We Must Take Action Against Drones Now There is currently an immense controversy going on, it is questioning the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or also known as drones, by the United States in warfare and also its effectiveness on the long run. UAVs or drones, are aircrafts without a human pilot on board that are controlled either by computers in the vehicle or under the remote control of a person. The reason behind the controversy is the fact that one third of the casualties resulting from drone attacks are innocent civilians. Evidence shows that the benefits of the United States’ use of drone attacks in warfare do not outweigh the costs. Although drones may seem like something new they have actually been around for quite a while now. According to an article from the CQ press the first record of a pilotless biplane dates back to 1918. They were invented near the end of World War I, this first version of UAVs was called the Kettering Bug, but the war ended before it could be used in combat. The next version of a UAV wasn’t until 1940 when, a Hollywood actor who was also a British pilot, Reginald Denny marketed “Radio Planes” to the Army. This was the world’s first mass produced pilotless plane in history. Following this surge of the use of unmanned planes there was many attempts of making them better but due to their low success rate and high costs many of the projects were abandoned. It wasn’t until the 1980’s that there was a resurgence of interest in unmanned aircraft. According to Billiterri in his article, “Drone Warfare” the resurgence of this interest was due to the success of a drone called the Pioneer, which was powered by a 26-horsepower snowmobile engine. After its use in the 1982 war in Lebanon by the Israeli ... ... middle of paper ... ... we're committing international war crimes every day, because we're not at war with Pakistan. Let's be honest about it. The reason the CIA is being so secretive about it is they know what they're doing is illegal, despite the pretext otherwise.” What should be done is there needs to be a revised, logical drone strike policy that addresses under what circumstances can the military be cleared to launch a drone strike and they need to make sure that there are no civilians being put in harm’s way. To reiterate, although there are some benefits to the use of drones by the military in warfare they do not outweigh the costs. The costs being: the ridiculously large amount of money being spent on the drones, the loss of civilian lives, and the result of creating more enemies. The solution to this controversy is placing a stricter drone policy that addresses these problems.
Those who oppose the use of drones in warfare claims it violates international law. They believe that the strikes have no justification therefore violating international law. (Moskowitz) They claim that the benefits of the usage of drones do not outweigh the cons of using drones. The opposition claim that civilian casualties make up 2-10% of total fatalities from drones firing on wrong targets or the civilians are collateral damage.(Globalresearch) The dissentient think it causes more unrest than peace in some regions due to the collateral damage caused to buildings and civilians and is another sign of American arrogance. (ABC News)Even though their points are valid, these reasons do not warrant the cease of drone activity.
Controversy has plagued America’s presence in the Middle East and America’s usage of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) contributes vastly to this controversy. Their usefulness and ability to keep allied troops out of harm’s reach is hardly disputed. However, their presence in countries that are not at war with America, such as Pakistan and Yemen, is something contested. People that see the implications of drone use are paying special attention to the civilian casualty count, world perspective, and the legality of drone operations in non-combative states. The use of drone technology in the countries of Yemen and Pakistan are having negative consequences. In a broad spectrum, unconsented drone strikes are illegal according to the laws of armed conflict, unethical, and are imposing a moral obligation upon those who use them. These issues are all of great importance and need to be addressed. Their legality is also something of great importance and begins with abiding to the Laws of Armed Conflict.
NB: I would like to state a couple of points about the CIA’s drone operations. The CIA is not limited by war zones and is sanctioned to conduct covert operations in any area that is considered significant. Moreover, the executive branch does not blatantly sanction CIA operations without pondering over the information presented to it. Also, there is a congressional oversight committee that sets parameters in which the organization can operate within; these are usually agreed behind closed doors or during classified sessions. This does not mean that all participants concerned do not make bad judgment calls.
Drones and UAVs are remote control vehicles that need no pilot, instead they use a signal coming from a machine that someone is controlling. Although that is not always been the case for drones, the technology in its primitive stage was available during the late 1800’s. It was seen during the civil war in the form of hot air balloons and both north and south possessed a way to create the machines. They contained a timed mechanism that would release an explosive when the time was over, this seemed very clever, but at the time it was not very effective. Years passed and the Wright brothers and created the airplane in the early 1900’s, and they did needed pilots. The concept of airplanes was moved to the next level when in the 1930’s Britain Royal Navy created one of the first UAVs. This particular UAV was know as “The Queen Bee’’. This particular model was driven by what is said to be a radio signal. Much later Drones became much more complex and that is because years of technological advances were added to old models that were being produced in late 1900’s. Today, ...
Ever since, the U.S. military has advanced significantly in remote targeted killings, and the drone has become notably popular. These aircrafts are used primarily to spy and eventually kill an individual without having to put army boots down on surrounding ground. Drones are especially important for military missions that are deemed too dangerous for military soldiers to physically be there (Tice). The use of a drone can “get the job done” without having to be concerned with the common death and trauma of American soldiers, that ground combaters encounter daily. Drones are unmanned machines that fly with the help of lithium-polymer batteries, and give information to the drone pilot through attached sensors (Tice). These sensors have the ability to measure the distance and speed of the target, which allows the drone pilot to make an accurate hit on the victim (Tice). Missiles, that are secured onto the drone, are prompted to launch when the drone pilot deems the time is appropriate. Although this newly invented technology greatly assists the United States military in fighting war and potentially preventing danger, I believe that unmanned drones are causing more harm for our future warfare. The use of remotely-controlled aircrafts, in warfare, profoundly desensitizes the drone pilots, to the terrors of war because it makes killing too easy and ultimately
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), also known as Drones have been used since the civil war, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. The idea of unmanned aerial vehicles had been growing more and more with every conflict our nation has come across. The use of drones is now in full effect, ranging from military operations to relief efforts. Controversies around the increased use of drones include target killings by the military and surveillance by drones within the U.S. Target killing has shown to be effective and favorable against terrorism but some have seen it as a violation of human rights
War can be defined as “an organized and deliberate political act by an established political authority, which must cause 1,000 or more deaths in a twelve-month period, and which requires at least two actors capable of harming each other” (253, Mingst.) This is a broad definition as war can take several different forms, categorized in various ways. Today, the United States is engaged in the War on Terror. In a post-9/11 world, terrorist attacks are even greater sources of fear to citizens, as well as massive threats to national and international security. Over the past few decades, terrorists have been successful in increasing support and achieving political aims. This poses a major security dilemma to victims, such as the United States. It is this sense of insecurity that leads to military action. Any sense of threat is likely to send a nation to arms (251-252, Mingst.) The U.S. government thus must decide as to what the best course of action would be, in protecting the nation. Over the past decade, drone use has increased exponentially for this purpose. These unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, are often used in attempts to eliminate terrorism. While it is evident that terrorism poses massive threats to the nation, drone strikes are not conducive to a just war.
The one thing in the military is they have the most deadliest weapon that everyone doesn't agree on, the weapon is drones. Drones are always on the news, on the internet, and at toy stores, but these drones are not toys, these drones are weapons that hold powerful missiles that target enemy's in the sky. Drones aren't always for the military there are also for lifeguards. Lifeguards use these drones to deploy lifesavers into the water right next to drowning civilians. As for the military drones they target a campsite and they deploy missiles. The controllers have that ability to drop bombs. These drones can be controlled from a very far distance, but as any drone goes about a mile and dies. Military drones go about to another country.
The drone debate section of ProCon.org provides information that states that the U.S. military allocated $5 billion to drones in the 2012 budget, this makes up a meer 1% of the total budget. In comparison, the F-35 strike program, only one of the manned strike vehicle programs, cost the U.S. over $9 billion (“Should the United States”). These statistics could be due simply to the military choosing to invest more time and money into the manned strike programs, or more likely due to the cost of each drone and operation of that drone being significantly less than that of a manned aircraft. The cost to operate one manned aircraft on a mission for an hour can exceed $160,000 while the per-hour cost of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) will most likely not exceed $5,000. These estimates would lead to drones subsequently being .03% of the cost of traditional options and these conventional options being roughly 33 times more expensive than the UAVs (“Should the United States”). Drones also provide an option for the military to eliminate threats without being as invasive of the foreign country as other options
The moment I received the prompt to explore just war theory, the first controversial topic containing strong arguments on both sides that interested me was that of drone warfare. As tensions rise between countries and technology improves, the possibility of advanced warfare among nations seems imminent as drones are deployed in replacement of soldiers. The purposes of these unmanned drones in present day are primarily intel collection and target acquisition, which usually leads to extermination of known and presumed threats to the dispatcher. In the United States, when it comes to the topic of using drones within foreign countries, most of the citizens will agree that it is an efficient way to remotely deal with immediate threats to the country.
In movies, aliens are always seen and monsters shooting innocent people and taking over their land. Since 2001 this has become reality, but the alien ships have turned into military drones shooting down civilians, and the monster turn into the country in control of these machines. Drones are unmanned aircraft which may be armed for hazardous missions that endangers many lives; this has impacted our military in many ways. The usage of drones was the results of the attacks on the world trade center of Sep 11. 2001. The United States has used drones to kill terrorists in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, among countries. This has ended many innocents’ lives and has provoked more issues than have solved. Drones should be removed from our military services. America would be safer without drones; they create more enemies than they destroy. Drones have also caused numerous civilians casualties, which violates international laws. Not to mention that this
Automated warfare can take the place of soldiers in some scenarios, allowing a decrease in military deaths. Drones have advanced technology that increases accuracy while reducing the amount of noncombatant casualties. Veterans suffer unfairly from harmful repercussions as a result of combat; drone pilots have the ability to block out distractions and not get emotionally involved when they have to perform their duty. It is moral to use drone warfare because it reduces the number of U.S. soldiers lives that are put at risk, drone’s capabilities allow for target accuracy and a decline in civilian deaths, and they keep soldiers from having mental trauma in the future because they allow for emotional detachment. Though drones may appear small and simple, their abilities are vast, and their potential as warfare progresses is
The use of drones as weapons of war and delivery and surveillance systems should not be dismissed because many people do not realize the real capabilities of drones and how they can be used to better the world through efficient air strikes, faster delivery times, and useful surveillance. Some of the most common misconceptions about drones arise due to the lack of knowledge about what drones are. A drone is a remote controlled, pilotless aircraft that can be used to survey an area, conduct stealth missions, and deliver supplies into difficult to reach areas (Drone). Unmanned aircraft are also, contrary to popular belief, not solely machines that kill without even a thought to who is being fired upon. They have proved to be effective surveillance units in areas that may be dangerous for manned aircraft to fly, along with the potential to be reliable delivery units (Drones).
Another name for drones are Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVS). These are “aircraft either controlled by ‘pilots’ from the ground or increasingly, autonomously following a pre-programmed mission” (Cole 4). Even though there are many unique types of drones, but they usually fall under two main categories: ones that are armed and equipped with missiles and bombs and others that are used for surveillance. In the past couple of years the use of drones has increased dramatically. The reason being because “unlike manned aircraft they can stay aloft for many hours and are flown remotely so there is no danger to the flight crew” (Cole 13). There are drones that can actually fly over more than fifty hours. In countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq, the Predator and U.S Reaper are physically there. Cause of the power of technology th...
Drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVS) are controlled via two ways which are by pilots from ground or by a self directed pre-programmed mission. Cole and Wright (2010) identify that having various types, drones basically meant to serves the following two purposes: