Weaponized Drones on American Soil?Nicholas West The targetedkilling of American citizens abroad jarred people enough to consider the mission creep taking place, finally wondering when strikes might land on American soil. Rand Paul pushed this debate into the mainstream with his much-publicized filibuster, though he later backed down by hedging his words within the definition of imminent threat. Pauls comments drew severe criticism even from libertarians, prompting him to explain further. Its an important distinction to make clear, and is the same one left unresolved by the amendment to ban drone strikes on U.S. citizens in the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act. So while it seems like a fierce debate is taking place, and plans to subvert the Constitution are being thwarted, every new stone overturned continues to reveal more. Rather than true debate, there has been a scramble for the public to catch up to what already has been done, much in the same way as the NSA spying story. So, what will the future bring? For those who have been following this steady progression of drone use, as well as the continued development in high-technon-lethal weapons, one might already have wondered when the two would officially merge over America. It appears that Homeland Security has also been considering this aspect behind closed doors for quite some time. Congress already has given the FAA permission to establish safe flying rules for drones in civilian airspace throughout the U.S.by 2015. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has been at the forefront of attempting to obtain documents under the Freedom of Information Act and through lawsuits that will show the full scope of what the military-industrial complex has in store for America. What they have found so far is quite disturbing. The new documents that EFF has obtained show a desire for that actionable information to translate into Predator drones equipped with non-lethal weapons designed to immobilize targets of interest. And the documents are dated 2010. But even this is most likely the tip of the iceberg. It was highlighted in 2011 that Homeland Security awarded a $300,000 grant to Texas law enforcement for Shadowhawk micro drones that could be equipped with, taser batons, 37mm or 40mm grenade launchers or with 12 gauge shotgun rounds. Precision mini munitions could be added later to its threatening arsenal. So its doubtful that non-lethal weapons are all there is to be concerned about. In fact, directed energy weapons can be deployed from the air via theVigilant Eaglesystem developed by Raytheon among others. Nevertheless, most Americans look at the drones-in-America debate as something entirely separate from what occurs overseas, and politicians are only too happy to make us forget. It has been repeatedly shown thatmore innocent people are killedin the various undeclared wars and military actionsthan are those identified as enemies of the United States. Lets keep this in mind when we hear the term, targets of interest. The military apparatus has been busy studying ways to turn real human beings into unthinking automatons, while further increasing the distance between cause and effect. This is where the greatest danger really lies. It was perfectly shown in the horror revealed by the WikiLeaks Collateral Murder video. As admitted by a drone operator below, it is a system that potentially creates a whole new generation of sociopaths. For him, he realized it too late 1,626 people too late. Unfortunately, most Americans have been trained through the inherent distance of media that these tools are needed tobringcivilization to barbarous sections of the world. Sadly, those who have had their empathy removed might have a different perspective as the barbarity of Empire America is beginning to boomerang upon itself. Read other articles by Nicholas West HERE 