Revisiting death from above

On July 2011 we started this blog with a post on the first reported use of drones to carry out a selective killing (an euphemism for a summary execution) by the US navy in Somalia. In Targeted killings and "surgical interventions", the automation of death (which we have updated with new material and info distributed through @OnadaExpansiva) we gathered more than a few stories on how unmanned aerial vehicles were gradually becoming the weapon of choice in the so called war on terror, most specially in those areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan (i.e West Waziristan) where Islamic militant groups seemed to hold territory.

 SourcePakistani family gives Congress an unprecedented account of effect of CIA drone attacks on their community Rupert Cornwell   The Independent October 30th 2013

Four years later, drones have become a regular feature in the different theaters where the US  and other western countries (notably France and the United Kingdom)  have intervened (surgically, yet another euphemism) or are waging wars by proxy as would be the case in Somalia, Mali or more recently swaths of Syria and Iraq.  Even though criticisms regarding eventual collateral damage (there is nothing collateral in the death of civilians) has grown and serious ethical and moral concerns have been raised the military use of drones shows no signs of abating in the foreseeable future. What is more worrisome, stalled discussions regarding the control of  production and use of fully autonomous weapons (known as killer robots) could spell the next step towards indiscriminate carnage in battlefields and beyond

From @OnadaExpansiva

• #Afghanistan A Dubious History of #US "Targeted Killings" http://spon.de/aeo0g @SPIEGELONLINE v @ricardcolorado cc @TBIJ #drones  Dec 29 2014
• #Burkina Why #BurkinaFaso matters to #US #counterterrorism efforts in #Africa http://ow.ly/DL3sl @ryanlenorabrown @CSMWorldDesk #drones Nov 4 2014 
• #summaryexecutions Confessions of a #drone veteran:What govs. r not telling http://bit.ly/XuHdQc @Salon v @vicparsons_ @TBIJ #drones Nov 6 2014

Aaron Swartz is gone. The guerrilla for OpenAccess will go on

On the wake of Aaron Swartz death on January 11th we wished to update our post on his indictment by Federal Authorities  accused of "wire fraud, computer fraud, unlawfully obtaining information from a protected computer and recklessly damaging a protected computer". He killed himself on January 11th, aged 27 from  Information shall be freed. Aaron Swartz and the Guerrilla Open access manifesto July 2011

Lawrence Lessig and Aaron Swartz (2002) / Rich Gibson / CC BY

 While Aaron might not be any longer among us, his memory and determination shall serve as an example to all of us  in keeping up the good fight for which he paid the ultimate price.

"There is no justice in following unjust laws. It’s time to come into the light and, in the grand tradition of civil disobedience, declare our opposition to this private theft of public culture.

We need to take information, wherever it is stored, make our copies and share them with the world. We need to take stuff that's out of copyright and add it to the archive. We need to buy secret databases and put them on the Web. We need to download scientific journals and upload them to file sharing networks. We need to fight for Guerilla Open Access"

 From the Guerrilla Open Access Manifesto July 2008