drones

Smart Reads May 16, 2013

May 16, 2013 1:57 pm by Amie Tsang

♦ Pharmaceutical companies are worried that the battle in India over patents will inspire other emerging economies to change their laws and make it more difficult to register or extend patents.
♦ Joshua Foust makes the liberal case for drones: “a lethal autonomous drone could actually result in fewer casualties and less harm to civilians.”
♦ The US military has seen a baffling rise in suicide numbers from 10.3 per 100,000 troops in 2002, to above 18 per 100,000 now.
♦ Gazans have a real taste for KFC and one entrepreneur has set up a business smuggling the fried chicken in from El Arish, Egypt. “Despite the blockade, KFC made it to my home”, says one satisfied customer. Read more

Tags: chicken, drones, Gaza, India, KFC, pharmaceuticals, suicide, US military
Posted in Foreign affairs, Smart Reads | Permalink

Rand Paul and the soul of the Republican Party

March 11, 2013 1:13 pm by Gideon Rachman

Rand Paul during the Republican National Convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on August 28, 2012 in Tampa, Florida. (Getty)

Rand Paul (Getty Images)

Rand Paul’s marathon filibuster last week – aimed at holding up the confirmation of John Brennan as head of the CIA – was much more than a parliamentary stunt. It has opened up interesting new debates and divisions on the future direction of US foreign policy.

Senator Paul’s highlighting of the Obama administration’s use of drones for “targeted killings” of terrorist suspects, has established an unlikely alliance between the libertarian right and the liberal left. Until Paul took up the drones issue, it was mainly the likes of the American Civil Liberties Union, who were making the running in criticising the drone strikes. But, as Paul illustrated, there is a good libertarian case for suspicion of the over-mighty covert state. Even more interestingly, Paul’s stand placed him directly at odds with the neoconservative wing of his own Republican Party.

The Wall Street Journal has denounced Paul for appealing to “impressionable libertarian kids” – a condemnation quoted with approval by John McCain, one of the party’s leading foreign-policy hawks.

Conveniently for President Obama, this argument between the two wings of the Republican Party places the president somewhere in the middle. He will never be as hawkish as the Republican neocons, many of whom are pressing for intervention in Syria, an assault on Iran and denouncing cuts in the Pentagon budget. On the other hand, the president’s expansion of the drone war and his unwillingness to rein in the burgeoning national-security apparatus makes him very far from being a “libertarian kid”. Read more

Tags: Barack Obama, CIA, Democrats, drones, filibuster, John Brennan, Rand Paul, Republicans, US foreign policy
Posted in Foreign affairs, US foreign policy, US politics, War | Permalink

Smart Reads March 5, 2013

March 5, 2013 3:09 pm by Amie Tsang

Switzerland’s relationship with the rich is under strain – though a divorce is unlikely.
Sergei Ignatiev has been a silent presence at the helm of the Russian central bank for 11 years. The end of his term and the question of succession has “gripped Russian markets, turning the central bank into a hive of intrigue”.
Chinese citizens are increasingly going online to vent their anger over pollution, forcing the government to respond.
There may be great hopes for Xi Jinping, but this year’s parliamentary session is “likely to disappoint anyone who hopes for serious root and branch reform of China’s current political or economic structure”, argues Jamil Anderlini.
A cracking opportunity for nut puns: Iranians are boycotting pistachios even as Persian new year approaches, blaming Iran’s plummeting currency and high inflation.
Drone strikes by the Pakistani military are being falsely attributed to the CIA to avoid criticism from the Pakistani public, according to a New York Times report.
Benjamin Netanyahu has asked for an extension to assemble a government – Time considers why it has been such a challenge.
Joseph Stiglitz says the outcome of the Italian elections has sent “a clear message to Europe’s leaders: the austerity policies that they have pursued are being rejected by voters”. He argues that it is not shortsightedness,but “an understanding that these policies are deeply misguided”.
Seeking clarity on the back-and-forth between Argentina and the US Court of Appeals over payments to Elliott Associates? Felix Salmon has recapped and explained what it all means.
Israel’s transport ministry has introduced new bus lines for Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation in the West Bank, a moved denounced as segregation – a “response to pressure from Israeli settlers who live in the West Bank but are unhappy about sharing buses with their Palestinian neighbours”.
Last but by no means least, the curious tale of Harry Dexter White, chief architect of the Bretton Woods economic system – and, apparently, a Soviet mole.

Tags: Argentina, Benjamin Netanyahu, central bank, China, drones, Elliot Associates, inflation, Iran, joseph Stiglitz, Pakistan, pollution, Russia, Sergei Ignatiev, Switzerland
Posted in Smart Reads | Permalink

Smart Reads February 11, 2013

February 11, 2013 12:55 pm by Amie Tsang

With President Obama’s State of the Union address just a day away, Edward Luce considers what he might want to say.
The New York Times reports that he will use the speech to reinvigorate one of his signature national security objectives — drastically reducing nuclear arsenals.
Amazon is creating thousands of jobs in the UK but working there has been a culture shock for many in former mining town of Rugeley. “The feedback we’re getting is it’s like being in a slave camp,” said Brian Garner, the dapper chairman of the Lea Hall Miners Welfare Centre and Social Club.
Roula Khalaf looks at how inexperienced Islamist leaders in Egypt and Tunisia are struggling to manage economic grievances that have persisted – and even worsened – since the old regimes fell.
Western forces are using state-of-the-art wiretapping technology in ancient desert hide-outs in their hunt for Mokhtar Belmokhtar.
Ta-Nehisi Coates considers the ways in which the use of drones has been justified – “I think it’s highly debatable whether drones are in our best interests. In fact, I suspect we’re seeding future wars.”

Tags: Amazon, Belmokhtar, drones, Egypt, State of the Union, Tunisia, UK
Posted in Smart Reads | Permalink

John Brennan confirmation hearing

February 7, 2013 7:15 pm by Shannon Bond

This is a Live Blog transcript. Read more

John Brennan – Barack Obama’s nominee for Central Intelligence Agency director – testifies before the Senate intelligence committee today. The hearing offers a rare moment of public scrutiny of the government’s expanded use of drones to kill suspected terrorists, which has returned to the news this week.

By Shannon Bond in New York with Geoff Dyer in Washington. All times are GMT.

Tags: Barack Obama, CIA, confirmation hearing, counterterrorism, drones, John Brennan, predator, US, US foreign policy, US politics, US Senate
Posted in Terrorism, US foreign policy, US politics, War, World affairs | Permalink

In the Picture: Obama, Brennan and the drone issue

February 7, 2013 3:48 pm by Esther Bintliff

A police officer asks protesters to move to the sidewalk during a demonstration in front of a Raytheon company building in Florida in August 2012 (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The CIA’s drone programme may be classified as covert, but it is increasingly in the public spotlight. On Thursday, John Brennan – Obama’s nominee for CIA director, and the driving force behind the White House’s drone strategy – will appear before the Senate. As Geoff Dyer points out, Brennan’s confirmation hearing will offer a rare moment of public scrutiny of the war on terror – and the ethics of targeted killings.

In the FT

George W. Bush ordered about 50 drone strikes during his eight years in office. Obama has taken the approach to a new level, signing off on more than 350 strikes in at least six countries in his first term alone. Geoff Dyer’s analysis from October 2012 points out that the president’s “ventures in modern warfare” have been conducted “in almost complete secrecy, with little congressional oversight and almost no discussion with the public.”

“The technology is not standing still. Down the road are insect-sized drones that could be mistaken for a housefly or spider, which could slip in under a door-sill to record conversations, take photos or even inject a lethal toxin into an unsuspecting victim,” wrote Francis Fukuyama. Meanwhile, military contractors have seen their sales boosted by growing drone use.

Drones have “blurred the line between war and assassination”, argued Gideon Rachman in December. “Somebody suspected of plotting a terrorist attack on the soil of the US or the UK would be subject to arrest and prosecution. But if the suspects are in the tribal areas of Pakistan, they can simply be blown away.” Writing for this blog, Rachman also looked at the cost of American drone strikes in Pakistan.

Tags: Barack Obama, CIA, drones, In the Picture, Pakistan, predator, US
Posted in In The Picture, US foreign policy, War | Permalink

Smart Reads February 07, 2013

February 7, 2013 1:51 pm by Amie Tsang

Nervousness over Canada’s outlook and falling house prices have cast a cloud over Mark Carney’s last few months as Bank of Canada governor.
Cyprus is still waiting for international funding, despite having requested a bailout seven months ago — there are fears in the EU that the island is a haven for Russian dirty money.
Herman Van Rompuy will unveil a compromise proposal for the EU’s long-term budget today and creative accounting is set to play a role in reconciling British demands for a budget freeze and French calls for more robust spending. Also to be decided is Europe’s future commitment to creating a new European-controlled version of America’s GPS.
John Brennan’s confirmation hearing could provide a rare moment of public scrutiny over the topic of drone strikes.
The surge of diplomatic, commercial and scientific activity that has accompanied the melting of Arctic ice is unleashing a scramble to exploit oil and gas deposits.
Jemima Khan explains how Julian Assange alienated his supporters: “The problem is that WikiLeaks… has been guilty of the same obfuscation and misinformation as those it sought to expose…”
A video of a labourer being stripped and beaten outside the presidential palace has brought attention to the lack of reform in the Egyptian police force. They have been weakened, caught between the people and the institutions of the country.
Rebecca Rosen has examined how hundreds of homing pigeons, released between 1968 and 1987, disappeared and never found their way home.
Rather than drowning in the sewers after Hurricane Sandy, New York rats have just relocated, further inland.

Tags: Arctic, Bank of Canada, budget, Cyprus, drones, Egypt, EU, hurricane sandy, John Brennan, Julian Assange, Mark Carney, New York, pigeons, police, Russia, wikileaks
Posted in Smart Reads | Permalink

Smart Reads February 6, 2013

February 6, 2013 1:58 pm by Amie Tsang

An Irish government report published evidence of state funding and regulation of the Magdalene laundries — commercial operations that never paid wages to inmates. Prime Minister Enda Kenny did not issue a full state apology.
Patti Waldmeir went to help migrant workers trying to get home for Chinese new year, but found they didn’t need her because “this most traditional of holidays is increasingly falling prey to package tour mongers, who unaccountably think people should enjoy their time off work (preferably in Bali or Paris), rather than spending it listening to relatives fight and elders ask when they plan to procreate.
Europe’s ambitions to launch transatlantic trade talks have been disappointed by Washington’s reluctance to commit to negotiations.
Lev Grossman buys himself a personal drone and looks at how they are transforming work as well as wars.
Ezra Klein examines the intricacies of the filibuster: ” No President in American history has seen his initiatives filibustered with anything even approaching the frequency with which the tactic has been used against Obama.”
Xi Jinping has a new admirer who follows him so ardently that they are scooping even the state media.
STYLE FLASH: beards are the new black in the Arab and Muslim world — Ashraf Khalil explains why facial hair is more than just a style choice.

Tags: beards, Chinese new year, drones, Enda Kenny, EU, filibuster, Ireland, Magdalene laundries, trade, US, Xi Jinping
Posted in Smart Reads | Permalink

Smart Reads February 5, 2013

February 5, 2013 2:44 pm by Amie Tsang

Gideon Rachman wonders if 2014 could see a repeat of 1914 over the Pacific.
The banking scandal at Monte dei Paschi di Siena has laid bare the difficulties of Mario Draghi’s mission — Michael Steen takes a look at the lessons for the ECB president.
An illegal casino operator in Moscow has become a pawn in a struggle for dominance between two law agencies — despite admitting to his guilt, the Ivan Nazarov is outraged that he has been set free and reminisces about the days before he got phone calls from police officials demanding for chinchilla veterinarians.
Chinese national oil companies are reselling increasing amounts of Venezuelan oil on the international market and the China Development Bank has become a source of foreign financing for Hugo Chávez, according to Matt Ferchen. But will a crisis in Venezuela be “the perfect opportunity to move away from a pattern of Chinese oil ties to controversial governments”?
Hillary Clinton has “gone a long way to restoring America’s legitimacy as the leading global actor”, but George Packer thinks Obama will “need to give his next Secretary of State, John Kerry, the authority that he denied his last one, to put the country’s prestige on the line by wading deep into the morass.”
Human-rights advocates were surprised by an alarming Justice department memo detailing the protocol for sending drones after US citizens, because it was unexpectedly broad.
Since King Richard III’s body was discovered under a car park in Leicester, Amy Davidson has given some thought the way in which his bones were identified.
Valentine’s Day is not far away and politicians are hoping their citizens will use the opportunity to procreate and keep the labour force up — Putin has even invited Boyz II Men to perform in Moscow.