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 Battle on Border Turns Deadly, CNN: Anderson Cooper 360°. May 18, 2006.Joe Johns, CNN: Take another high-tech example. Unmanned aerial vehicles, drones and remotely piloted aircraft used for surveillance. But there's a problem. They crash a lot, according to the congressional research service. In fact, the accident rate is 100 times that of manned aircraft. And there's a question whether they can operate in already-crowded airspace. Solving all these problems is for now being put into the hands of the private sector, those contractors we keep telling you about. … Jennifer Porter-Gore, Project On Government Oversight: We don't think the contractors should be telling the government how to run its business. Joe Johns, CNN: What do you get when the contractor tells the government how to run its business? Porter-Gore: You basically get a better footing for the contractor than you do for the government because there's no reason why a contractor would not say okay let me make a deal that's best for me instead of let me make a deal that's best for the American taxpayer. Power Trips, Part 2: Who's paying, Marketplace, June 5, 2006.Our special report continues from San Diego — home to the biggest sponsor of Congressional staff travel, defense contractor General Atomics. Steve Henn reports. ...KAI RYSSDAL: More than a year ago we aired a special report. Power Trips. An investigation into the outsize influence that free travel for lawmakers has on the political process. POGO Alert: Hype vs. Reality in War Weapons. Predator Fighting with Failures Fact Sheet: While the Predator unmanned aircraft has in recent months been dubbed a hero of the war in Afghanistan, the Pentagon has yet to provide a shred of evidence in support of the hype. The same thing happened during Operation Desert Storm when Pentagon hype proclaimed that the Patriot missile was knocking Iraqi Scud missiles out of the sky in incredible numbers. March 25, 2002. As the Pentagon touts the success of its high tech weapons in the war in Afghanistan, the media and public should not forget that similar weapons effectiveness claims were made during the Gulf War. Many of the claims were later discredited in a 1997 U.S. General Accounting Office report evaluating the air war in the Gulf. See also POGO's Report, High Tech Weapons In Desert Storm: Hype or Reality?, July 1992. "Pilotless Spy Plane Plagued by Flaws," Associated Press, February 5, 2002.The unmanned RQ-1 Predator spy plane became a star of the war in Afghanistan in November when one operated by the CIA fired Hellfire missiles that helped destroy an al-Qaida leadership compound near Kabul. "U.S. Is Using More Drones, Despite Concern Over Flaws", New York Times, November 3, 2001.The Air Force is moving rapidly to send more unpiloted surveillance aircraft to Afghanistan, even as the Pentagon's chief tester has raised questions about their ability to operate at night, in bad weather and over long periods of time. POGO Alert Media Dazzled by Pentagon Propaganda While Pentagon's Chief Tester Declares that Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle "Not Operationally Effective or Suitable". To view executive summary of Predator report click here, October 30, 2001.
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