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The Rising Drone Threat: Why Our Critical Infrastructure Has Become Dangerously Exposed

Authored by Mike Adams via NaturalNews.com,

The era when America's above-ground infrastructure could be considered safe is now over. The drone revolution has quietly dismantled that assumption, and I believe we are dangerously unprepared for the era of distributed drone warfare.

The same precision-strike capability that hit Saudi pipelines and Qatari gas trains can be replicated here by lone actors or small cells, and it doesn't take much in the way of manufacturing technology for a small group to accomplish this. Pointing this out is not alarmism. It is a straightforward consequence of the availability of cheap guidance systems, open-source know-how, and a vast, undefended homeland.

During my recent interview with Matt Bracken on Alex Jones, we discussed how the rise of decentralized drone warfare represents an existential threat to a nation that has never seriously defended its homeland. We examined the vulnerability of critical infrastructure, the evolution of drone technology and autonomy, the democratization of warfare, and the profound risks of artificial intelligence. Every one of those topics deserves far more attention than it is getting. I believe our national security establishment continues to underestimate this threat, and that refusal to confront it head-on will eventually be paid for in blood.

We no longer live in a world where only nation-states can wage war. The technology that once belonged exclusively to superpowers now sits in the hands of anyone with a credit card and a grudge. I have argued repeatedly that the hollowing out of America's industrial and defense base, combined with the proliferation of cheap autonomous systems, has created a perfect storm that virtually guarantees a domestic attack sooner or later. The question is not whether drones will be used against American infrastructure, but when.

Our Glass House: The Vulnerability of Critical Infrastructure

America's refineries, pipelines, power grids, and data centers are, unfortunately, wide open. They sit in plain sight, mapped by publicly available satellite imagery, and their locations are cataloged in government databases that have long since been compromised. Anyone with insider knowledge or even rudimentary research skills can identify single points of failure that would cause chaos for millions of people. The vulnerability is not theoretical; it is a matter of public record.

The recent Joliet refinery incident is a perfect illustration of how fragile our systems have become. When that refinery went down, it triggered a diesel panic and sent shockwaves through the regional fuel supply chain. Imagine that same scenario replicated across a dozen refineries simultaneously. The economic fallout would be catastrophic, and our current strategies for defending these sprawling assets are nothing short of inadequate. You cannot surround hundreds of square miles of pipeline with barbed wire and armed guards.

Russia has already recognized this reality. Its government authorized its central bank and Sberbank to operate anti-drone systems and arm personnel to defend financial infrastructure, effectively turning bankers into air-defense operators. Putin even moved to allow the state to temporarily seize commercial critical infrastructure that is not sufficiently protected from drone strikes. I find it telling that Russia, which we are supposed to consider our inferior, is adapting to this threat while our own officials issue warnings but do nothing. The FBI has publicly acknowledged that cheap commercial drones now pose a significant threat to U.S. security and the homeland, and that low-cost drones can kill personnel and damage critical infrastructure. That warning should have been a wake-up call. Instead, it has been largely ignored.

From Toys to Terminators: The Evolution of Drone Warfare

The drones of a decade ago were toys. The drones of today are weapons of precision warfare, and the drones of tomorrow will be autonomous killing machines. DARPA has been developing armies of drones for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions for years, with biologically inspired robotic systems that fly. While micro air vehicles fly slow and low, DARPA's hypersonic stealth drones fly high and fast, with the armed Falcon HTV-2 launched from a rocket and designed to travel at Mach 20.

The Ukraine war has served as an accelerant for this technology. Both sides have deployed drone swarms, AI-enabled targeting systems, and kamikaze drones on a scale never before seen in combat. Russia has used Geran-2 and Geran-4 Seeker drones equipped with artificial intelligence to strike Ukrainian ports and shipping. For its part, Ukraine has launched swarm attacks involving hundreds of drones at a time, with Russia's Defense Ministry reporting 519 UAVs shot down in a single night across more than twenty regions. This is the new face of war.

Autonomous drones represent a quantum leap beyond remote-controlled systems. Once a drone can identify and engage targets without a human pilot, jamming becomes irrelevant, and the decision loop shrinks from seconds to milliseconds. Glenn Diesen has noted that the emphasis in military affairs could shift back toward quantity with low-cost military hardware such as swarms and other inexpensive weapons platforms, making it possible to create mass effects without mass armies. And the technology is only getting cheaper and more accessible. The barrier to entry for building a lethal drone is now measured in thousands of dollars, not millions.

The Democratization of Destruction: Anyone Can Now Wage War

The monopoly on advanced weaponry that nation-states enjoyed for centuries is eroding before our eyes. Non-state actors, terrorists, cartels, and even lone individuals can now potentially build or buy lethal drones capable of destroying critical infrastructure and killing large numbers of people. This is the true democratization of destruction, and it is irreversible.

The cost asymmetry is devastating. A $30,000 drone can require $4 million missiles to defend against, and even then, the defender loses the economic exchange every time. Iran launched some 550 drones at Israel since the war began, according to the Institute of National Security Studies, alongside hundreds of ballistic missiles. Gulf states intercepted more than 1,500 Iranian missiles and drones in a single defensive operation but still suffered casualties and damage. When the attacker spends tens of thousands and the defender spends millions, the math favors the attacker every single time. Israel's experience with cheap and elusive drones underscores how they put incessant pressure on even the most sophisticated air defenses.

I have long argued that this decentralization of warfare means we must rethink defense and security entirely. The old model, where a handful of government agencies and military commands protect the entire homeland, is obsolete. When a single individual can launch a drone from a rooftop and take out a substation, the idea that centralized authorities will save us becomes laughable. Every American needs to understand that we are now living in an era where warfare has been democratized, and the defenses have not kept pace.

A Call to Awareness and Preparedness

We must wake up to the reality that our infrastructure is vulnerable and the threat is growing every day. The incidents in Belgium, where unidentified drones forced the complete shutdown of Brussels and Liege airports, demonstrate how a simple technology can paralyze key national systems. The mysterious drone swarms that breached restricted airspace at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, home to B-52 bombers, show that even our most sensitive military installations are not immune. These are not random events; they are warnings.

Decentralization of technology cuts both ways. It can empower individuals to defend themselves and their communities, but it also enables attackers who wish to do harm. I believe the only solution is to decentralize our defenses, embrace resilience, and prepare ourselves for a world of decentralized machine cognition. This means building redundant systems, stockpiling essential supplies, and developing community-level response capabilities. It means understanding that the cavalry is not coming, and that our survival depends on our own preparation. The government that has failed to protect us from pandemics, economic collapse, and foreign adversaries is not going to protect us from drone swarms.

The time to prepare is now, before we face a catastrophic attack. I urge every reader to take this threat seriously, to educate themselves about the vulnerabilities in their own communities, and to take concrete steps toward self-reliance (such as building an off-grid solar system so you still have power when the grid goes down). Learn about drones, understand how they work, and consider how you would respond to a prolonged infrastructure outage. Support independent platforms like NaturalNews.com that tell the truth about these threats. Start growing your own food, storing water, and building the networks of trust that will carry us through crisis. The window for preparation is still open, but it is closing fast.

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/28/2026 - 23:25

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The Hidden Mechanism Behind Washington's Control Of Iraq's Oil Money

Via Middle East Eye

For more than two decades, Iraq's oil wealth has passed through a financial system centered thousands of miles away in New York. The arrangement, created after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, was initially designed to protect Iraqi oil revenues from creditors and help fund reconstruction.

Today, it gives Washington significant leverage over Iraq's access to its own dollars, leverage that the US is increasingly using as it pressures Baghdad to curb Iran's influence and the activities of armed groups aligned with Tehran. The issue came into sharp focus in April, when Washington blocked a shipment of about $500m in cash to Iraq as it pressured the government over Iran-aligned armed groups. 

via AFP

Muayen al-Kadhimi, a former parliamentary Finance Committee member, condemned the decision at the time, calling on the government to end what he described as US dominance over Iraqi funds. "The US decision to freeze or delay sending Iraq's foreign currency entitlements represents a serious violation of the financial and political sovereignty of the Iraqi state," al-Kadhimi said.

The shipment was later restored, but the episode demonstrated how Iraq's dependence on the US financial system can be used as a political tool.

The arrangement began after the US-led invasion in May 2003, when the Coalition Provisional Authority established the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI) to collect the country's oil revenues and use them for reconstruction and humanitarian needs. Under UN Security Council Resolution 1483, issued in May 2003, Iraqi oil and gas revenues were transferred to a special account in the name of the Central Bank of Iraq at the US Federal Reserve.

Five percent of the revenues were deducted for compensation to Kuwait following Iraq's 1990 invasion. The system also included frozen assets belonging to Saddam Hussein's former government and surplus funds from the UN's Oil-for-Food program.

The arrangement was intended in part to protect Iraqi assets from international creditors pursuing claims dating back to Saddam's rule. An International Advisory and Monitoring Board, including representatives from the UN, IMF, World Bank and Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, was established to oversee the fund.

The UN-backed system ended in 2011 at the request of the Iraqi government but Iraq's oil revenues remained tied to the Federal Reserve.

A new account, known as IRAQ2, was established at the New York Fed. Oil revenues are deposited there before being transferred to the Central Bank of Iraq. At the same time, Iraq lost the comprehensive international protection previously provided under the UN system and became dependent on annual US executive orders granting immunity to its sovereign funds.

So while the formal international arrangement changed, the underlying dependence on the US financial system remained.

Why can't Iraq simply move its money?

Iraqi oil is priced overwhelmingly in US dollars, while the country depends heavily on the currency for imports and international trade. Iraq also has about $40bn in unsettled external debts, creating concerns that moving its funds outside the existing system could expose them to claims from creditors.

Ahmed Saddam, an associate professor of economics at the University of Basra, told Middle East Eye that keeping the Central Bank of Iraq's account in New York has important benefits. "I believe that the most important advantages of keeping the Central Bank of Iraq's account in New York are protecting Iraqi oil revenues from being seized by creditors of the former regime, since the debts are estimated at tens of billions of dollars."

"The second advantage is facilitating the sale of oil and the settlement of Iraq's international trade; this account reduces transfer costs, and we should not forget that the dollar is the most widely used currency in international transactions."

But Saddam said the arrangement also leaves Iraq vulnerable to US pressure. "As for the most prominent disadvantages, they lie in the ability of the US authorities to impose their influence by restricting access to dollars to Iraq, for example, and this means there is no real financial independence."

According to Saddam, Iraq could sell its oil in euros or Chinese yuan, provided there were no binding conditions in its oil contracts, but even then that would not necessarily free Iraq from the dollar. "Even if that happens, the price will remain linked to the dollar because oil is priced in dollars, and what happens in practice is that the buyer pays the value in a non-dollar currency after converting it according to the dollar exchange rate."

Iraq would still need dollars for much of its international trade, Saddam said, while shifting currencies could expose the country to exchange-rate losses and political pressure from Washington. His proposal was therefore diversification rather than an immediate break with the US system.

"I believe that Iraq's financial independence will not be achieved if we assume moving the Central Bank of Iraq's account from the United States to another country."

"In my view, financial independence can be achieved by opening multiple sovereign accounts outside the United States while keeping the current account in New York. For example, the Central Bank could open an account with the European Central Bank, as well as with central banks in East Asia," Saddam said.

The war on Iran is squeezing Iraq’s economy as disrupted oil exports cut revenues, while costlier imports and a weaker dinar drive up prices, exposing the country’s reliance on oil and foreign goods.

🔗: https://t.co/SreYBiH9L5 pic.twitter.com/8LZNo9gWz2

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) September 26, 2026

"Part of Iraq's oil could also be sold in euros and yuan, let us assume only 15–20 percent, while the remaining 80–85 percent is sold in US dollars. In addition, financial independence requires developing the banking system in Iraq by expanding direct correspondent banking relationships with major banks in Europe and Asia," he added.

How is the system being used against Iran?

The financial arrangement has taken on greater importance as Washington seeks to squeeze Iran economically and target armed groups in Iraq that are aligned with Tehran. Iraq has close political, economic and security ties with Iran, while several powerful armed groups operate inside the country.

For Washington, that has made Iraq's financial system a key battleground in its efforts to restrict the flow of dollars to Iran. The US has accused Iraqi banks, exchange companies and other financial networks of exploiting the country's financial system to move dollars towards sanctioned entities.

Since the US and Israel launched their war on Iran, Washington has responded by tightening its oversight of Iraq's access to the dollar and pressuring Baghdad to bring its financial system into line with US sanctions.

In early 2025, Iraq ended its long-running dollar auction system, formally known as the foreign currency window, after sustained US pressure. The system had allowed private banks and exchange companies to obtain dollars from the Central Bank of Iraq in exchange for Iraqi dinars.

But Washington's leverage extends beyond Iraq's banking system to the physical movement of dollars into the country. The April suspension of the $500m shipment was particularly significant because the cash was generated from Iraq's own oil revenues.

Although electronic dollar transfers for international trade continued, the episode showed that Washington could restrict access to physical dollars when it wanted to pressure Baghdad.

The Iraqi government has sought to maintain its relationship with Washington while balancing its ties with Tehran and Iran-aligned armed groups.

Iraq's Oil Minister Basem Mohammed Khudhair refused to answer questions about moving away from the Federal Reserve, telling MEE that the question fell under the remit of the finance ministry. However, he described the relationship between Baghdad and Washington as positive.

"There has been dialogue with the United States - a very positive dialogue, especially after our trip accompanied by the Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi there," he said. "There is great understanding between the Iraqi government and the American government, and the US has provided all support to the Iraqi government for its success in its economic and political dossiers."

But the consequences of Iraq's financial dependence are ultimately felt beyond government ministries and central banks.

'US controls Iraq's fate'

Hussein Ali, a 35-year-old Baghdad native, said removing US oversight would not necessarily improve the lives of ordinary Iraqis. "For us, whether Iraq's money goes to the Federal Reserve in America or comes directly to Iraq, I don't think our situation as citizens will improve. 

"Instead, the money will be at the disposal of the corrupt, and financial corruption will be even greater than it is now. From my viewpoint, I find it better for the money to remain in New York, under the guardianship and oversight of the US banking authorities." Ali nevertheless acknowledged the sovereignty problem.

"It is true that keeping Iraq's money in the US bank gives the United States the freedom to control Iraq's fate politically, financially and in sovereign terms. But Iraq is not ready in terms of banking infrastructure, and the situation requires a strong government to come that cares about the country’s affairs and the interests of its people."

He also raised concerns about money being moved towards Iran. "We have often heard how many officials and not state people smuggle money to Iran to help it confront the American economic blockade on Iran. Imagine what would happen if Iraq received its oil sale money into Iraqi banks far from American oversight and auditing. I believe Iraq's situation will only get worse."

Fatima Abdulkarim, a 55-year-old from Basra, shared those concerns. "I do not believe that Iraq's oil funds going to Iraq directly instead of going to US banks will help to improve our economic situation."

"Yes, it means Iraqis would dispose of the money without direct US intervention, but corruption will be greater, and the money will go to the same corrupt parties and officials. If the money remains in New York, it is at least under oversight and auditing. But if it comes to Iraqi banks far from any real oversight, I believe Iraq's situation will be worse off."

"Keeping the money under the guardianship and oversight of the US banking authorities is better than it reaching the hands of the corrupt," Abdulkarim said.

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/28/2026 - 22:35

Hundreds of anti-oil lefties linked arms on a Santa Barbara beach for a bizarre human-chain protest against oil drilling.