22 Years of Drone Warfare and No End in Sight
22 Years of Drone Warfare and No End in Sight
www.counterpunch.org
22 Years of Drone Warfare and No End in Sight
28 comments
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Keep warfare artisanal!
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I prefer my wars more down to earth with that personal touch.
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“Drones,” he wrote, “have done their job remarkably well… And they have done so at little financial cost, at no risk to U.S. forces, and with fewer civilian casualties than many alternative methods would have caused.”
Hard disagree. They keep US soldier casualties low and that’s all the politicians care about; preventing bad press. The risk to US forces shouldn’t be zero; they volunteered for the military and dangerous missions while civilians in their homes have not. Civilian casualties are high because they bomb without talking to people on the ground; which leads to hospitals being blown up which wouldn’t happen in other methods.
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Diplomacy is what keeps civilians alive, a lack of Diplomacy kills civilians.
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Drone warfare is the future.
28 comments
Criticisms of drones don't survive even a cursory deep dive on the history of aviation warfare. Just because put a pilot in the plane does not make the bombing more ethical. It does make for more mistakes and collateral damage though.
The response to this is to talk about accountability. As if pilots were not being shielded from command decisions to begin with.
You’re right. The problem isn’t drones vs manned planes, it’s why are governments bombing people? The U.S. bombed weddings and hospitals and actively obstructed investigations into them, and unilaterally redefined the rules of engagement to treat all deaths as military casualties despite children dying.
Every single bomb was accused of being against a civilian. That's not hyperbole. Not one. It's easy to claim your enemy bombs civilians when you don't wear a uniform. That's why it's considered a war crime, not the other way around.
Every drone strike goes through a legal process to ensure the target is a military target and civilian casualties are minimal. When the target surrounds themselves with human shields it doesn't stop strikes, it just makes strikes more precise.
When possible.