Saturday, March 17, 2012

Is George Clooney's Use Of 'Spy Satellites' To Document War Crimes Ethical?



George Clooney And The New Ethics Of Satellite Surveillance -- IBTimes

George Clooney believes that he has found evidence of the Sudanese government murdering its own citizens. Using images from space satellites, the Hollywood actor, with help from the Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP), documented crimes against humanity taking place in sub-Saharan Africa.

"It is absolutely without question a war crime that we saw firsthand," the actor told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee while presenting his findings on Wednesday.

While Clooney's efforts are patently good, are they ethical? No project like this has ever been done before, and so Clooney and his partners are making the rules as they go, albeit rules within the strictures of international law.

Read more ....

My Comment:
What's my take .... the alternative is to directly send people to sites where atrocities are taking place .... an alternative that is extremely dangerous in the best of times, and (if successful) limited in what they will be able to document. For the moment .... George Clooney's use of images from space satellites is the best option .... and one that has so far proven to be extremely successful.