Living In The Shadow Of an Intrusive, Expensive, and Ineffective Surveillance BlimpBy Kristen Anderson For several months, residents of Maryland have noticed an unmanned blimp floating above their cities and counties. The Army choreographed the sophisticated launch of the football field sized blimp from Aberdeen Proving Grounds. While the government insists that the $2.7 billion project funded by the Pentagon is not spying on US citizens, community groups and leaders have their doubts. Electronic Privacy Information Center associate director Ginger McCall obtained documents through a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act that state that the blimp has 2 purposes: first to scan the sky for incoming cruise missiles, and second to surveil and track surface moving objects. While scanning for incoming cruise missiles seems like a worthy cause, tracking and spying on ground level moving objects causes alarm. Ground level moving objects is another way of saying humans. So just what kind of information is this blimp collecting about the citizens of Maryland? The blimps radar has a 340-mile reach; thats from Boston all the way down to North Carolina. The blimp supposedlycontinuouslyscans for missiles that could be shot from Russia or from submarines, and would issue an alert to the Pentagon should a missile be detected. The Army states that there will be 2 blimps eventually: 1 to scan around the clock, and 1 to target return missiles at any detected threat. Maj. Elizabeth Kreft states thatThe JLENS radar and current exercise were designed to look for threats like cruise missiles and it simply cannot see human beings. Do you believe her? Or do you think the government is once again assaulting our individual rights in the name of defense? Thats the kind of massive persistent surveillance weve always been concerned about withdrones, said Jay Stanley, a privacy expert for the American Civil Liberties Union. Its part of this trend weve seen since 9/11, which is the turning inward of all of these surveillance technologies. Putting privacy issues aside, lets turn to the efficacy of this project. JLENS has been touted as proven and capable by the Raytheon Co., the Pentagons lead contractor for JLENS. But upon taking a closer look, JLENS actually fits the classic definition of what defense specialists call a zombie program. It is costly, it is ineffective, and it will drag on for decades sucking our tax dollars and threatening our privacy. Lets take a closer look at the programs performance: After reading all of that, you would think the government would take a look at this program and perhaps revisit its sustainability. But, no, Congress and the highest level officers of the military have all given the OK for this program to continue sucking every last penny from taxpayers. When Army officials tried to kill JLENS in 2010, Raytheon Co. unleashed an impressive team of lobbyists to win back congressional favor.Marine Corps Gen. James E. Hoss Cartwright, who was the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff came forward as well and insisted that the program was the best option in enhancing the nations air defense. Cartwrights plea succeeded, and a trial run was approved in 2011. By 2014, Cartwright was on the board of directors at Raytheon Co. and had received over $828,000 in cash and stocks. After examining the history and performance of JLENS, it becomes clear that it is just another example of big military spending with the empty promise of keeping us safe. All JLENS really is is an opportunity to just spy on us and cost us billions in tax money. Sources: Kristen Anderson writes for selfnewsPost.com 