The Global Swarm
Drones are not only spreading to other countries, they're becoming smaller and smarter
by P.W. Singer, Op-Ed @ ForeignPolicy.com, March 11,2013

"One plan was to use an unmanned aerial vehicle to carry 20kg of TNT to bomb the area, but the plan was rejected because we were ordered to catch him alive." This is what Liu Yuejin, director of China's public security ministry's anti-drug bureau, described of the manhunt for Naw Kham, the ringleader of a large drug trafficking outfit based in the Golden Triangle, who was suspected of killing 13 Chinese sailors. Ultimately, they got him via a cross-border nighttime ambush, the Chinese version of the Abbottabad raid.

This case, however, is useful to think about when talking about the global market for unmanned aerial systems (aka "drones") and where it is headed, a topic that got new energy last week with a New York Times report on the confusion as to whether it was American or Pakistani drones that carried out a controversial airstrike.

Too often in policy and media circles, we discuss a supposed American monopoly on drones that is potentially ending. Or, as Time magazine entitled a story, "Drone Monopoly: Hope You Enjoyed It While It Lasted." The article goes on to say,"It is going to happen; the only question is when."

The answer is: several years ago. [.....]

Author bio. note:

Peter Warren Singer is director of the 21st Century Defense Initiative at Brookings and author of the New York Times bestseller Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21^st Century. For further information, visit www.pwsinger.com or follow him on Twitter: @peterwsinger.

Has charts of both national and international opinion:

After Fight Over CIA Director Ends, A Look at Public Opinion on Drones
Pew Research Center, March 7, 2013

Just before the Senate on Thursday voted to confirm John Brennan to head the CIA, his nomination had to overcome one last obstacle – a filibuster of nearly 13 hours led by Sen. Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican. Paul had taken the floor amid concerns aired by some on both sides of the aisle about the administration’s use of unmanned drones in targeting terrorists, and whether they might ever be used in such a way in the U.S.

In general, the drone strikes against terrorists abroad are supported by a majority of Americans but they draw widespread opposition in most other countries surveyed.

In a Pew Research Center survey conducted Feb. 7-10, 56% of Americans said they approved of the U.S. conducting missile strikes from drones “to target extremists in countries such as Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.” About a quarter (26%) of the public disapproved.

However, as some in Congress press the White House to be more transparent about the drone program — just as senators did during Brennan’s confirmation hearings on Feb. 7 — 31% of those surveyed said they were very concerned about whether the drone strikes were being conducted legally. Among those who disapprove of U.S. drone strikes, the number of those very concerned about their legality was 52% [.....]

There's this home page lede: Congratulations, Lefties, Now the Drone War Will Last Forever, for this article:

Going Clear
Drone critics wanted greater transparency. Careful what you wish for.
By Matthew Waxman, ForeignPolicy.com Op-Ed, March 20, 2013

.....moving operations to the Pentagon may modestly improve transparency and compliance with the law but -- ironically for drone critics -- it may also entrench targeted-killing policy for the long term.....