Like guns and gear made it so we do not have to slash and hack at each other like apes, military drones make it so we can take out our enemies from our couch while watching re-runs of Nanny 9-11. Some may find that controversial, but that is only because it is new. And as we have all learned from our iPhones, sometimes technology needs some upgrades before it can be perfect.
Now I am not going sit here and shovel a bunch of conspiracy theories down your throat and tell you that the drones are coming for your guns, or go after the suits in Washington.
Sure, a lot of the attention regarding these drones has been associated with the Obama Administration, but the first Predator drone strike was in Afghanistan in 2002 under Bush. So if you are going to point a finger, you should probably aim it at the ground.
What I will do is jump to the conclusion and say yes, I support use of military drones against our enemies. They are quick and affordable (by some standard I am sure) as an alternative to sending men and women overseas to do the fighting.
This is obviously superior to the “boots on the ground” alternative, even though it is easy to point to the flaws. The main one is the loss of civilian life as a result of drones, which you are not wrong in assuming the numbers are shocking.
Though President Obama said that he would use military drones to attack members and affiliates of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, the focus of attacks in recent years has been Pakistan. The death toll so far from those attacks has racked up to a staggering 700 people—half believed to be civilians.
This sucks, but it is to be expected. Conflicts are violent, always have been and always will be. You cannot fight your enemies without losing some innocent people. It is a tragedy we can never avoid, and there is no use saying it is all one person’s fault.
Nor can you put the blame simply on the general use of drones. Back in 2012, U.S. soldiers killed 16 civilians in Kandahar. Sure, 16 is small compared to over 300 and counting, but it is the idea that there is always going to be error, whether it is human or technology.
Any civilian casualty is a tragedy and just like making sure soldiers receive the proper training and psych-evaluations, drones should be improved to be able to make more precise attacks to ensure minimal casualties.
Drones are the future of warfare. Mankind has always looked for a way to avoid using its own hand to kill its own kind and drones are the way to do it. Hell, it may be Obama has been wise to make the call to use them whenever sending boots on the ground was the only alternative.
Many Americans may point a finger-of-shame at him, when what we should be is thankful that there are people trying to invest and improve the technology for soldiers here at home. Plus, the next phase is Robocops, so let’s look forward to that.
