Drones and Oregon

I received this summary through a friend.  

3/13

fr:  Christian Stalberg    chris@stalberg.net>

re:  Oregon drone stories

Does it appear that drones and Oregon are closely related. A few recent examples from The Oregonian:

1) The Lesser Evil in person has halted construction of a wind farm being built by a company owned by two Chinese businessmen near the Naval Weapons Systems Training Facility at Boardman. Obama acted on “national Security” concerns, believing the Ralls Corp would use its wind farm to spy on the military’s drone training operations there. Details athttp://blog.oregonlive.com/oregonatwar/2013/01/chinese_wind_firm_sues_to_void.html

2) An Oregon military contractor who operated drones in the Afghanistan/Pakistan war and was “deeply affected by his repeated experiences watching the on-screen deaths of people targeted by the drones,” killed himself after returning home two years ago.  The drone operator was employed by a “regional defense contractor”on  several tours in Afghanistan and Iraq and went to work for Cloud Cap Technology Inc. in Hood River—which itself makes sensors and other components for drones. Matt White, a Cloud Cap executive, said  contractor it was “obvious to his new colleagues that he was deeply affected by” the deaths his drones caused. "I was horrified," he said.,

The article reveals that several private counseling companies have been established to treat military contractors, ineligible for military health services, for the“hazards of ‘moral injury’ suffered by civilian contractors who contribute to war-zone kills.”One Oregon firm is Relief Ops, headed by Ted Quackenbush  who “had his own issues” in Vietnam which contracts with Portland-based Cascade Centers Inc.,

The article also reports that today there are 136,204 military contractors in the middle east, mainly Afghanistan and Iraq of  whom 43,768 are Americans. A 2010 investigation by the Los Angeles Times and ProPublica found that more than 18,000 American contractors had been killed or injured in the wars. The website Americancontractorsiniraq.org said military records indicate at least 300 contractors were killed in 2012. It calls contractor casualties "one of the best kept secrets of the wars."

Details at http://blog.oregonlive.com/oregonatwar/2013/02/local_team_launches_effort_to.html

3) With predictions that US skies will be filled with 30,000 spy drones in the next 5-6 years, a bill to limit them has been introduced in the Oregon legislature. This has alarmed companies who hope to profit from domestic drones. For example, Roger Lee, executive director of Economic Development for Central Oregon, wants the Bend area to become a for profit drone testing sites. Another is Boeing subsidiary Insitu, the largest drone maker in the region with 500 employees in Bingen on the Washington side of the Columbia river. One of the sponsors of the limiting legislation, Rep John Huffman (R-The Dallas) makes it clear he favors drone making in Oregon. He says his district “is a a big

drone hotbed for Oregon.So I have no intention whatsoever of putting a damper on drone development and use of drones."

Details at http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/01/drones_spur_fierce_debate_in_o.html

The biggest shill for corporate welfare in the state offers its two cents, urging the legislature not to get “ in the way of commercial drone development, a growing jobs and technology sector for Oregon, and overstepping Congress, whose province it will be to address privacy issues that could arise from careless drone use.”http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2013/02/oregon_can_help_feds_allay_pri.html