Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Canadian military to spend $1 billion on unmanned armed drones

It appears that Canada is getting involved in the drone arms race.

According to a report in the Ottawa Citizen, the Harper government recently approved a military 'request to aerospace firms' to provide details about the types of drones now available in the marketplace.

The 'request' pointed out the need for the unmanned aircraft to operate in the Arctic. The aircraft should also be able to carry precision-guided munitions, the government said.

"This capability will allow the CF [Canadian Forces] to fill critical deficiencies," industry officials were told in the request for information sent to them July 23.

According to DND documents, the military intends to spend around $1 billion on the project.

The development and deployment of armed drones has become a sensitive subject around the world, primarily because of the way the Americans have used them for cross-border raids on Taliban and al-Qaida suspects in Pakistan. Their use has provoked concern that many civilians have been caught during these air strikes.

[ Related: U.S, British criticism of Canada's military efforts in Afghanistan 'wrong' ]

In a column last month  for the Financial Times, former Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff argued that more drones could lead to more wars.

"Virtual technologies make it easier for democracies to wage war because they eliminate the risk of blood sacrifice that once forced democratic peoples to be prudent," Ignatieff wrote.

"Now democracies do not even have to put their pilots in harm's way. Cyberwar and drones offer Nato democracies enticing prospects of cheap, risk-free warfare — and not just democracies. A new arms race is already under way."

50 countries, including Canada, have used unarmed drones in military conflicts or for routine surveillance.

The United States was the first country to use an armed version of the unmanned aircraft during the NATO Kosovo campaign in 1999. Since then they've been used in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Pakistan.

In addition to Canada, Germany, Korea, Russia and China have also shown interest in developing an armed drone program.

Original Article
Source: ca.news.yahoo.com
Author: Andy Radia

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