George Carlin used to riff about oxymorons like "jumbo shrimp," "genuine imitation," "political science" and "military intelligence." But humor is of the gallows sort when we consider the absurdity and tragedy of the world's most important peace prize honoring the world's top war maker.
This week, a challenge has begun with the launch of a petition urging the Norwegian Nobel Committee to revoke Obama's Peace Prize. By midnight of the first day, nearly 10,000 people had signed. The online petition simply tells the Nobel committee: "I urge you to rescind the Nobel Peace Prize that was awarded to Barack Obama."
Many signers have added their own comments. Here are some samples:
"It is with very great regret that I sign this petition, but I feel it is morally the right thing to do. I had phenomenally high hopes that our President would be a torch bearer for the true message of Peace. Instead he has brought death, destruction and devastation to vast areas of the world, and made us less safe by creating more enemies." -Sushila C., Punta Gorda, FL
"War is nothing to be given a peace prize for." -Brent L., San Diego, CA
"President Obama has clearly demonstrated that he is undeserving of the Nobel Peace Prize. Revoke his prize and give it to Bradley Manning!" -Henry B., Portland, OR
"Perhaps a better president than Bush or Romney, but not a Nobel laureate for peace." -Arun N., Woodinville, WA
"I honestly cannot understand how they could bestow that honor on President Obama to begin with; I'm still puzzled!" -Cindy A., Phoenix, AR
"Giving the prize to President Obama has degraded the esteem the Nobel Prize once had as a means of recognizing the best of us. It now represents a pat on the back for the thugs that roam freely amongst our governments. That decision has made me question the integrity of all previous nominations, and wonder if the entire Nobel Prize program is nothing but a sham." -Juan F., Arcata, CA
"Continued occupation of Afghanistan and drone strikes across national borders are NOT the actions of a peacemaker. Mr. Obama has defiled the good will of the Nobel prize." -Dudley D., Chicago, IL
"His actions are speaking louder than his words. He has continued Bush's torture policy and both wars. He has sent armed drones in to remote places and only questionably killed terrorists, but definitely killed civilians. He does not deserve it." -Katherine M., San Diego, CA
"Les espoirs envers Obama étaient élevés, les résultats décevants." -André T., Quebec City, Canada
"A President for Peace? Tell that to the thousands of innocent men, women and hundreds of children that have been killed in drone strikes during the Obama administration. It was laughable that this coveted prize was given to him in the first place but now it is just obscene!" -Barlee R., Antioch, CA
"Allowing the Nobel Peace Prize to remain in Obama's name forsakes the very creed the prize is meant to represent. Please don't (continue to) be a hypocrite -- no way in Hell does that man deserve to be credited in any way for being a peacemaker. I said the same for Bush by the way -- so don't think I'm just some partisan nutcase obsessed with bashing Obama. I simply speak the Truth as often as possible and let the chips fall where they may. Many of us peaceful, compassionate folks would like to have this message droned into your collective heads. Obama is just another puppet doing the bidding of the greedy, mass-murdering global elite." -Greg C., Manhattan, KS
"The peace prize should be awarded to Pfc. Bradley Manning instead." -Robert F., Santa Clara, CA
"This would be an extraordinarily bold move, but it certainly would send a message to the world that peace means peace, not war." -David G., Portland, OR
"I so wish President Obama had lived up to the award he was given. Instead he has chosen to continue and expand the horrors being perpetrated by our country. War is not ever the answer." -Carol G., Goshen, IN
"Droning people to death is not peace." -William S., New York, NY
"Not being George W. Bush was never sufficient ground for this award, and Mr. Obama's enthusiastic support for the extension of empire, fossil fuels, raw military power, and other violence against the earth and its people is further evidence of its unwisdom." -Scott W., Durham, NC
"One must walk the walk of peace, not just talk the talk of peace in order to earn the Peace Prize." -Paul M., Los Angeles, CA
"Drone Bombs create more terrorists than they kill." -Jay J., Roachdale, IN
"A war criminal is not worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize." -Lars P., Afton, WI
"Our President had an unprecedented opportunity to effect a turn-around in foreign policy after the illegal and failed wars of his predecessor. He was hired to do so; but he has squandered the opportunity and has in fact increased U.S. aggression. He does not deserve to be known as a Nobel Peace Prize recipient." -Lynn J., Roslyn, PA
"The PEACE prize should be given to those that work toward PEACE, not the ones that only talk about it." -Karen W., Weirsdale, FL
"Take it from Obama and give it to its rightful owner, Bradley Manning." -Rand K., Hotchkiss, CO
"I urge you to rescind the Nobel from this coward who kills children with drones. Are you intentionally making the peace prize a joke or are you just not too bright?" -Janet M., Charlottetown, CA
"He's not as big a war criminal as Kissinger, so you should revoke both." -Earl F., Santa Maria, CA
"This man is a disgrace in the cause of peace. What were you thinking?" -Sherrill F., Davis, CA
"Given his actions and policies, Obama is more a Man of Pieces -- as in, 'Blow them to pieces!' -- than he is a Man of peace." -Marcus M., San Rafael, CA
"He's done nothing to deserve it; and he's done many things to destroy peace in this world." -Danny D., Shoreline, WA
"This human has killed more after he got the prize." -Thomas P., Lewiston, CA
"He obtained the award on promises he didn't keep." -Ron B., Bend, OR
"President Obama's actions have shown that his words were meaningless. The Nobel Peace Prize means little if it's so easily given away." -Debra J., Pasadena, MD
"As an Obama voter I am deeply disappointed. It was bad judgment to give it to him in the first place." -Tim K., Long Prairie, MN
"Drones are offensive weapons, in every sense of the word." -Richard F., Portland, OR
"As much of an Obama supporter I am, perhaps stripping him of this award would get his attention, nothing else seems to be getting the message across that the American People have had enough of multiple trillion dollar unnecessary wars." -Vern M., Albuquerque, NM
"Obama is a smiling war monger." -Jon M., Wellington, New Zealand
"Under Obama's leadership our assassination-by-drone foreign policy has increased dramatically, which makes him a war criminal." -Frank S., Bellingham, WA
"As a constituent and two-time voter for Barack Obama, I am dismayed and frightened at the warmongering ways he has displayed as our leader. I urge the revocation of his undeserved Nobel prize." -Samuel P., Colton, CA
"What a good idea! Yes, he has the blood of many innocents on his hands." -Gene A., Athens, OH
"He should have never got it in the first place!" -David S., Everett, WA
"I voted for the president in both elections but I do not feel he ever deserved the Nobel Peace Prize! Please rescind it!" -Carol H., Michigan City, IN
"Please start with Henry Kissinger before Obama, whose hands are tied." -Bob S., Gibsons, BC, Canada
"Giving him a Nobel Peace Prize is an affront to the deep heritage of true peacemakers who well deserved it. Obama has waged continuous war, torture and other violence since being President. Please revoke it now." -Barry S., Macdoel, CA
"Bush gave us 2 unfunded wars. Will Obama add a few more? Stop wars, drones and killing with other people's children." -Burt S., Pompton Plains, NJ
"I voted for Obama -- twice. I am very sad to sign this petition, but I believe in my heart, what he has done with drones is totally wrong!" -Gloria H., Santa Rosa, CA
"Obama's deeds do not match his words." -Evalyn S., Walnut Creek, CA
"You lost any credibility giving Obama the peace prize. Fix it." Camilo B., Long Beach, CA
"Obama's harsh treatment of whistleblowers who are trying to expose the outlandish abuses of the military/corporate state disqualify him from any awards given to peacemakers." -David L., Alamosa, CO
"It's real sad that the promises that were made by Barack Obama concerning nearly everything have been lost with his sellout to corporate greed. We need a real leader for Peace." -Al B., Ignacio, CO
"I had high hopes for this President when I voted for him. I believed him to be a peace maker, unlike the hawk who was his predecessor. However, there seems to be no effort at peacemaking, at reconciliation, at hope, and killing-by-drone simply leads to more fear and hatred. I fear the day that the government will try to control US with them, too." -Louise A., Greenfield, MA
"You gave him the Nobel Peace Prize too soon. His use of drones and killing of innocent civilians attests to his being anything but a peace-maker." -Rev. Sandy G., San Francisco, CA
"It is not a good example of what peace means when the Nobel Prize is awarded to the leader of a nation engaging in war as a business strategy. Make a statement, please." -Chandra P., Walsenburg, CO
"I, like so many others, gave this man the benefit of the doubt. It has been thrown back in our faces." -Chris C., Harrogate, Great Britain
"He never deserved it and he hasn't earned it. Yes, please, take it back." -Jackie F., Oakland, CA
"The Nobel Peace Prize should not be awarded to war mongers and war criminals. Therefore, please revoke the Peace Prize you awarded to President Obama in 2009." -Fred N., Pleasanton, CA
"It is with deepest regret we ask for this but our President's actions have not lived up to the high honor of promoting peace." -GlendaRae H., South Bend, IN
"I don't think anyone ever understood what Obama was supposed to have done to have deserved the Peace Prize in the first place. And I'm a lifelong Democrat, so my feeling that the Nobel Committee made a mistake is not based in political partisanship." -Steve J., Hermosa Beach, CA
"It appears that preemptive peace prizes work about as well as preemptive wars." -Jaan C., Alameda, CA
To read more comments, or to sign the RootsAction.org petition urging the Norwegian Nobel Committee to revoke President Obama's Peace Prize, click here.
Norman Solomon is co-founder of RootsAction.org.
> [Original Message]
> From: Emeagwali, Gloria (History) <emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu>
> To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
> Date: 5/29/2013 2:51:55 PM
> Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Now We Know Why BOZO ObamaIsGoingToSA, And Not Nigeria
>
> 'so let's just say that the committee members who prematurely gave BOZO Obama the prize
> in the hope that he would translate his campaign rhetoric into reality are also BOZOS.'
>
>
> How do you know that the Nobel committee really wanted campaign rhetoric to translate into peace?
>
> They could have given him the award to divert our attention from the wars that were to come
> in a neat orchestrated campaign.
>
> Who are these Nobel award givers, anyway?
> Just thinking out loud.
>
>
> Professor Gloria Emeagwali
> africahistory.net
> vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
> Documentaries on Africa and the African Diaspora
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Edward Mensah [dehasnem@uic.edu]
> Sent: Wednesday, May 29, 2013 1:59 PM
> To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Now We Know Why BOZO Obama IsGoingToSA, And Not Nigeria
>
> Come to think about it, it is conceivable that the presidency in the hands of neo-cons could have resulted or led to the bomb, bomb Iran slogan being actualized. Just thinking! And Syria too! Remember the reasons we gave for declaring war on Iraq? At least your 'BOZO' is giving peace a chance by not rushing into bombing Syria. I pray that your neo-cons do not push him into doing anything more destructive than we are seeing now through the use of drones. God Willing, he will keep the peace at this level.
>
> Kwaku Mensah
> Chicago
>
> From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Abdul Bangura
> Sent: Wednesday, May 29, 2013 7:58 AM
> To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com; usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> Cc: Kwabena Akurang-Parry; basil ugochukwu
> Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Now We Know Why BOZO Obama IsGoingToSA, And Not Nigeria
>
> Hmmmmm....so the word "peace" in the Nobel Peace Prize is a misnomer? Back to the drawing board, Osagyefo Ed Mensah. I lived and studied in Sweden, I wrote a paper on the competing sentiments over the award at Stockholms Universitet, I attended the ceremonies in 1982, so let's just say that the committee members who prematurely gave BOZO Obama the prize in the hope that he would translate his campaign rhetoric into reality are also BOZOS. They should recall the award.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Edward Mensah<mailto:dehasnem@uic.edu>
> To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
> Cc: Kwabena Akurang-Parry<mailto:KAParr@ship.edu>; basil ugochukwu<mailto:ugochukwubc@yahoo.com>
> Sent: 5/29/2013 3:57:06 AM
> Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Now We Know Why BOZO Obama IsGoingToSA, And Not Nigeria
>
> No, no, no, Bangura you got it all wrong. The Nobel Peace Prize was not given for peace because he had no experience in keeping the peace; not when his entire political experience was representing a portion of the South Side of Chicago in the Illinois Senate in Springfield. Obama, in the minds of many, was given the peace prize for keeping John McCain's hands off the nuclear weapons. Remember the joke Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran?
>
> Kwaku Mensah
> Chicago
>
> From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Abdul Bangura
> Sent: Tuesday, May 28, 2013 10:53 PM
> To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>; usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
> Cc: Kwabena Akurang-Parry; basil ugochukwu
> Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Now We Know Why BOZO Obama IsGoingTo SA, And Not Nigeria
>
> No, No, No, Mama Mzuri Gloria Emeagwali, we Genu-wine Bonafide Americans invented BOZO and it has nothing to do with your Spanish rendition. The word for slave in Spanish is esclavo.
>
> The following snippet from Wikipedia will help:
>
> "Bozo is a clown<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clown> character very popular in the United States, peaking in the 1960s as a result of widespread franchising<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franchising> in early television<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television>. Originally created by Alan W. Livingston<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_W._Livingston> for a children's storytelling record-album and illustrative read-along book set and portrayed by Pinto Colvig<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinto_Colvig>...."
>
> Meet the original BOZO and BOZO Obama whose warmongering has made a mockery of the Nobel Peace Prize:
>
> [cid:image001.jpg@01CE5C6A.AC2A38A0]<http://manhattaninfidel.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/bozo-the-clown.jpg> [cid:image002.jpg@01CE5C6A.AC2A38A0] <http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbCePu2UQWodCbKv3H2r5wWE_ZoR1Rv4bB5A8BfsK3dbgTb4u1qUjhaR7ZMZJ7nE16UwNy7bSqfE1ylT6d7KVU9Qm8-GmNsCrdfXLNI-wsP6Pk23Er7CkL34mrstGDuHdntW8-lLFIV1E/s400/obama%252Bclown.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.sodahead.com/united-states/donald-trump-to-moderate-gop-debate-marvelous-or-mess/question-2316973/comment-72865905/&usg=__J2JHbntWpVWQhjntym5DM0dswRo=&h=400&w=318&sz=29&hl=en&start=15&sig2=iKGPDAvJptbSz9CZp48dCg&zoom=1&tbnid=fcCvifAFAVwiEM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=99&ei=v3mlUZfdFdG90QHVv4Eo&um=1&itbs=1&sa=X&ved=0CEgQrQMwDg>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Emeagwali, Gloria (History)<mailto:emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu>
> To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
> Cc: Kwabena Akurang-Parry<mailto:KAParr@ship.edu>; basil ugochukwu<mailto:ugochukwubc@yahoo.com>
> Sent: 5/28/2013 5:18:03 PM
> Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Now We Know Why BOZO Obama IsGoingTo SA, And Not Nigeria
>
> I am actually tired of this word 'Bozo' for anyone. I believe it means 'slave' in Spanish.
> I could be wrong, though.
>
> Bangura what does it mean to you?
>
> GE
>
> From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Abdul Bangura
> Sent: Tuesday, May 28, 2013 2:03 PM
> To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>; usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
> Cc: Kwabena Akurang-Parry; basil ugochukwu
> Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Now We Know Why BOZO Obama Is GoingTo SA, And Not Nigeria
>
> Oga Ugochukwu, my best friend Osagyefo Kwabena Akurang-Parry who I love like my blood brother knows that I will not call him a BOZO because he is doing his best for our people and he does not work for me. But I have the right to call Obama a BOZO because he is my public servant, I pay his salary, I pay for the Air Force One he enjoys, I pay for his medical visits to Bethesda and before that close to my house at Walter Reed, I even pay for his hair cut, etc. So as long as Obama continues to butcher, insult and marginalize our Afrikan people, I will call him a BOZO.
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: basil ugochukwu<mailto:ugochukwubc@yahoo.com>
> To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
> Sent: 5/28/2013 1:23:40 PM
> Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Now We Know Why BOZO Obama Is GoingTo SA, And Not Nigeria
>
> Oga Kwabena,
> Please lay off BOZO, BOZO, BOZO Bangura!
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: "Akurang-Parry, Kwabena" <KAParr@ship.edu<mailto:KAParr@ship.edu>>
> To: "usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>" <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 28, 2013 12:54:05 PM
> Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Now We Know Why BOZO Obama Is Going To SA, And Not Nigeria
>
> Malam Bangura:
>
> Couldn't you be critical of President Obama without the name-calling, such as "Bozo"? It does not speak well of you as a teacher, scholar, author, and mentor. Your obsession with anti-Obamaism has become a debilitating disease of the mind.
>
> Kwabena
> ________________________________
> From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] on behalf of Abdul Bangura [theai@earthlink.net]
> Sent: Tuesday, May 28, 2013 10:00 AM
> To: USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com<mailto:USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com>
> Cc: leonenet
> Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Now We Know Why BOZO Obama Is Going To SA, And Not Nigeria
> Bravo, South Afrika!
>
> Now we know why BOZO Obama is going to South Afrika, and not Nigeria. As I have been making the clarion call for a long now and I will do so again soon, Nigeria, Take Your Leadership! Many of the internal problems will disappear as the people become united in the common cause of leading Afrika.
> The race is on: Manufacturer sets sights on market for armed drones
> Slideshow: Armed drones around the world<http://slideshow.nbcnews.com/id/51645809/displaymode/1247/?wbSlideShowId=51645809&wbSection=news&wbSlideShowTeaseId=51645997>
> [cid:image003.jpg@01CE5C6A.AC2A38A0] <http://slideshow.nbcnews.com/id/51645809/displaymode/1247/?wbSlideShowId=51645809&wbSection=news&wbSlideShowTeaseId=51645997>
> Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson/U.S. Air Force
> The military use of armed drones in the Middle East and Afghanistan has brought more countries and companies into the market for such weapons. Here are some of the un-crewed aerial vehicles that are known to carry weapons or that might be adapted to carry them.
> Launch slideshow<http://slideshow.nbcnews.com/id/51645809/displaymode/1247/?wbSlideShowId=51645809&wbSection=news&wbSlideShowTeaseId=51645997>
> By Keir Simmons and Gil Aegerter, NBC News
> On a sprawling complex just outside Pretoria, South Africa, a government-owned arms manufacturer is preparing to test an armed drone that it hopes to begin selling soon to governments around the world.
>
> The company, Denel Dynamics, says the armed version of the Seeker 400, which will carry two laser-guided missiles, will enable so-called opportunistic targeting at a range of up to about 155 miles.
> "These are not combat systems, they are foremost reconnaissance systems," Sello Ntsihlele, executive manager of UAV systems for Denel, told NBC News. He added: "(But if) you speak to any general, show him the capability, he will tell you, 'I want to have munitions.'"
> The company's move is but one signal that the era when only a small club of countries possessed weaponized drones is drawing to a close.
> Critics say the coming proliferation of the lethal remote-controlled flying machines will forever change the face of counterterrorism operations and, eventually, warfare itself – and not for the better.
> "The U.S. has set a moral precedent," said Jenifer Gibson of the human rights group Reprieve. "A state can declare someone a terrorist and just go out and kill them."
> Reprieve campaigns against what it calls illegal drone strikes.
> Supporters of military drones argue that they are an essential tool against terrorists hiding in remote areas and that their ability to strike with precision minimizes civilian casualties. Reprieve rejects the notion that drones are precision weapons and claims many civilians have been killed.
> Who has drones — and who wants them
> Only three countries are known to currently operate armed unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, as drones are technically known -- the U.S., the U.K. and Israel -- according to a recent report by the think tank RUSI<http://www.rusi.org/publications/whitehallreports/ref:O51509D843E399>. The report suggested there are only currently around 1,000 armed drones worldwide.
> But China also is believed to have developed weaponized drones; the U.S. has said it would arm drones operated by Italy; and France and Germany also have decided to acquire them, according to arms trade experts and published reports.
> And according to Peter Singer, director of the Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence at the Brookings Institute, at least 26 countries have surveillance drones of a size or type that have been or could be armed, and roughly 20 countries are trying to either develop or acquire weaponized drones.
> So far, the United States is the only country known to have transferred armed drone technology -- and solely to Britain, which flies U.S.-built Predators in Afghanistan.
> U.S. sales of drones, armed and unarmed, "are considered on a case-by-case basis, consistent with U.S. law, regulation and policy, as well as our international commitments, including under the multilateral nonproliferation regimes," a Pentagon spokesman said in an email to NBC News. A State Department spokesman declined to comment on the record.
> U.S. reluctance to share its cutting-edge military drone technology outside a few trusted NATO partners like Britain and Italy is viewed as an opportunity by arms manufacturers like Denel Dynamics.
> The company aims to be among the first suppliers of armed drones to market, if tests of the armed versions of the Seeker 400 -- expected to begin in "a month or two" and last up to six months, according to Ntsihlele -- are successful. South Africa would have to purchase the armed drones first before the company would begin marketing them elsewhere, but if that happens Denel sees opportunities for growth elsewhere, particularly in "Africa and the Middle East," he said.
> Ntsihlele declined to say how much the armed Seeker 400 will cost, but said it will be far cheaper than the Predator and Reaper, the armed drones used for anti-terrorism operations by the U.S. military in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, which cost approximately $20 million and $56.5 million apiece, respectively. And unlike those UAVs, it would not require satellite technology, being controlled instead through "line of sight" communications. That limits its range but makes it potentially available to nations without sophisticated space-based guidance systems.
> The drone market
> President Barack Obama, in a speech last Thursday<http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/23/18448515-obama-reframes-counterterrorism-policy-with-new-rules-on-drones?lite>, said he would impose new limits on drone strikes against foreign terrorists in an attempt to reduce civilian casualties to near zero and ensure that only enemies who pose a "continuing, imminent threat" to the United States are targeted.
> "What we are trying to do with our (anti-terror) strategy is turn it back over to the host country and local forces," the New York Times quoted the Pentagon's top counterterrorism official Michael Sheehan as saying. "That is the future."
> The sale of armed drones to other governments raises similarly thorny issues though.
> [cid:image004.jpg@01CE5C6A.AC2A38A0]
> Khaled Abdullah / Reuters file
> Yemeni tribesmen stand on the rubble of a building in the village of Azan that was destroyed by a U.S. drone air strike on Oct. 14, 2011. Tribal elders say that suspected al Qaeda militants Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, the son of slain U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, and six others were killed in the attack.
> There are no international restrictions on sales of armed drones. Beyond sanctions and embargoes governed by the Security Council, the United Nations does not regulate arms and arms-technology sales, although the Arms Trade Treaty approved in April by the General Assembly may change that if it is eventually ratified by enough nations.
> In Denel's case, Ntsihlele indicated that the South African government would limit sales only to governments that would be "accountable and responsible" and agree to "opportunistic" use of the weapons on justified targets. "That target could be a pirate, or could be a terrorist," he said.
> The company also provided this statement to NBC News: "All of our activities ... take place within the framework of decisions taken by international organs such as the United Nations, the policies of the South African government and the regulatory prescripts imposed by the National Conventional Arms Control Committee and the Directorate Conventional Arms Control," referring to two South African government organizations.
> Assuming it gets its product to market, Denel is expected to quickly encounter plenty of competition.
> "To the extent that the U.S. backs off the armed drone business, it allows countries like China, in particular, to say they'll fill the marketplace," said Dennis Gormley, who teaches intelligence and military issues at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.
> China already has shown an armed drone resembling a smaller Reaper at an air show last fall, and photos surfaced on Chinese websites earlier this month showing what appeared to be an unmanned combat aerial vehicle known as the Lijan, or "Sharp Sword." The Lijan closely resembles the U.S. Navy's remote-controlled X-47B drone, which recently launched from an aircraft carrier<http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/navys-x-47b-drone-completes-first-carrier-takeoff-1C9922371> for the first time.
> Israel will also be a marketplace competitor. It is a leader in armed drones and is already considered the biggest exporter of unarmed drone technology.
> Turkey also has developed a reconnaissance drone, the Anka, for spying on Kurdish insurgents. Last summer, the Turkish Defense Industry Executive Committee said that TAI, the company that builds the Anka, was starting research and development on an armed variant, the Anka +A.
> Turkey had been intensely interested in buying armed drones from the U.S., said William Hartung, director of the arms and security project at the Center for International Policy. So far, the U.S. has resisted selling it such technology, despite its NATO membership, he said.
> Iran also has made unsubstantiated claims to have armed drones.
> Terrorism concerns
> The spread of armed drone technology to volatile regions like the Middle East inevitably stirs concern that terrorists could obtain the airborne weapons. So far, the Lebanese militia group Hezbollah, considered a terrorist organization by the U.S., is the only group believed to possess the UAVS. It has flown several unarmed drones containing explosives over Israel and, in one case, apparently used an armed drone to attack an Israeli ship, according to published reports<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/14/AR2006071401786.html>.
> The possibility of using small drones as attack platforms was driven home by a video posted on YouTube<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jplh7uatr-E> in December by an anonymous group called Dangerous Information. It showed a small electric-powered drone equipped with a GoPro video camera and paintball gun, first flying through a neighborhood, then attacking human-figure targets in a field.
> The development of smaller drones has been accompanied by new smaller munitions that don't require the Predator's 450-pound payload capacity. Denel's Seeker 400, for example, will have a payload half that, according to a company brochure, but still be capable of carrying two laser-guided missiles.
> "There is the development of smaller and smaller weapons, some of them specifically for UAVs," said Philip Finnegan, director of corporate analysis for the Teal Group<http://www.tealgroup.com/>, which conducts market analysis in the aerospace and defense industry. "So they'll be able to use smaller platforms."
> While armed drones appear certain to be added to more countries' arsenals in the near future, analysts say they expect the military sector will remain a relatively small piece of the overall drone market for some time to come. A big reason for that is the restrained growth in defense budgets worldwide and cuts by the U.S. military in spending on drones, which also affect research and development.
> "There is short-term pressure on the industry. " It's a combination of budgetary pressure and the withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan," Finnegan said. "Longer term, the U.S. remains heavily committed to advanced UAV technology."
> And sales to smaller nations are likely to be slow due to the fact that even with prices falling, armed drones remain prohibitively expensive, Denel's Ntsihele said, recounting conversations with prospective buyers.
> "When they get to know the product, they get shocked," he said.
> Keir Simmons is a correspondent in NBC News' London bureau; Gil Aegerter is an NBC News staff writer in Redmond, Wash.; NBC News' Marc Smith and Robert Windrem also contributed reporting to this article.
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