Posted on 12/15/2011 9:47:51 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Gingrich had a lot to say on other topics ,....some good stuff on reforming the Judicial branch and getting after some off the crazy Activist judges.
That “drone” doesn’t look right. It doesn’t look like the photos of the Sentinel that have been published and it looks pretty lightly built for a military device.
IMHO, it looks like some sort of big counterintelligence scam. The Iranians down a big RC aircraft that looks like a real drone. Maybe it’s loaded with computer viruses or just a bunch of stuff designed to make them think they have something while they have nothing.
I’d guess the most likely case is the Iranians were able to jam the control signals to the plane for an extended period of time and in the absence of control it automatically landed. It isn’t good to have something that big flying around with no control.
None of this rings true at all.
Even a novice design team would build in at least triple layer watchdog systems.
There is no way a simple loss of GPS would cause all the systems to fail. Furthermore,
corruption of one system by trojan or virus would not take out the other watchdog
systems. These systems are kept isolated from each other by code base and power supply
and in some instances they have different design teams to ensure against sabotage.
Any one of the redundant systems would either result in the drone returning to friendly
airspace or the destruction of the craft.
GPS is not the sole method of determining the crafts location. They can follow terrain
just as a cruise missile can by referencing mapping data. GPS can give a drone pinpoint
navigation but that is overkill, within a few hundred yards is sufficient and even the
old system of inertial guidance can handle that.
The notion that the craft sustained damage because the landing strip is not at the same
altitude as the real one somewhere in Afghanistan is absurd! A sophisticated drone does
not rely on GPS to determine height above a runway, such a task is child’s play for even
a low dollar radar altimeter system. A remote controled plane enthusiast could build such
a system for his toy planes.
You simply cannot jam the communications system of a drone from the ground! They have
a link to low orbit satellites and the antenna for this is atop the craft and shielded from
a signal located on the ground. A break of this link would also result in a countdown to
self destruct that could only be halted by an encrypted code sent back from the drones
control point.
There is much much more I could say, I will say that this whole story strikes me as ridiculous
in the extreme.
I don’t believe the Iranians did it on their own, but instead it was done by Russian techs in Iran and this is essentially a cover story for the Russians. Russian is neck deep into the Iranian nuclear and other military programs.
I call BS too. I wonder at what step they painted it that tan/white color? Our RQ-170s are gray.
The Muzzies talk a lot about Martyrdom..........but only a very small percentage actually engage in it. 99+ percent of them know in their heart it’s all BS and the urge to live supersedes any martyrdom indoctrination. The fact is that 9/11 was primarily an immigration failure, hell the plan was almost aborted because 1 conspirator wasn’t allowed in the country. If even just a few more of the remainder had been deported for overstaying their visas or better yet not granted student visas in the first place; the plot would have collapsed.
I fear my current Government’s turn towards tyranny more than a bunch of Muzzies on the other side of the world.
Not related to the main topic, but buried in the text:
“That revolution installed a theocratic government much of the kind that some Christian fundamentalists have called for here in the U.S. — in which the state had a religion of choice, but (supposedly) offers freedom of religion via legislative protections for religious minorities. “
WTF? And it goes on to imply that McCain supports that kind of thing?
Really diminishes the credibility of the rest of this article.
Well, we really don't know, do we. I confess to making an assumption that might not necessarily be true.
But what's the point of flying one of those suckers around that part of the world...if you're not sticking your nose into Iran's air space?
Still, they could've taken control -- if they did, in fact, "take control" -- on either side of the border.
The Russians may be giving aid on a higher level than we realize. The Iranians may have used a Russian satellite to disrupt communications to the drone. What the Iranians are saying is a cover story for what they actually did. I say they have our encryption code and actually landed the drone with their own control signals relayed by Russian satellite. I believe somebody compromised secrets to our drone control system allowing Iran to change control frequencies which took control away from U.S. operators. The reason the drone suffered bumps and scrapes is because the Iranian remote control operators were not as skilled in flying the drone. With a drone in their hands, they can build one of their own to practice with.
Oh., This is much more believable than Muzzie in Chief flat out sold it to the Russian. Yeah, much more believable.
You began with Jack Bauer; therfore the rest must be true.
Many on this board were Jack Baur sychophants, so lets let the fantasy run out to its copmletion...
Jack Bauer dropped the ball.
“Maybe it’s loaded with computer viruses or just a bunch of stuff designed to make them think they have something while they have nothing.”
“they wanted me to build them a bomb, so I took their plutonium and, in turn, gave them a shoddy bomb casing full of old used pinball machine parts!”
Iran already has nukes, they have a large army in Mexico and a force in America already...Russia , china using them..
This implies our entire military GPS guidance system has been compromised.
Where would a GPS guided smart bomb hit. Not likely where it was supposed to.
The entire GPS system needs to either be trashed or an upgrade.
With China, and likely Russia, having the ability to destroy GPS satellites, Iran et al able to spoof signals, it’s worthless.
Then there’s EMP.
“That is an act of war.”
A US military drone operating in a foreign nation’s airspace without the permission of that nation could certainly be considered an act of war.
Unfortunately the US is the aggressor in this situation. We invaded Iran’s airspace, with a military aircraft. If it is in their airspace, without their permission, they have the right to shoot it down. I would expect the US to take the same action if an Iranian drone was found in US airspace.
Once again the US is involved in military action without following the requirements of the Constitution. If there is a reason to be at war with Iran the Constitution clearly requires the President to go to Congress and ask for a Declaration of War. If Congress votes yes we go to war, if Congress votes no, the President cannot initiate hostile action against other countries. Flying military aircraft over a sovereign nation’s airspace without permission is hostile action. It is also unconstitutional for the President to take such action without a Declation of War.
Over the past 60 years the US has killed and wounded hundreds of thousands of people and consumed trillions of dollars of taxpayer money in unconstitutional wars initiated by Presidents acting on their own without the formal Declaration of War required by the Constitution. The over reach by the unchecked imperial executive branch has reached the point where it now claims the unconstitutional power to declare US citizens “terrorists” in the homeland and deny them their constitutionally protected, God given, liberties without due process of law.
Korea, Vietnam, Bosnia Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somolia, Libya are just some of the unconstitutional uses of American armed forces over the past 60 years. All of these hostile actions, involving the US military invading sovereign territory, may have been noble causes essential to the defense of the homeland. If these costly applications of military force were justifiable, they could have withstood the scrutiny of sober debate and vote in Congress prior to being initiated.
War is a serious matter and the founders were wise to require the chief executive to go to secure the affirmative vote of the representatives of the people before committing the blood and property of the people to foreign adventures, the founders also understood the seriousness of invading a sovereign nation. It pains me to see our modern nation so eager to ignore the Constitution and commit our military around the globe in aggressive actions at the whim of the executive branch. Our reputation around the world as an imperialist aggressor nation is well deserved.
George Bush going to war in Iraq to overthrow Saddam and create a “democratic” state is the equivalent of Iran invading the US to create an Islamic republic or China invading the US to create a communist dictatorship.
I have no doubt Iran is an enemy of the US and it may have the intent to do this nation harm. If there is imminent threat, the President can go to Congress, show the evidence, and ask for a formal war declaration. If he isn’t following the Constitution, the threat must not be serious.
Don’t forget, the US military has shot down an unarmed Iranian civilian airliner without provocation, killing over 100 of its citizens. if we are justified in shooting down a civilian airliner in international airspace, perhaps the Iranians should be excused for downing a military aircraft invading their airspace. Going back further in history the US government in the 1950’s facilitated the overthrow of the lawful government in Iran to put the Shah on the throne. Iran has historical reason to view the US as an threat.
Returning to the Constitution, imagine if Jimmy Carter had responded to the takeover of the US embassy in Terhan by telling the Iranians quietly through diplomatic channels if the didn’t release the hostages immediately he would go to Congress and request a Declaration of War. Had he done so I suspect the Iranians would have backed down. If not, the invasion of the embassy was an act of war in that embassy grounds are considered to be an extension of the guest nation’s territory under international law. If Congress then voted a formal war declaration the Iranians would have faced justified military action to repatriate the hostages or extract revenge in the event the Iranians harmed them. This lawful exercise of US power would have sent a very powerful message to Iran and the rest of the world. It might actually have prevented the first Gulf War as Saddam would not hav underestimated the will of the US to fight in the region.
For those who argue Iran is a threat and we are justified on that basis to use our military capability against them at the whim of the President, I ask why not Venezuela, or Cuba? They are much closer to the homeland. Why not China? China is a future threat, they’ve made no secret of their intent to defeat us. Plus China has been engaging in a damaging trade war with us for 20+ years, is engage in espionage and cyber warfare everyday.
It is unfortunate the US lost an intact drone. However the downing of that drone was not an act of war against the US. The US invaded sovereign airspace with a military aircraft. That nation was justified in in removing the invader through whatever means it chose.
Screw that. Why hasn’t a 3000lb JDAM dropped through the roof of the hangar or warehouse where they’re keeping the drone?
-——why is NASA collaborating with Mooses-—
You lack the sophistication to discriminate between our friends and our enemies. We have both. For that reason we permit our friends to participate in our space efforts
If we had a president instead of a community organizer, this would not have happened. Iran committed an OVERT ACT OF WAR by deliberately spoofing the operational signals and frequencies that this AMERICAN drone uses.
Iran has declared war on the USA, but our Sissy In Chief, Obama, fails to recognize it or act on it.
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