Drone strikes are an increasingly common tool within counterterrorism efforts, enabling military forces to target specific individuals without having to deploy ground troops. As such, drone warfare has important implications for international stability and human rights.
Drones are unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) used for surveillance, electronic warfare and armed missions. They are also known as unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs). They can either be piloted or autonomous, depending on the mission at hand. The term drone has a pejorative connotation, implying an unsophisticated and unmanned device, but in reality drones can be sophisticated, powerful and capable of carrying out complex attacks, including precision strikes and signature strikes.
The Obama administration ushered in the current drone regime after 9/11 by adopting Presidential Policy Guidance, which gives commanders the authority to launch lethal strikes outside declared war zones against people they believe are terrorist targets. The drone program has resulted in the deaths of more than 929,000 people, most of them civilians, and has cost the US at least $8 trillion.
Despite claims that drone strikes are more precise than conventional airstrikes, they have often been criticized for causing significant civilian casualties. This can be attributed to the difficulty of predicting whether someone will be in the path of an attack or not. Furthermore, the lengthy hours drone pilots must fly – up to six times as many flight hours per year as regular Air Force pilots – have contributed to mental health problems, such as anxiety, depression and severe stress.
About the Author
