Pentagon report justifies deployment of military spy drones over the U.S.
Pentagon report justifies deployment of military spy
drones over the U.S.
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY 6:26 p.m. EST March 9, 2016
The Pentagon has deployed drones to spy over U.S.
territory for non-military missions over the past decade, but the flights have
been rare and lawful, according to a new report.
The report by a Pentagon inspector general, made public
under a Freedom of Information Act request, said spy drones on non-military
missions have occurred fewer than 20 times between 2006 and 2015 and always in
compliance with existing law.
The report, which did not provide details on any of the
domestic spying missions, said the
Pentagon takes the issue of military drones used on American soil "very
seriously."
The Pentagon has publicly posted at least a partial list
of the drone missions that have flown in non-military airspace over the United
States and explains the use of the aircraft. The site lists nine missions flown
between 2011 and 2016, largely to assist with search and rescue, floods, fires
or National Guard exercises.
A senior policy analyst for the ACLU, Jay Stanley, said
it is good news no legal violations were found, yet the technology is so
advanced that it's possible laws may require revision.
"Sometimes, new technology changes so rapidly that
existing law no longer fits what people think is appropriate," Stanley
said. "It's important to remember that the American people do find this to
be a very, very sensitive topic."
Other federal agencies own and operate drones. The use of
unmanned aerial surveillance (UAS) drones over the USA surfaced in 2013 when
then-FBI director Robert Mueller testified before Congress that the bureau
employed spy drones to aid investigations but in a "very, very minimal
way, very seldom."
The inspector general analysis was completed March 20,
2015, but not released publicly until last Friday.
It said that with advancements in drone technology along
with widespread military use overseas, the Pentagon established interim
guidance in 2006 governing when and whether the unmanned aircraft could be used
domestically. The interim policy allowed spy drones to be used for homeland
defense purposes in the U.S. and to assist civil authorities.
But the policy said that any use of military drones for
civil authorities had to be approved by the Secretary of Defense or someone
delegated by the secretary. The report found that defense secretaries have
never delegated that responsibility.
The report quoted a military law review article that said
"the appetite to use them (spy drones) in the domestic environment to
collect airborne imagery continues to grow, as does Congressional and media
interest in their deployment."
Military units that operate drones told the inspector
general they would like more opportunities to fly them on domestic missions if
for no other reason than to give pilots more experience to improve their
skills, the report said. "Multiple units told us that as forces using the
UAS capabilities continue to draw down overseas, opportunities for UAS
realistic training and use have decreased," the report said.
A request for all cases between 2006 and 2015 in which
civil authorities asked the military for use of spy drones produced a list of
"less than twenty events," the
report said. The list included requests granted and denied.
The list was not made public in the report. But a few
examples were cited, including one case in which an unnamed mayor asked the
Marine Corps to use a drone to find potholes in the mayor's city. The Marines
denied the request because obtaining the defense secretary's "approval to
conduct a UAS mission of this type did not make operational sense."
Shortly before the inspector general report was completed
a year ago, the Pentagon issued a new policy governing the use of spy drones.
It requires the defense secretary to approve all domestic spy drone operations.
It says that unless permitted by law and approved by the secretary, drones
"may not conduct surveillance on U.S. persons." It also bans the use
of armed drones over the United States for anything other than training and
testing.
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