A confiscated sail drone found in Namibia's territorial waters recently has once again highlighted the poor track record of US surveillance and reconnaissance programs.

The Namibian military has confirmed that the sail drone was found in the waters near Lüderitz, a port city in southwestern Namibia. According to the Namibian state-owned daily The New Era, the sail drone was confiscated from two South African nationals who were sent by its operator in the United States to recover it from the sea.

A sail drone is a sailboat-like crew-less vessel designed to gather data, providing "cost-effective solutions" to problems associated with data collection and surveillance against other countries.

The Namibian news media said the sail drone was an "American spy drone", an allegation vehemently denied by Washington, saying the US administration was neither involved nor interfered with the confiscated drone.

The sail drone is made and operated by Saildrone, a private US company, and the Swedish institution University of Gothenburg contracted it for marine research purposes, the US embassy in Namibia said in a news release.

Can Washington absolve itself from the saga and convince the world of its non-involvement simply by saying that those who say the US is involved are making "groundless accusations"? Given the Namibian government's statements and media reports and the US' notorious surveillance history and secret operations around the globe, the answer is a clear "no."

"It is highly sophisticated and it can be well-equipped with any additional devices in order to gather any type of information under water or detect all natural resources, even very deep in the sea, while transmitting it in real time to its controller," a Namibian Defence Force official told local media Erongo 24/7 while describing the confiscated sail drone.

If the drone itself, suspected by the Namibian military of hiding in the country's waters "for six months", is mysterious, its discovery is equally mysterious.

A Namibian tour operator from Lüderitz was questioned by the Namibian military for "compromising national security", the Namibian Defence Force official said. "The tour operator first told us that he found the drone floating in the sea, but after further interrogation, he admitted that he was tasked by the American controller to pull it to shore …," he said.

More dramatically, two South African men, who were sent by the drone operator in the US to repair the drone, and from whom the drone was confiscated, entered the country as "tourists", military sources told the Namibian Sun newspaper.

Many are wondering why Saildrone, the drone-maker, or the US authorities didn't get directly in touch with the Namibian officials to recover the sail drone. Why did the Namibian tour operator hide the true nature of his work? What is the relation between the company and the US government? These and some other important questions demand answers from the US administration.

In fact, the US has long-running intelligence programs across the globe and is trying to gain absolute comparative advantage against other countries in the fields of information gathering and intelligence. And it intensifies surveillance against countries and global leaders that refuse to toe its line.

Even its allies and partners are not safe from US surveillance. Danish media reported that the US National Security Agency spied on the leaders of Germany, Sweden, Norway and France, including former German chancellor Angela Merkel.

And according to the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative, a think tank, US military land-based reconnaissance aircraft made 64 sorties over the South China Sea in January 2023 alone, seriously endangering China's national security and undermining regional peace and stability.

Although a comprehensive update on the drone incident is not available, Washington should immediately abandon its disgraceful behavior and end all its surveillance programs, instead of accusing other countries of spying on the US.

The author is a writer with China Daily.

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