Drone Warfare - Research Paper Example

Drone Warfare With the technological developments in today’s world, the shape and picture of warfarehas totally changed from what it used to be in olden times. The world has progressed from the period when shields and swords were used for wars to a more destructive period where weapons of mass destruction like nuclear bombs are used for combats. Drone warfare is another addition to the equipment of modern warfare which has mainly resulted and is justified in view of the rise of terrorist activities in the current era. Drone warfare uses planes which are not being operated by humans directly but rather by computers and these planes are used to throw missiles. Drone warfare is mainly used by the military and intelligence agencies of the United States in areas where there is a high susceptibility of terrorist activities like Afghanistan and Pakistan. This form of war has been a center of argument and debates owing to the loss of innocent lives as well as the credibility of its usefulness. Drone technology has raised further alarms because this development has been achieved by forty countries across the globe and the armed forces of the United States alone are in possession of seven thousand drones (Billitteri 653). The drone warfare is an ineffective method of war and should be discontinued as it leads to the killing of harmless citizens and it also serves to hamper the security of the United States as it raises the number of foes for the country and hence puts the lives of the Americans at risk. The drones which are also known as “unmanned aerial vehicles” gained popularity after a few successful drone strikes which resulted in the included the killing of Sheikh Sa’id al-Masr. The CIA and supporters of drones justified the drone attacks by explaining that these attacks were very crucial to crackdown terrorists belonging to Al-Qaeda as they held the potential to carry out terrorist acts on the soil of the United States. Thus, proponents of drone attacks claimed that the integrity of the security of the United States was reliant upon these drone attacks (Billitteri 655). This led to a rise in the usage of drone planes and according to Billitteri, “In recent years the U.S. military has spent billions of dollars to expand its fleet of unmanned planes, which has gone from 167 aircraft in 2002 to more than 7,000 now. Last year, the Air Force trained more pilots to fly unmanned planes than traditional fighter pilots. (656)” This explains the fact that modern warfare has entirely changed and drone warfare has gained tremendous popularity amongst the armed forces in the United States. The CIA legally justified its usage of drones under the international law by claiming that it is a part of self-defense for the United States. Proponents further claim that drone attacks are the only measures which can be used to curb terrorist organizations and put an end to them (Billitteri 656). The justifications provided for the usage of drone warfare have been debated against and correct reasons have been provided to explain the fact that this form of warfare does not yield any good. The drone strikes have greatly increased in countries like Pakistan. Warlund explains the negativities in these drone attacks by claiming that, “At least 50 drone attacks have targeted Pakistan thus far in 2010, nearly the same amount as in all of 2009. Since 2004, from 1,040 to as many as 1,579 people have been killed in the attacks; an estimated one-third of the casualties were civilians (656).” The writer has tried to shed light upon the alarming rise in the usage of drone attacks and he has emphasized the fact that one third of the people who die due to these attacks are innocent and harmless people. International law and other grounds can by means be used to support the killing guiltless civilians in the name of self-defense (Billitteri 656). Experts have provided other drawbacks in the drone technology as well. It is claimed that though drone attacks result in the killing of terrorists, it sparks a greater sentiment of extremism owing to the loss of innocent lives. Hence the main target of drone attacks is lost because more terrorists emerge and greater dislike is spread amongst the people of the attacked nation for the United States. Thus, it is highlighted that terrorism is not being eradicated by drone attacks but it is rather being strengthened (Billitteri 656). Drone warfare is also criticized because it puts the civilians in a greater susceptibility of being hurt and killed rather than the people who are operating these drones. Thus, critics argue that endangering innocent lives rather than the lives of the people involved in the war is unethical (Billitteri 656). The economic costs incurred by technical problems and wrong steps which lead to crashes of drone planes provide for another negativity of this form of warfare. It is explained “that the pilotless aircraft suffer from frequent system failures, computer glitches and human error.” (Billitteri 667) Thus the efficiency of these aircraft is much lower than the planes driven by pilots. A better usage of drone planes is to divert them for other functions which including patrolling over borders to prevent illegal activities taking place across the borders. Other uses can be for preventing fires in forests and be of assistance in natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes (Billitteri 660). Drone attacks are an illegal and unjustified form of warfare which is not bringing out any good for the United States as well as for the countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan where these attacks are being carried out. A large number of civilians who are by no means engaged in war lose their lives because of drone attacks. International law cannot uphold such killings on any basis. It is an ineffective form of warfare which tends to further strengthen the roots of terrorism by spreading extremism and hence it tends to increase the risk of attacks on the United States by extremists. Thus drone warfare should be discontinued and the drone planes should be utilized for other activities. Works Cited Billitteri, Thomas J. “Drone Warfare: Are Strikes by Unmanned Aircraft Ethical.” CQ Researcher. 20.28. (2010) :653-676. Print. This article has been written by Thomas J. Billitteri and the writer sheds light upon the different aspects of drone warfare. He writes about how the military and the intelligence agencies justify the drone attacks. The writer then explains how a large number of civilians lose their lives because of this form of warfare and he provides the opinions of experts regarding the negativities associated with drone warfare. Read More