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, maddezmom.