Drone Drones And Drone Surveillance

When the topic of drones is brought up, some may think they are not among us and are objects of the future, while others may have one that they’ve built themselves and put to use already. Drones are being talked about more and more but not necessarily all for good reasons. The reading titled “From the Eyes of a Drone” by Tomas van Houtryve touches upon how drones affect surveillance, photography, and use for weapons. In a BBC article, “Drones: What Are They and How Do They Work?” the author goes into specific detail on how the United States is planning to use drones for the military. If regular drone use becomes a normality in society, it is true that amazing photography will be a positive outcome but what about privacy? Drones can aid the military as well, but if they are released for the general public to use on the daily things may get out of control. While drones can impact several aspects of life positively, they can create even more harm than one may think.

After the terror attack of September 11, the U.S. began using drones to help fight the war on “terrorist.” The use of drones has secured the safety of our country to a certain extent. People claim that drone strikes are useful weapons in war because it kills the enemy without putting soldiers in danger. According to the article “At Issue: Targeted Strikes” by Staff, P. states, “Proponents credit drone strikes with the killing of many of top commanders of the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and argue that they are a legal form of self defense. ” The benefit of this is that U.S. soldiers do not have to step foot in unfriendly locations, where they will be exposing themselves to danger. The United States favors drone because “One advantage of drones is that they can be deployed for long periods

Drones can cause severe disturbances to people, as they have sometimes are equipped with military weapons. “Many drones carry tasers, or even tranquilizers,” states theguardian.com author and ex-constitutional lawyer Glenn Grewald. Also, drones wreak havoc in large meetings, with many people. Benjamin Wittes, brookings.edu author, writes, “To what level of human-in-the-loop control is needed to ensure safety in a crowded air or land space.” It is often thought that drones do not cause harm, but some of the drones being used by the police now, are actually being employed by our U.S military in covert search-and-eliminate missions.

One reason why drones are such an obvious future trend is they weaken terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda, ISIS, and the Taliban. During President Barak Obama’s term, an estimated 3,300 terrorists have been killed including 50 senior leaders of Al Qaeda and the Taliban (Byman 32-43). By March 2011 33 Al Qaeda and Taliban members killed and from 1100-1800 insurgent fighters (Sluka 89). Three hundred and fifty drone strikes have been made since 2004 (Cronin 44-45). Among the terrorist casualties, one stands out. A Drone strike killed Al-Shabab, killer of 74 in a soccer stadium bombing in Uganda (Klaidman 38-44). A Drone could have prevented the bombing of the soccer stadium before it happened, but the US called off a drone strike because of the

Though military personnel lives are safer with the presence of drones, many who oppose military drones claim that they have increased the death of civilians and do not create safer environments for civilians (Terrill 22). However, drones have been proved to decrease the deaths of civilians due to the technology that allows them to pinpoint their target and strike at that specific target rather than bomb an area that the target is in. For example, in Yemen where many drone strikes have occurred, “civilian death figures… are ‘in the single digits’” (Terrill 22). Drones are claimed to have less collateral damage than the collateral damage caused by manned aerial vehicles. “They strike quickly, and the missile can be diverted from its original target in an unintentional miss” (Hazelton 30). In the drone strikes in Yemen, even President Hadi admits that there are accidental civilian deaths (Terrill 22). But whether ground troops are used, whether manned aerial vehicles are used, or whether drones are used, there will always be a possibility for collateral damage and civilian deaths. However, President Hadi also admits that “Yemen’s air force cannot bomb accurately at night, but US drones do not have any problems doing so” (Terrill 22).

Drones are wartime weapons the United States government uses to fight the War on Terror. Officially known as unmanned aerial vehicles, this type of aircraft plays a vital role in protecting the United States, as well as many other countries around the world. Although there are multiple drones owned by the United States government, the MQ-9 Reaper and MQ-1B Predator drones are the most predominantly used drones; General Atomics Aeronautical Systems manufacture both aircrafts.

Efficiency in war comes with immunity, “Ideas about killing from ever greater distance, with ever increasing force and with ever more protection for those involved are as old as warfare itself (Shane Riza. Two-Dimensional).” Modern day remote drones are able to neutralize targets more efficiently than ever before, they can be used to find a specific target or targets are take them out from the sky with a single missile instead of several men and hundreds of bullets. Drones are controlled from bases typically in Nevada where the men and women controlling the drones can control the drone’s aim and movements my centimeters. Making them very accurate and precise when it comes to targeting specific individuals or groups. Drones are the cheapest sector of the government spendings in the United States. According the the analysts/writers of ProCon.org, the U.S. military’s drone program only makes up about one percent of the annual defense budget, approximately $5 billion. Compared to a single F-35 JSF (Joint Strike Force) program costs about $9.7 billion and costs anywhere from $18,000 to $169,000 an hour to operate, which is six-to-42 times more expensive. Even with all of the benefits and efficiencies to drones, they are still legal under international law and the laws of

Many people are not aware that drones have been used domestically for a number of years. According to Charles Scaliger in an article title "Drones Over America" from The New American, he states:

The United States has been authorizing oversea drone airstrikes from quite some years now, if fact, the first strike occurred on Feb 4, 2002. The purpose and reasoning of these drones are to eliminate terrorist overseas, prevent terrorist attacks, and keep soldiers from physically hunting down terrorist in enemy territory. Two problems with the drones are how they potentially create more terrorist than they kill and how they have been brought into our own country on a much smaller and non-lethal scale. Gaining popularity, domestic drones threaten to break amendments or even pose a threat to the civilian population. On the other side, local law enforcement, companies, and even the government can receive huge benefits from having a drone in their

Drone opponents need to remember ground wars pose a greater threat to civilians than drones do. There are multiple tactics the military uses such as land mines, bombs, raids, and firefights which may unintentionally kill or injure a civilian. These tactics are more likely to be harmful to civilians than drones because ground wars are taking place in communities where militants live within

Using drones is a very touchy subject, and there are many arguments about it. These drone strikes do not only complete their mission but also keep american soldiers out of harm's way. Drones have been used for years but just in 2015 there was 13 CIA drone strikes in pakistan. In these 13 drone strikes there was 60-85 killed, 0-2 of those were civilians and 0 were children. These drone strikes are very accurate and unlike what people against drones say, there are not hundreds of civilian casualties. So ask yourself, would you rather have the risk of killing a few civilians, or would you rather risk the lives of hundreds of american soldiers by sending them into these dangerous areas? If the U.S. didn't use drones imagine how long it would take to find people,

Drones are a safe way of eliminating casualties by using their extreme precision and accuracy to effectively neutralize the target. It has been estimated that less that 1,100 people have been killed since the US started using drones to attack foreign countries since the terrorist attack in September 2001, which is approximately 12% of all civilian deaths (Singh). However, in WWII, the percentages of civilian deaths as a result of total war we between 40% and 60 % (Saletan).

United States’ military drones, mankind’s best invention, has become a nightmare for terrorists and innocent civilians and also become more controversial under Obama administration. Drones are unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), controlled by experts from several miles away or sometimes thousands of miles away. At first, drones were mainly used for surveillance, but later they were equipped with missiles. The military didn’t hesitate to equip the drones with missiles, since it would make easier for military to carry out missions. The military depends on drones more than it should by using them when it’s not necessary. This controversial issue was raised when Americans became aware of deaths and damage drones caused in Middle East. The drones are

There are many drone enthusiasts out in the world. Similar numbers of anti-drone-ers are out there as well. Many drone lovers like to argue that drones are the perfect military tool. Without a man on board, the military does not have to worry about losing men on a job. (Phil for Humanity, n.d.) They can complete more dangerous

All the reasons why not to put the use of drones in place all relate in some way to the well-being of civilians, as would the justifications of why they should be equipped. What the civilians know from the government’s public announcements and private decisions, how the killings done by drones affect the people, to the quintessence of their security are all important and connected to each other. That said, “More than 87 countries own some type of surveillance or attack drone, changing the way nations conduct war and threatening to begin a new arms race as governments scramble to counterbalance their adversaries” (Drones). More than ever, there is a race worldwide to come with the better machine—the mechanical soldier to fight for its country. Safety of civilians come with this, as if one country were to attack with drones, one of the only ways to counter that for the people’s sake is with the invaded country’s own drones. Iran, in 2010, revealed its own drone, the initial armed one at that, and China itself exhibited “twenty-five drone models,” with six-hundred and eighty drone programs of development in play by governments, research institutes, and companies globally in 2011 in comparison to the mere one-hundred and ninety-five in 2005 (Drones). “The Teal Group, a defense-consulting firm, estimated in June 2013 that the global market for the research, development, and procurement of armed drones would nearly double over the next decade from $5.2 billion annually to $11.6 billion”(Drones). Of course, another note is that “In a process that the experts call ‘monopoly erosion’, drone use is spreading fast, confirming that they are becoming the new