Pratap Chatterjee

At some point during the past year, I found out that my great-uncle helped design the first drones during his time in the Air Force. That information was sobering then; after reading this, I am thoroughly shaken.

Chatterjee has constructed a compelling story of how technology has transformed surveillance techniques during that past 15 years or so. While I found it difficult to follow at times--possibly due to occasionally dry storytelling, my relatively Luddite frame of reference, or most likely a combination of the two--it felt like the story hit its stride about halfway through, and I was totally hooked. And by hooked, I mean terrified, repulsed, and more than a little ashamed of the Obama administration for promoting these practices--not just for their use, but for passing it along for our current demagogue-in-chief to use. All of the factors informing the willful use of a weapon and system that has proven imprecise and incompetent presented here paint a truly horrific picture, one that I'm not sure we can dismantle unless more military and software personnel come forward. I am grateful for whistle-blowers in any sector...if we don't call out corruption, we can't fight for change.

It was terrific to see Khalil's crisp, clean b&w art again. I did so enjoy [b: Zahra's Paradise|10261761|Zahra's Paradise|Amir|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1316730659s/10261761.jpg|15162118], and I hope he continues to work in this vein of graphic journalism.… (mehr)

Mientras informaba sobre las numerosas víctimas civiles de los ataques con drones en Pakistán y Yemen, el periodista Pratap Chatterjee empezó a sospechar de la posible relación entre estas muertes indeseadas y la imprecisión del sistema de vigilancia electrónica utilizado por Estados Unidos para localizar los objetivos. Así pues, junto con el dibujante Khalil, se propuso investigar esa conexión e indagar en los entresijos tanto de las corporaciones que venden los programas informáticos de espionaje como de las agencias militares y de inteligencia que los compran.

El resultado de su exhaustiva investigación es esta historia vibrante y reveladora que desentraña un tema muy complejo y lo pone al alcance de todos. En definitiva, se trata de un gran reportaje gráfico que nos invita a reflexionar sobre la amenaza que estos potentes sistemas podrían suponer si cayeran en manos de algún grupo independiente y corrupto o de un líder irracional y compulsivo.… (mehr)