Did Trump Just Authorize Skynet?
According to James Cameron’s Terminator movies that foreshadow a dystopian technological horror that humanity may unleash on itself, Skynet came on-line on August 4, 1997. It’s now 2017 and we’re living in a different kind of dystopian future than what James Cameron envisioned, but don’t give up hope. America’s current war-monger-in-chief, President Donald Trump, just issued a memorandum directing the Secretary of Transportation to establish an “Unmanned Aircraft Systems” or “UAS” integration program.
Such a program was pretty much an inevitability with the ongoing advancements of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology. But deep in the memorandum is one short, seemingly inconspicuous paragraph that could have ominous, Skynet-like implications. Section 4.(e) of the President’s Memorandum states:
In implementing the Program, the Secretary shall coordinate with the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security and the Attorney General to test counter UAS capabilities, as well as platform and system-wide cybersecurity, to the extent appropriate and consistent with law.
“Counter UAS capabilities”? What does that mean, exactly? There’s an old saying that “the devil is in the details” and this is the kind of amorphous “national security” language that is being used to slowly transform America into a territory occupied by its own police and defense forces. Forces who continually ignore the oath they have all sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.
If this sounds like fear-mongering, then I’d like to suggest you do a quick Google™ search for the term “counter UAS capabilities”. You will find that this brings up, at the number one position, a page dedicated to counter UAS at the website for SRC Inc. At first, this looks like the website for a defense contractor/weapons manufacturer. But according to SRC’s about page it’s “a not-for-profit research and development (R&D) company committed to redefining the impossible® in the areas of defense, environment and intelligence” (emphasis in the original).
The fact that this a not-for-profit company is a door that could easily lead down a rabbit hole beyond the scope of this article. But it sure sounds like the kind of place a Miles Dyson type of guy would invent Skynet. More importantly, the counter UAS technology that SRC is apparently peddling on its counter UAS page touts one of the four main purposes of this technology is “urban surveillance”. Can you picture the little drones buzzing over your shoulder when you’re sitting at the local Starbuck’s™ enjoying your latte?
Does that make you feel safer? Do you think that drone won’t be armed?
Drone image via Flickr Creative Commons license
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