Air Force Removes Drone Airstrike Numbers

Air Force Times reports in article, "AF removes RPA airstrike number from summary," removal of airstrike numbers from its website:

"As scrutiny and debate over the use of remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) by the American military increased last month, the Air Force reversed a policy of sharing the number of airstrikes launched from RPAs in Afghanistan and quietly scrubbed those statistics from previous releases kept on their website."

It's praiseworthy to note present pressure on military, because of John Brennan CIA nomination.  Brennan defends legality of deadly use of drones on Americans. The Air Force seems motivated by current politics as detailed below:

"The data removal coincided with increased scrutiny on RPA policy caused by President Barack Obama’s nomination of John Brennan to head the CIA. Brennan faced opposition in the Senate over the use of RPAs and his defense of their legality in his role as Obama’s deputy national security adviser. On Feb. 20, two days before the metadata indicates the scrubbed files were created, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., sent a letter to Brennan saying that he would filibuster the nomination over concerns about using RPA strikes inside the U.S., a threat he carried out for over 12 hours on March 6 (Brennan was confirmed the next day). That same day, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told a crowd in South Carolina that strikes by American RPAs have killed 4,700 people."

Hats off to the people who've applied the pressure!

When Can Drones Kill Americans?

Danger Room article, "Senator Asks CIA Nominee When Drones Can Kill Americans," informs:  "Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) [picture, left] sent a letter on Monday to John Brennan [picture, right], the White House’s counterterrorism adviser and nominee to be head of the CIA, asking for an outline of the legal and practical rules that underpin the U.S. government’s targeted killing of American citizens suspected of working with al-Qaida. The Obama administration has repeatedly resisted disclosing any such information about its so-called 'disposition matrix' targeting terrorists, especially where it concerns possible American targets. Brennan reportedly oversees that matrix from his White House perch, and would be responsible for its execution at CIA director." When is it okay to kill Americans? It's the question on Wyden's mind, but details of the "disposition matrix" remain a secret!  "Wyden doesn’t ask for their dis- closure, just for the administration to permit members of the intelligence panel to read them," explains article. Wow!

defcon 2/10: broadband, threats & censorship protests

google to offer 'ultra high-speed' broadband in US*
can google protect its users while working with the nsa?*
US faces serious threats in cyberspace says john brennan*
chavez puts venezuela under 'electricity emergency'*
australian govt websites face censorship protest*
family spends $5000 per year on screen-related services*

seti opens all data & coding to the public*
blackberry has spyware risk too, researcher says*
mozilla overlooked malware-laced firefox add-ons*
mozilla admits firefox add-on malware false alarm*
video: shatner witnessed hoax tech before moon mission?*