Time to rethink drones

[unhappycamper]

Time to rethink drones
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Zeenia Satti

The level of NATO's disregard for civilian lives in Central Asia revealed by the recent WikiLeaks warrants an immediate examination of America's drone usage in Pakistan's tribal areas. The Pentagon needs to release an in-depth strategic evaluation of the 'objectives' of the drone attacks in Pakistan, their 'achievement' on the ground and their 'net strategic contribution' to the war against the Taliban on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border.

The international community must fathom the unimaginable terror that is unleashed on non-combatants, on hapless villagers, by drones flying relentlessly over their heads and striking at will. Imagine being a ten-year-old in such an environment who is fully cognisant of the destructive potential of the drones because she has either witnessed the horror firsthand or heard graphic accounts of it.

Imagine the nervousness of the child who knows that not one of the adults she trusts -- her father, mother, grandfather, elder brother or sister -- can prevent the overhead flying machine from killing her, and her entire family, no matter where they hide. Imagine the terrifying insecurity of the child for the entire length of time (several hours) the drone flies overhead continuously. Imagine the child going to sleep with intense terror. Imagine her waking up with it, living with it, day in and day out. Drone violence is psychologically maiming the next generation of FATA's inhabitants.

Drones do not hit conventional strategic targets such as airports, bridges, arms' factories, soldiers' barracks etc. Mainly, ordinary homes are bombed, pulverising women and children with impunity. Drone attacks are not preceded by air raid signals. There are no designated sensitive areas the population can distance itself from to avoid strikes. There is no opposing air force to chase away the drones. The non-combatant population must cope with the terror of drones all by itself. There is demonstrated absence of reliable intelligence on the part of drone operators, leading to repeated wrongful deaths.

The longing for a saviour creates a special emotional vulnerability in FATA's population which works to the benefit of the Taliban. By turning into an indiscriminate killing force due to false intelligence, drone attacks become the very disease of which they set out to be the cure.

[zipplewrath]

1. Don't these things fly at about 10K?

I'm dubious anyone knows they are flying overhead. They aren't that big and to some extent their intent is to not be particularly noticed. The issue isn't the drones per se, it is the targeting of individuals in domestic settings with weapons intended for much larger targets, and for use on a battlefield.

[Orrex]

3. Another issue is mission-creep

When they were used for surveillance of and possible strikes against known Al Qaida operatives, then their might have been adequate justification for their use. But the "mission" has expanded so that suspected drug dealers in Afghanistan have been targeted, for instance.

That's a cat that won't be easily put back in the bag.

[zipplewrath]

4. Either way

This is merely "aerial artillery". Does it really matter if it is a Predator Drone or a Howizer? The platform really isn't the issue. It is that we are using sledge hammers to swat flies. We are using weapons meant for heavy targets on battlefields to attack individuals in civilian settings.

[Orrex]

6. The howitzer/predator comparison is ill-made

UAVs have been shown to terrorize victims in a way that conventional artillery does not, but of course that's not really the issue.


You are absolutely correct that we're using obscenely over-powered weaponry for soft-target kills, and the only possible reason I can think of is because it allows us to keep selling the war as a high-tech, efficient enterprise with relatively low cost in human lives.

Bullshit, obviously, but that's the meme they're using.

[zipplewrath]

8. Actually, because they don't have other options

The UAV's weren't originally intended to be weaponized. It was a modification made long after they were deployed. So it's all sort of a cobbled together kluge of existing systems. Unfortunately, those systems are basically helicopter based weapons like Hellfire meant for tanks and armored vehicles.

The reason that the drones are so popular is they keep the US body count down, they can loiter for times vastly longer than anything manned, and it puts the "command and control" well back from the battlefield where more than just the pilot can do the targeting. You can literally have several people "in the room" deciding to attack targets.

[Fumesucker]

2. Clearly, this program is working as intended..

No one with the sensitivity of a kumquat could fail to understand how having a killing machine flying over your head for days at a time would terrorize any rational person and indeed most irrational people.

The only conclusion it is possible to draw is that the drones are having exactly the intended effect, terrorizing those on the receiving end of their love taps.

[gratuitous]

7. Absolutely

Anyone who is terrorized by unmanned death from above that falls without warning, without an effective means to fight back, and no escape is probably a terrorist themselves. The "good" Afghans know they have almost nothing to worry about from UAVs flying over their heads. As long as they keep loving freedom, the United States and hating the Taliban they're almost surely safe.

If an occupying force in the United States was doing this in New York, or Florida, or Texas, or California, you damn betcha we'd have an expanded definition of what constitutes terrorism, not to mention war crimes and crimes against humanity.

[Winterblues]

5. The very definition of the word terrorism...

indiscriminate bombings of civilian targets. Republican wet dream..