On his blog, No Drones Over Missouri, a gentleman named Brian Terrell, I will assume he is a gentleman because he cares about trimming goat's hooves and taking care of his plants and crops, is apparently going to jail for six months because he protested, illegally, about drones in the skies of Missouri.
Granted, I do not know much about this particular issue at this point, but I will edumacate myself very soon. I heard about it in the TV news and on blog, and found it interesting and curious enough to write about it.
What exactly is the point here? Drones have saved thousands of American and ally lives since their inception. The first drones I recall in battle were the US "Predators" and German "Hunter" drones used by NATO forces in Kosovo. Drones are used extensively for surveillance and intelligence gathering, but in recent years have been heavily weaponized and utilized to attack enemies at a fraction of the cost of an F-16 Falcon, saving lives because the pilot is sitting behind a console, likely at a small base outside Las Vegas, Nevada, and not in the cockpit.
Now there are some very valid concerns about the accuracy of weapons and target identification when operating an oversized model plane, with deadly missiles attached, from behind a monitor at a remote operating location thousands of miles form the targets. There have reportedly been many civilian casualties, how many exactly has been a point of contention based on political agendas and the source of the intelligence. Civilian casualties, which the military sometimes refers to as "collateral damage", should always be minimized. Unfortunately, many times our cowardly opponents take a tactical advantage by using innocent civilians as human shields, so who is really at fault when that happens? The fog of war many times makes it difficult to know who the bad guy is and who the good guy is, particularly in the urban warfare environment we have been exposed to over the past 20+ years.
But what do all of the pros and cons about drones, better known as "remotely piloted aerial vehicles", really have to do with drones over Missouri? Do people really think the government is spying on their cows or plotting to assassinate our own citizens? If anything, the drones over Missouri are being used for training or, even better, for protecting citizens from terrorists or drug cartels importing illegal substances across our borders.
Maybe the people complaining about drones over Missouri actually have something to hide...meth labs?...marijuana fields?...child porn or other abuse/illegal activities? What is suddenly the big concern?
When I was a squadron commander in the desert from 2001 to 2002, the drones we used provided valuable intelligence for piloted F-15s, F-16s, French Mirage, and other coalition aircraft, identifying surface-to-air (SAM) missile sites and saving the lives of real live pilots, ones with families waiting for them back home, as well as piloted aircraft valued at hundreds of millions of dollars.
In my humble opinion, I would say that drones over Missouri, or any other state for that matter, PROBABLY IS A GOOD THING AND NOT REALLY WORTH GOING TO JAIL OVER. But that is just my opinion.
Another explanation could be simple paranoia, schizophrenic, a personality disorder, or drug induced variety, found in small percentages of the population and leading the sufferer to believe people (or the government, aliens, etc.) are "out to get them" when it is really not the case. We would call this type of paranoia a " delusion".
I am not making inferences about Mr. Terrell's or anybody else's mental stability because to do so would be pure speculation and completely unnecessary. He is obviously a man of strong conviction, a quality I admire very much, and very clear about his values if he is willing to be arrested and spend six-months in jail as a result of his beliefs regarding these "DRONES OVER MISSOURI".
Let us keep this conversation open until we, I rather, can gather more information. There are usually several sides to the story and I am afraid we have not heard them all, and may never will, but let's be patient and avoid having anyone else sent to jail, leaving their families to fend for themselves for six months or more. If you have anything to add in terms of background on this story or have a string opinion of your own one way or the other, please let me hear them. As always, please treat yourself and others with DIGNITY AND RESPECT when posting comments to this and other blog posts.
Thank you!
Best wishes Mr. Terrell ... You will be in our prayers!
CombatCongressman ... OUT!
