U.s. Drone | featured news

It's a good bet that in the not-so-distant future aerial drones will be part of Americans' everyday lives, performing countless useful functions. A far cry from the killing machines whose missiles incinerate terrorists, these generally small, unmanned aircraft will help farmers more precisely apply water and pesticides to crops, saving money and reducing environmental impacts. They'll help police departments find missing people, reconstruct traffic accidents and act as lookouts for SWAT teams. They'll alert authorities to people stranded on rooftops by hurricanes and monitor evacuation flows.

CIA drone strikes on Pakistani targets violate Pakistan’s national sovereignty and have resulted in far more civilian casualties than the U.S. government has recognized, a special U.N. human rights envoy reported after a secret investigation in Pakistan this week.

President Obama is seriously considering bowing to congressional demands that he provide access to secret legal memos on the targeted killing of American terrorism suspects overseas, according to administration officials. Read full article >>

The U.S. government has authorized the killing of American citizens as part of its controversial drone campaign against al Qaeda even without intelligence that such Americans are actively plotting to attack a U.S. target, according to a Justice Department memo.

The military’s Africa Command is making preparations to install unarmed drones as Islamist extremist groups are seen as posing a growing menace to the region.

Iran has captured two miniature U.S.-made surveillance drones over the past 17 months, Iranian media reported on Wednesday.

Tribal sources from Pakistan's northwest said on Saturday a U.S. drone attack had killed a senior al Qaeda commander in the latest blow to the militant Islamist group that has been targeted in many similar attacks.

Two Iranian jets fired on a U.S. military drone, Pentagon officials said Thursday -- the first time such an action has been acknowledged by the United States.

White House reportedly weighing retaliation for deadly consulate attack if al-Qaeda militants are identified.

Hundreds of Pakistanis, joined by dozens of American activists, took off Saturday on a motorcade "march" against US drone strikes, hoping to reach a militant-riddled Afghan border region that has been the focus of many such attacks.