Military drones are used by the US Army for gathering intelligence and surveillance of the
terrorists hiding and operating in high mountainous regions of Afghanistan. It helps them to
monitor the situation 24*7 from their base location. As it is laced with missiles, ATGM’s and
bombs it is used to destroy targets by conducting drone strikes. Similarly, Taliban groups in
Afghanistan are monitoring the US and its allied troops. Past ground attacks by drones in
Afghanistan and its neighboring countries tell that thought it mostly killed the targets with
precision but also resulted in casualties of innocent citizens as the camera doesn’t give so much
depth like cameras installed in fighter jets like Rafale which even gives an image of a ball lying
on the ground. Hence, there are chances of innocent people losing their lives in drone attacks as
it did not tell any ordinary citizens among the targets and also in their adjoining areas.
1. The Intercept reported, "Between January 2012 and February 2013, U.S. special
operations airstrikes [in northeastern Afghanistan] killed more than 200 people. Of those,
only 35 were the intended targets. During one five-month period of the operation,
according to the documents, nearly 90 percent of the people killed in airstrikes were not
the intended targets."[1]
2. Between 2006 and 2009, UAV-launched missiles allegedly had killed between 750 and
1,000 people in Pakistan, according to the report. Of these, about 20 people were said to
be leaders of al-Qaeda, Taliban, and associated groups. Overall, 66% to 68% of the
people killed were militants, and 31% to 33% were civilians. U.S. officials disputed the
percentage for civilians. [2]
3. In 2013, a Fairleigh Dickinson University poll found that 48% of American voters
believe it is "illegal for the U.S. government to target its own citizens living abroad with
drone attacks."[3]
4. A 2011 study by the Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine indicated that nearly 50%
of spy UAV operators suffer from high stress.[4]
5. As of mid-2014, the U.S. Air Force is training more drone pilots than fighter and bomber
pilots combined.[5]
6. Safety is the concern with drones to avoid mid air collisions for that they should be
programmed with sense and avoid capabilities.
7. People who see their loved ones injured or killed in drone attacks become motivated to
join actions against the United States. According to author Jeremy Scahill, the vast
majority of militants operating in Yemen today are “people who are aggrieved by attacks
on their homes that forced them to go out and fight.”[6]
8. According to a meta-study of drone strikes, between 8 to 17% of all people killed in
drone strikes are civilians.[7]
9. According to top-secret intelligence reports reviewed by McClatchy Newspapers, drone
operators are not always certain of who they are killing “despite the administration’s
guarantees of the accuracy of the CIA’s targeting intelligence.”[8]
10. Drone strikes are legal under international law. Article 51 of the UN Charter provides for
a nation’s inherent right to self-defense when it has been attacked[9]
References
1. The Assassination Complex Archived 2018-03-30 at the Wayback Machine". The
Intercept. 15 October 2015
2. The Christian Science Monitor. "Drone aircraft in a stepped-up war in Afghanistan and
Pakistan". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
3. Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind. (7 February 2013) Public Say It's Illegal to
Target Americans Abroad as Some Question CIA Drone Attacks Press release.
4. "Drone warfare: Alone with a joystick". The Economist. 6 June 2013.
5. Drone pilots: Dilbert at war - The Economist". The Economist. Retrieved 8 January2015.
6. Howard LaFranchi, "American Public Has Few Qualms with Drone Strikes, Poll Finds,"
csmonitor.com, June 3, 2013
7. Ritka Singh, "A Meta-Study of Drone Strike Casualties," lawfareblog.com, July 22, 2013
8. Jonathan S. Landay, "Obama's Drone War Kills 'Others,' Not Just Al Qaida Leaders,"
mcclatchydc.com, Apr. 9, 2013
9. Charter of the United Nations, "Chapter VII: Action with Respect to Threats to the Peace,
Breaches of the Peace, and Acts of Aggression," un.org (accessed Dec. 18, 2013)
