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Ear to the Ground

‘Reaper’ Ready to Watch Over Iraq

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Posted on Aug 4, 2008
Reaper drone
uavinfo.com

Deadly stare: The MQ-9 Reaper.

One way the U.S. military could maintain a presence in Iraq, even if by proxy, in the near future is through the use of unmanned drones with foreboding names like the MQ-9 Reaper and the Predator, both of which are able to carry seriously sinister weaponry like the laser-guided Hellfire missile.


AFP:

Lieutenant General Gary North, the commander of US air forces in the Middle East, said he is examining options for when and where he can replace manned fighter and bomber aircraft with armed drones.

“Today we are in an environment where we may not need the large number or persistence of manned aircraft,” he said in an interview by telephone Friday with AFP from a base in the region.

“We can put unmanned aircraft—Predator, Reaper, and other assets—overhead for long endurance periods. We call that persistent stare.

“And with the Reaper, armed with Hellfire and 500-pound precision weapons, we’ll be able to have a deadly stare if needed,” he said.

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By TheAZCowBoy, August 17, 2008 at 9:01 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

From anywhere between 200 to 10,000 km. away, US joystick ‘nintendo killers’ are now killing innocents that they have never seen or aren’t even sure they are the enemy, with their remote killers - the Predator.

Yes, yes, they claim they can see the serial number on the barrel of an AK-47 in the hands of a so-called terrorist in Kubal from somewhere in Sierra Vista or Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona - but, everyone knows this is Pentagon bullshit.

This year, the US has murdered and maimed some 12,500 Afghans, while claiming that the number is closer to 1,600). This has included Afghans that were having a wedding celebration (80 massacred), then they massacred some 45 religious studies students in a Madrassa, ranging from age 15 to age 23 and the rest of the killings have been groups of civilians of less than 10.

They have killed sheep, goats and even chickens (terrorist ‘suspects’ one supposes) and they have been damned by the British and president Karzie who has demanded that the US, not murder so many civilians with their indiscriminate bobmstrikes that have created a situation where the USAF will wipe out an entire village chasing a terrorist ‘suspect’ in order not to endanger US soldiers lives.

And now, to add insult to injury these ‘Nintendo killers’ are claiming that the stress of ‘murdering and maiming - from a distance’ is creating problems with impotence, domestic violence and other bullshit excuses and are filing for disability benefits. How do you like those apples?!

TheAZCowBoy
Tombstone, AZ.

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By Fadel Abdallah, August 4, 2008 at 9:04 pm #

A prayer!

May those who build and create deadly weapons and call them names such as Hellfire be the first to burn in the Hellfire they want to create for others!

May “Those who live by the sword ....”!

And may they be the first to have a taste of their own medicine!

And may those who create such weapons as the Reaper be the first to reap the evil harvest they sow!

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By KPinSEA, August 4, 2008 at 4:03 pm #

This platform still would require the cooperation of the Iraqi government, since this generation of drones isn’t stealthy or particularly hard to shoot down with even meager air defenses.

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By thebeerdoctor, August 4, 2008 at 3:46 pm #

Thank you skulz fontaine.

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By skulz fontaine, August 4, 2008 at 2:23 pm #

And and the Jets 4 Jesus Corps could call one of them ‘Armageddon Avenger’ and one of them ‘Mephisto Marauder’ and ‘The Donald’ and ‘Bush Beans’ on account of well you know, when Bush gets finished with the innocent they look like a plate of mashed beans. One could suppose that the U.S. military is merely trumpeting their bravado but, it just adds more genocidal color to the true nature of BushCo and Murder Inc.. Wait a minute, the military could name one of their nifty machines the ‘Berto Torturer Special’. You know, for Alberto Gonzales the Torquemada of our time.

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