Gordon Stare 2014 drone: the ultimate eye in the sky. A $15 million military surveillance drone built by the Pentagon intended to help prevent terrorist attacks … 1.8 billion pixels. Spy Craft I: High-Tech Surveillance and an Eye in the Sky, Netflix 2021
The new military-industrial complex is fuelled by a conveniently ambiguous and unseen enemy: the terrorist. Former President George W Bush and his aides insisted on calling counter-terrorism efforts a war. This concerted effort by leaders like former Vice President Dick Cheney (himself the former CEO of defense-contractor Halliburton) was not some empty rhetorical exercise. Not only would a war maximise the inherent powers of the president, but it would maximise the budgets for military and homeland agencies.
This new coalition of companies, agencies, and lobbyists dwarfs the system known by Eisenhower when he warned Americans to ‘guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence … by the military-industrial complex’. Ironically, it has had some of its best days under President Barack Obama who has radically expanded drone attacks and claimed that he alone determines what a war is for the purposes of consulting Congress. Professor Jonathan Turley, article ‘Big Money Behind War: The Military Industrial Complex’
Drone Spotting App – Find the Most Rare and Exotic Drones. JoyCamp: Drone Spotting App
Firing a $70,000 missile from a $28,000,000 drone flying at a cost of $3,624 per hour to kill people in the Middle East on less than $1 per day.
We live in a country where if you want to go bomb somebody, there’s remarkably little discussion about how much it might cost. But then you have a discussion about whether or not we can assist people who are suffering, then suddenly we become very cost-conscious. Andrew Bacevich, cited tweet Socialist Sunday 13th April 2023