CIA To Hand Over Drone Program To Pentagon? 142
An anonymous reader writes "According to a report at The Daily Beast, the Obama administration has decided to give the drone program to the Pentagon, taking it away from the CIA. This could lead to increased transparency for the program and stricter requirements for drone strikes. From the article: 'Officials anticipate a phased-in transition in which the CIA’s drone operations would be gradually shifted over to the military, a process that could take as little as a year. Others say it might take longer but would occur during President Obama’s second term. “You can’t just flip a switch, but it’s on a reasonably fast track,” says one U.S. official. During that time, CIA and DOD operators would begin to work more closely together to ensure a smooth hand-off. The CIA would remain involved in lethal targeting, at least on the intelligence side, but would not actually control the unmanned aerial vehicles. Officials told The Daily Beast that a potential downside of the agency’s relinquishing control of the program was the loss of a decade of expertise that the CIA has developed since it has been prosecuting its war in Pakistan and beyond. At least for a period of transition, CIA operators would likely work alongside their military counterparts to target suspected terrorists.'"
Transparancy? Or dodging? (Score:5, Insightful)
It could be more transparency, or it could be the administration trying to confuse things (as they have done with other hot issues) by changing the owner and trying to either divest responsibility or knowledge. "I don't knwo what's going on in that program - we don't do that here" or "We transferred all records when we transferred the program. What do you mean they were lost?"
Transparency (Score:5, Insightful)
This could lead to increased transparency for the program and stricter requirements for drone strikes.
HAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaa ha. Funny. This is the same administration that was mercilessly mocked by Jon Stewart [thedailyshow.com] for it's total and abject lack of transparency, to the point of trying to use a "jedi mind meld trick" on the assembled reporters regarding the mere existance of the requirements... which were basically "We'll do whatever we want, whenever we want, however we want, to whomever we want."
Step in the right direction. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:So... (Score:2, Insightful)
It's acceptable because it's not Bush who's doing it.
Brilliant, Holmes, brilliant! (Score:4, Insightful)
This could lead to increased transparency for the program and stricter requirements for drone strikes.
really? (Score:2, Insightful)
> "You can’t just flip a switch"
Sure you can. See that power switch on the console? Flip it to "off". Good. Now, don't flip it to "on" until transition is complete. If we're talking about live assets, especially deployed, I could agree, in many cases you can't just flip a switch. But they're machines. They can be switched off.
Re:So... (Score:3, Insightful)
Yup - the President is still commander in chief of the armed forces. This changes nothing but makes a great PR story for slashdot to pass on...
Heh if you really believe that what we do with the military is a decision that actually ORIGINATES with the President and only happens with the President's personal agreement and approval ... well, in that case you have a lot to learn about how American power actually works. We've been Fascist for quite a while now. Even when Eisenhower warned us about the military-industrial complex, even then it was a bit too late. Too much inertia is behind it.
It's like what Douglas Adams said. The President exists not to wield power, but to distract attention away from it. The illusion of choice is very important to the power elites and their idea of maintaining order. The truth is, a two-party system is the perfect way to control things while making it look like you could actually vote for change. The trick is, "change" is code for "becoming more so". Truth is, no candidate who sincerely wanted to change things would ever get the sponsorship and political support it takes (from the real power behind the throne) to win an election.
What they mean. (Score:4, Insightful)
Is that instead of one there will now be two agencies doing drone missions. The Pentagon will take over, but the CIA will still do it in secret.
CAPTCHA: Truthful
Re:Toys for the boys (Score:3, Insightful)
It could be worse, if the Pentagon were to give it to the TSA...
Given all the pre-flight checks that the TSA would no doubt do, that might be a good thing. The things would never get off the ground...
drone schmone (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Step in the right direction. (Score:2, Insightful)
Sorry to break it to you, but "the order [...] to kill Americans" has already come down. What do you think the controversy about Awlaki (both of them) was anyway?