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Drone On

Unmanned flying machines that are typically operated by a person using a game controller often fly over places such as Pakistan. For the most part, they watch and attack.

Drone strikes happen much more frequently since Obama has been living in the White House. According to the New American Foundation, there has been 339 total number of drone strikes in Pakistan since 2004. Of those, 293 were since 2009. In 2009, only 2 strikes happened under Bush.

Let’s break down the numbers. Under 8 years of Bush, there were 48 drone strikes in Pakistan. In 4 years of Obama, there have been 291. The latest was just the 29th of November. I shudder to think what another 4 years will bring. Troops will still remain after the 2014 end date.

Now, these drone attacks do not happen on their own. The President must authorize each and every attack. That’s a lot of drone strikes for a guy who said that he was bringing the troops home and ending our wars. And let’s not forget the drone strike in Yemen that took out that guy who was an American citizen.

In addition to striking mostly in Pakistan, drones also take video of areas and situations all over the more hostile regions. Supposedly, there was a drone taking video of the Benghazi attack.

Recently, our esteemed politicians and those who believe themselves to be smarter than we (sometimes one in the same) decided that drones over the US would be a good idea. Drones would keep us “safe.”

Safe from whom exactly?

I do not want drones flying over US soil. These machines would be monitoring us—our every movement and possibly our every word. Some may call me paranoid. Some may wonder what I have to hide. After all, only those with something to hide have something to fear.

We can justify so much when something isn’t in our immediate view. The problem I have is that every one of us will be treated like a criminal. If we are all regarded as criminals, then who remains innocent? What happens to liberty when privacy disappears?

Unfortunately, the Constitution does not confine the government from passing laws that restrict our privacy. However, the Fourth Amendment may apply. It says, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated….” All we need to do is define drone observation as an unreasonable search, which would violate the right of people to be secure. What’s the chance of that happening in “safety”-first America?

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