A drone, when it comes to modern technology, is a remote-controlled pilotless aircraft or missile. Also known as UAVs, these machines are equipped with tools such as nose cameras, GPS or laser-guided bombs and/or missiles, and a multispectral targeting system that contains cameras and sensors. They are used mainly by the US military, and some key uses for stealth are intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. When it comes to protecting soldiers, these drones check for roadside bombs or devices on landing areas. Some more topics include listening to mobile phone conversations, helping understand daily routine of locals to see what is normal behaviour, close Air Support, and following or attacking suspected insurgents. A lot of soldiers in the military view drones as delivering precision strikes without the need for even more pesky military actions. Even though they are seen as good things to use by many eyes, it does carry lots of controversy. Hundreds of people have been killed by the drone strikes in Pakistan. The victims are not only terrorists and enemies, but civilians as well. One of the deadliest attacks was in March 2011 when 40 people were killed, and many of them were believed to be civilians at a tribal meeting after the attack. Mind you, these were innocent people. The murdering of many civilians is just one of the many reasons why the use of drones for military purposes is a very controversial matter.
Movies are becoming nonfiction; robots are now killing humans for the benefit of others. Yes, it is true. In recent years, a new technology has been developed, and has saved lots of American soldiers’ lives, but killing many others’ in the process. Due to these reasons and much more, drones have served as a very controversial and hypocritical aspect of warfare over the past several years. Many people all over the world, even Americans, are protesting the use of drones. Drones are bad, and we need to stop funding these drone programs.
Drones are being protested for many various reasons. One of the biggest reasons is how the use of drones creates more terrorists than it gets rid of. People who see their loved ones injured or killed in drone attacks become motivated to join actions against the United States. In an article I read by ProCon.org, the author says “the vast majority of militants operating in Yemen today are ‘people who are aggrieved by attacks on their homes that forced them to go out and fight.’" Drone strikes have recruited thousands of terrorists in the al Qaeda forces in Yemen, and continue to serve as motivation for people to join terrorist groups. 4 terrorist attacks were attempted on America because of the result of drone attacks. The people the drones targeted were not happy for it. Loved ones died in front of their eyes. This fueled vengeance within them, thus compelling them to join a terrorist group. In the end, it almost came back to bite us. If we continue to use drones, soon enough, America will get a taste of their own medicine.
Seeing your family members and loved ones die in front of you must be a terrifying experience. In fact, it is a traumatizing experience for many. According to an article I read about the pros and cons of drone strikes, between 8 to 17% of all people killed in drone strikes are civilians. Ever since the United States started conducting drone strikes after 9/11, it was estimated that between 174 and 1,047 civilians have been killed in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia.During that time, 130 interviews were conducted by researchers from Stanford and New York University with the victims and witnesses of drone strikes. The people who were interviewed were the ones who live in the areas affected by drones. Almost every interviewee said they experience harm "beyond death and physical injury" and "hear drones hover over them 24 hours a day." They always have live with the fear that a strike could occur at any moment of the day now. During the article I read, it mentioned that Clive Stafford Smith, Director of human rights organization Reprieve, stated that "an entire region is being terrorized by the constant threat of death from the skies. Their way of life is collapsing: kids are too terrified to go to school, adults are afraid to attend weddings, funerals, business meetings, or anything that involves gathering in groups." Mullah Zabara, Yemeni tribal sheik, stated "we consider the drones terrorism. The drones are flying day and night, frightening women and children, disturbing sleeping people. This is terrorism." These drones strikes show a chink in America’s armor. It shows the hypocrisy that runs within our morals. While trying to save American lives, we’re taking the lives of others, innocent civilians living with their families. They were probably just as scared of the terrorists as we were. It must be torture to live with paranoia, and having to live with the fact that your loved one was killed by a flying robot, unintentionally. If anyone has to be blamed for terrorism, it is America that has to hold that characteristic. They are putting terror into the eyes of everyone in the areas affected by drone strikes, in order to prevent every terror group in the middle east to attack America.
Another reason why drones are so bad is because they violate international law. According to the international humanitarian law, the person being targeted must be directly participating in foes or organizations that are enemies with the United States. This means that the United States must be one-hundred percent certain that the suspect is participating with their enemies. Another rule listed in the international human rights law states that the person being targeted must pose as an significant and short fused threat that only super lethal force can stop the target’s intentions from happening. Even if the person being suspected of some connection to a militant or dangerous group, organization, or under the CIA's policy of signature drone strikes, or fitting the profile of a terrorist in an area where terrorists are known to operate, it is not acceptable to make someone a target for killing just because of assumptions.
To support the previous paragraph, I have written explanations of certain laws. In the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 6 of t states, “a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations, states that ‘no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life,’ even in times of armed conflict.” This means that no one should get their freedom restricted, even in times of trouble. If you are suspected but not surely convicted of association with a crime, no one can take away your freedom. Also, Article 2 of the UN Charter does not allow the terrorizing or use of force of one state against another state. There are some exceptions, like when given the permission of the hosting state. Another exception is when the use of force is in self-defense when defending an armed attack or an emerging threat. The host state has to be unwilling or unable to take appropriate action. Members of militant groups with which the United States is not in an armed conflict are therefore not lawful targets. As you can see, drones strike are illegal, but accepted. It is similar to jaywalking, in a way. Even the Amnesty International says drone strikes can be classified as "war crimes" or illegal "extrajudicial executions.” Drones are criminals, and the use of drones are illegal.
Drones dehumanize people and could possibly cause the drone operators to have emotional and psychological stress. Most of all, they could cause the United States citizens and soldiers to become emotionally disconnected from the horrors of war. dehumanize. According to Keith Shurtleff, US army chaplain and ethics instructor, soldiers are "physically and psychologically removed from the horrors of battle and see the enemy not as humans but as blips on a screen, there is a danger of losing the deterrent to war that its horrors normally provide." Without seeing people die and seeing the horror in reality, it becomes easier for the United States to start new battles and continue existing conflicts indefinitely. Drone pilot Colonel D. Scott Brenton, in a July 29, 2012 interview with the New York Times, acknowledged the fact of feeling disconnected when fighting a "telewar with a joystick and a throttle" thousands of miles away from the battlefield, then driving home to have dinner with his family. Brenton continued to say, "I feel no emotional attachment to the enemy," he said. "I have a duty, and I execute the duty. No one in my immediate environment is aware of anything that occurred." According to Representative Lynn Woolsey, it's "such a trend to dehumanize warfare. It's machines and computers doing the job... [but this] is not video games, these are real people and it's real death and we're making real enemies around the world by continuing with the drone strikes." The traumatizing effect it leaves on drone operators is much worse. A study from the US Air Force’s School of Aerospace Medicine, Department of Neuropsychiatry, found that drone pilots, who witness traumatic combat experiences, face several problems. The operators start to have a lack of a clear distinguishment between combat and personal/family life. The incredibly long hours with dreary and dull work and low staffing, "existential conflict" is bound to happen because of the guilt and remorse over being a sniper in the air. They also face social isolation during work, which could destroy unit cooperation and increase their chances to get PTSD. There was a study taken on 709 drone pilots by the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center, and about 8.2% said they experienced at least one negative mental health outcome. The problems are most commonly disorders related to getting used to civilian society when they re-enter it, depression, and relationship problems.
As we can all see, the use of drones is a horrible thing. Not only does the use break laws, it even destroy families and terrorizes civilians. They leave horrible side-effects on the people who operate the drones, and dehumanize everyone who is related to the use of drones. It is simply unethical. Killing someone with a robot while you’re million miles away sitting in a comfy chair just isn't right. Leaving others without family members while you go out to eat with your family after killing theirs just isn't right. We need to stop the use of drones as a country and realize that they are bad for both sides of the playing field. All I could say is, what if you were on the other end of the joystick, being the person who witnesses his village, innocent people, and family die by accident? What if you were the victim?
Movies are becoming nonfiction; robots are now killing humans for the benefit of others. Yes, it is true. In recent years, a new technology has been developed, and has saved lots of American soldiers’ lives, but killing many others’ in the process. Due to these reasons and much more, drones have served as a very controversial and hypocritical aspect of warfare over the past several years. Many people all over the world, even Americans, are protesting the use of drones. Drones are bad, and we need to stop funding these drone programs.
Drones are being protested for many various reasons. One of the biggest reasons is how the use of drones creates more terrorists than it gets rid of. People who see their loved ones injured or killed in drone attacks become motivated to join actions against the United States. In an article I read by ProCon.org, the author says “the vast majority of militants operating in Yemen today are ‘people who are aggrieved by attacks on their homes that forced them to go out and fight.’" Drone strikes have recruited thousands of terrorists in the al Qaeda forces in Yemen, and continue to serve as motivation for people to join terrorist groups. 4 terrorist attacks were attempted on America because of the result of drone attacks. The people the drones targeted were not happy for it. Loved ones died in front of their eyes. This fueled vengeance within them, thus compelling them to join a terrorist group. In the end, it almost came back to bite us. If we continue to use drones, soon enough, America will get a taste of their own medicine.
Seeing your family members and loved ones die in front of you must be a terrifying experience. In fact, it is a traumatizing experience for many. According to an article I read about the pros and cons of drone strikes, between 8 to 17% of all people killed in drone strikes are civilians. Ever since the United States started conducting drone strikes after 9/11, it was estimated that between 174 and 1,047 civilians have been killed in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia.During that time, 130 interviews were conducted by researchers from Stanford and New York University with the victims and witnesses of drone strikes. The people who were interviewed were the ones who live in the areas affected by drones. Almost every interviewee said they experience harm "beyond death and physical injury" and "hear drones hover over them 24 hours a day." They always have live with the fear that a strike could occur at any moment of the day now. During the article I read, it mentioned that Clive Stafford Smith, Director of human rights organization Reprieve, stated that "an entire region is being terrorized by the constant threat of death from the skies. Their way of life is collapsing: kids are too terrified to go to school, adults are afraid to attend weddings, funerals, business meetings, or anything that involves gathering in groups." Mullah Zabara, Yemeni tribal sheik, stated "we consider the drones terrorism. The drones are flying day and night, frightening women and children, disturbing sleeping people. This is terrorism." These drones strikes show a chink in America’s armor. It shows the hypocrisy that runs within our morals. While trying to save American lives, we’re taking the lives of others, innocent civilians living with their families. They were probably just as scared of the terrorists as we were. It must be torture to live with paranoia, and having to live with the fact that your loved one was killed by a flying robot, unintentionally. If anyone has to be blamed for terrorism, it is America that has to hold that characteristic. They are putting terror into the eyes of everyone in the areas affected by drone strikes, in order to prevent every terror group in the middle east to attack America.
Another reason why drones are so bad is because they violate international law. According to the international humanitarian law, the person being targeted must be directly participating in foes or organizations that are enemies with the United States. This means that the United States must be one-hundred percent certain that the suspect is participating with their enemies. Another rule listed in the international human rights law states that the person being targeted must pose as an significant and short fused threat that only super lethal force can stop the target’s intentions from happening. Even if the person being suspected of some connection to a militant or dangerous group, organization, or under the CIA's policy of signature drone strikes, or fitting the profile of a terrorist in an area where terrorists are known to operate, it is not acceptable to make someone a target for killing just because of assumptions.
To support the previous paragraph, I have written explanations of certain laws. In the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 6 of t states, “a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations, states that ‘no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life,’ even in times of armed conflict.” This means that no one should get their freedom restricted, even in times of trouble. If you are suspected but not surely convicted of association with a crime, no one can take away your freedom. Also, Article 2 of the UN Charter does not allow the terrorizing or use of force of one state against another state. There are some exceptions, like when given the permission of the hosting state. Another exception is when the use of force is in self-defense when defending an armed attack or an emerging threat. The host state has to be unwilling or unable to take appropriate action. Members of militant groups with which the United States is not in an armed conflict are therefore not lawful targets. As you can see, drones strike are illegal, but accepted. It is similar to jaywalking, in a way. Even the Amnesty International says drone strikes can be classified as "war crimes" or illegal "extrajudicial executions.” Drones are criminals, and the use of drones are illegal.
Drones dehumanize people and could possibly cause the drone operators to have emotional and psychological stress. Most of all, they could cause the United States citizens and soldiers to become emotionally disconnected from the horrors of war. dehumanize. According to Keith Shurtleff, US army chaplain and ethics instructor, soldiers are "physically and psychologically removed from the horrors of battle and see the enemy not as humans but as blips on a screen, there is a danger of losing the deterrent to war that its horrors normally provide." Without seeing people die and seeing the horror in reality, it becomes easier for the United States to start new battles and continue existing conflicts indefinitely. Drone pilot Colonel D. Scott Brenton, in a July 29, 2012 interview with the New York Times, acknowledged the fact of feeling disconnected when fighting a "telewar with a joystick and a throttle" thousands of miles away from the battlefield, then driving home to have dinner with his family. Brenton continued to say, "I feel no emotional attachment to the enemy," he said. "I have a duty, and I execute the duty. No one in my immediate environment is aware of anything that occurred." According to Representative Lynn Woolsey, it's "such a trend to dehumanize warfare. It's machines and computers doing the job... [but this] is not video games, these are real people and it's real death and we're making real enemies around the world by continuing with the drone strikes." The traumatizing effect it leaves on drone operators is much worse. A study from the US Air Force’s School of Aerospace Medicine, Department of Neuropsychiatry, found that drone pilots, who witness traumatic combat experiences, face several problems. The operators start to have a lack of a clear distinguishment between combat and personal/family life. The incredibly long hours with dreary and dull work and low staffing, "existential conflict" is bound to happen because of the guilt and remorse over being a sniper in the air. They also face social isolation during work, which could destroy unit cooperation and increase their chances to get PTSD. There was a study taken on 709 drone pilots by the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center, and about 8.2% said they experienced at least one negative mental health outcome. The problems are most commonly disorders related to getting used to civilian society when they re-enter it, depression, and relationship problems.
As we can all see, the use of drones is a horrible thing. Not only does the use break laws, it even destroy families and terrorizes civilians. They leave horrible side-effects on the people who operate the drones, and dehumanize everyone who is related to the use of drones. It is simply unethical. Killing someone with a robot while you’re million miles away sitting in a comfy chair just isn't right. Leaving others without family members while you go out to eat with your family after killing theirs just isn't right. We need to stop the use of drones as a country and realize that they are bad for both sides of the playing field. All I could say is, what if you were on the other end of the joystick, being the person who witnesses his village, innocent people, and family die by accident? What if you were the victim?