Few know more about drone warfare than Brett Velicovich. During the Iraq war, the former Delta Force intelligence analyst lived in a “black box” in the Iraqi desert using Reaper and Predator drones to pinpoint and track high-value terrorists – before sending in Tier 1 special forces teams, or a Hellfire missile, to end their lives. Most notable among the scalps he claimed were ISIS founder Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq Abu Ayyub al-Masri.

“I feel like there’s going to be another 9/11, but this time without the martyrs because you don’t need humans anymore to cause sensational damage”

“I feel like there’s going to be another 9/11, but this time without the martyrs because you don’t need humans anymore to cause sensational damage”

Velicovich’s days in the “black box” were some of the last that America could control the skies with drones. The US has since been overtaken by Ukraine, Russia, China and Iran, who have all extracted cutting-edge drone technology and expertise from the war in Ukraine.   

But what preoccupies Velicovich now is not a potential conflict with China (which has the US over a barrel with its dominance of drone supply chains), or the Iran war (although he believes it’s shown the US military to be “cocky” in estimations of its own abilities). It’s the prospect of a terror attack here on US soil – specifically, one this summer with the US playing host to both the World Cup and the Olympics.

“I feel like there’s going to be another 9/11, but this time without the martyrs because you don’t need humans anymore to cause sensational damage,” Velicovich said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if there was a drone attack on America by somebody who had some sort of training either in Russia or Ukraine. There just has to be the will to do it.

Where Thomas Massie went wrong

The tide has turned in Ukraine

“We’ve got the World Cup and Olympics coming up and there’s hardly any protection. I speak to DHS officials who flat out tell me we’re not prepared. They say there are too many agencies involved, the FAA handcuffs them and says they can’t test things in certain areas. Or that they have to get the FBI or the FCC involved. There’s too many cooks in the counter........

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