Chester Thai ’14: Amid increased implementation of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, the United States and the international community must establish stricter regulations to maintain responsible use of drones while taking advantage of technological advancement.
On January 28th, President of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou granted permission for the United States to station a drone base on its territory, in order to gather intelligence on al Qaeda-linked terrorists in northern Mali. This will be the sixth U.S. drone base stationed in Africa, and continues a recent shift towards drones in warfare and surveillance. Since the first ever armed drone strike in Afghanistan in late 2001, “More than 400 US covert drone strikes have so far taken place in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia which have killed at least 3,000 people,” wrote Chris Woods, a senior journalist at London-based The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ). Moreover, the Pentagon currently possesses 7,000 drones, not all armed, up from the fifty drones they possessed a decade ago.
Advocates of the technology argue that drones are cheaper than jets, and protect American lives both by removing the potential for pilot casualties, as well as targeting militants. As the New York Times noted, “Drones have become crucial in fighting terrorism,” reminding readers that “The C.I.A. spied on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan by video transmitted from a drone.” However, this argument fails to take into account the sacrifices for such high-profile killings: civilian deaths.
According to a study titled “Living Under Drones” by the Stanford Law School and New York University’s School of Law, released in September 2012, “A significant rethinking of current U.S. targeted killing and drone strike policies is long overdue. U.S. policy-makers, and the American public, cannot continue to ignore evidence of the civilian harm and counter-productive impacts of U.S. targeted killings and drone strikes in Pakistan.”
The study highlights the significant number of civilian casualties in Pakistan due to drone strikes. It stated, “From June 2004 through mid-September 2012, available data indicate that drone strikes killed 2,562-3,325 people in Pakistan, of whom 474-881 were civilians, including 176 children.” Moreover, in late January, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights launched an investigation into civilian casualties by drone strikes to investigate whether the strikes constitute war crimes.
It is important to note that the U.S. no longer holds a monopoly on drones, according to Peter Bergen, CNN security analyst and Director of the National Security Studies Program at the New America Foundation. Bergen wrote, “More than 70 countries now own some type of drone. The explosion in drone technology promises to change the way nations conduct war and threatens to begin a new arms race as governments scramble to counterbalance their adversaries.” It is the widespread availability of such dangerous technology, potentially in the hands of third-party groups, that creates uncertainty over the future of drones.
Understandably, civilian deaths are an inevitable feature of war for potentially any type of operation, whether involving drones or human soldiers. Yet, the United States cannot simply permit such an appalling record of civilian deaths. The disconnect between a drone and the operator pulling the trigger from half a world away is already an enormous gap, and people must not lose sight of the deadly potential of drones. Bergen explained, “The United States is setting a dangerous precedent for other nations with its aggressive and secretive drone programs in Pakistan and Yemen.” Just like tanks in the past, drones are changing how wars are fought, and countries must work together to ensure responsible treatment of the advancing technology.
One consequence of drone technology is the potential for personal, privately-owned drones. Currently, one can purchase a small drone from Amazon.com for $299. Though currently used primarily in the military, there are practical civilian uses for drones. Drones are often used in search-and-rescue missions to find people stranded in rough terrain. Despite this, it would be foolish to assume that countries will develop drones mainly for non-military purposes. As such, it is critical to create some international framework, possibly through the UN, to provide guidelines and enforceable restrictions on drones in a military setting. Only then can people take advantage of the innovation and benefits that drone technology may offer without bloodshed.