At least, if Homeland Security makes good on it’s request, they will:
Unmanned aerial vehicles [i.e., aerial drones] have soared the skies of Afghanistan and Iraq for years, spotting enemy encampments, protecting military bases, and even launching missile attacks against suspected terrorists.
Now UAVs may be landing in the United States.
A House of Representatives panel on Wednesday heard testimony from police agencies that envision using UAVs for everything from border security to domestic surveillance high above American cities. Private companies also hope to use UAVs for tasks such as aerial photography and pipeline monitoring.
Not that we should be surprised. In a country that regularly wiretaps its own citizens without warrants, that creates databases to monitor “terrorist activity” by peaceful antiwar groups , in which librarians and internet providers may be required to turn over records of the books you check out or the websites you frequent, why should we be surprised that the government intends to use spying devices previously limited to foreign battlefields here in the good old US of A?
There’s a reason why the metaphor “slippery slope” has so long been a useful one when describing governmental violations of the rights of its citizens. Unfortunately we are rapidly approaching that point where slippery turns into an avalanche. You’d think the “black helicopter crowd” that was so vociferous during the Clinton years would be a tad more concerned about governmental intrusions into our private lives under the Bush regime.
But, then I forget. 9/11 changed everything. It has turned even the toughest, roughest, most independent libertarians among us into mewling scared little children running to Daddy the first time someone yells “Boo!” in their face. For despite the reality of the “terrorist threat” it does not justify the levels of fear and hypocrisy that we have witnessed over the last few years. Fear of terrorism is all out of proportion to the actual physical danger posed by terrorists to most of us each day. Fear of our own government’s excesses in the name of security, however, is not nearly large enough.
For more on the general topic of trading freedom for security go read populist’s diary, which includes excerpts from an essay by Stephen M. Osborn, an Atomic Vet and activist.