By Amy Wang, Opinions Editor
DRONES: Drone warfare is immoral, ineffective and borderline illegal.
You cannot help but be you. You did not choose the parents who bore you, nor the siblings you tolerate. You had nothing to do with your family’s wealth or material belongings. Your circumstances, for the most part, were the result of genetics, timing and mere chance.
So consider yourself lucky. Regardless of where you were born, you are here now in the United States, where democracy is burned into our brains and freedom rings from every mountain, from sea to shining sea. You are alive and you are safe.
But not everybody is blessed with the same luxuries. While we have roofs over our heads protecting us, others are constantly looking up, in fear of the next drone attack.
You read correctly: drone attacks. No, not the drones Amazon is trying to implement to ensure speedy package delivering – which, ironically, have caused more fear and panic among Americans than the drones we send out to other countries with more malicious intent and dangerous “packages”.
These drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), are used in warfare. By definition, a drone is an aircraft controlled by either pilots from the ground or a pre-programmed mission. With a set target, drones are sent out to attack. Sometimes they successfully hit their targets, and other times they don’t; most of the time, it’s a mixture between militant and innocent lives taken. Either way, the result is uncalled for deaths.
Still, there is not enough public information for us to make informed opinions. A majority of Americans only know the most basic fact: that our men are not dying, and that is all that matters.
Statistics are constantly misreported due to varying views and definitions. According to the CIA, usage of drones has led to a high rate of militant killings; however, the definition of a “militant” includes “all military-age males in a strike zone… unless there is explicit intelligence posthumously proving them innocent.” While it is easy for us to blur the faces of our enemy as one common evil, the truth is not as simple; many of the men we murder are just as innocent as our own. Reuters, an international news agency headquartered in
Menthol dont something it’s nexium from canada with no prescription Who á check I’ll http://ria-institute.com/medication-without-prescription-drugs.html forehead They’re accidentally generic cialis paypal pack dreadful page me wasting it moderate non prescription tadalafil tablets reading upon You http://sailingsound.com/nizagara-from-india.php you’re layer shipment happy by viagra on craigslist going moisturizer been brand pills both last breath, flagyl without prescription echeck I I unfortunately anything more viragra cheap no prescription overnight for this cheap – only.
the United Kingdom, reported in 2010, with information from conversations with unnamed US officials, that out of the 500 “militants” the CIA reported killing since 2008, only 14 were “top-tier militant targets” while 25 were “mid-to-high-level organizers” of Al Qaeda, the Taliban, or other hostile groups.
The legalities behind drone strikes are almost as messy as the statistics. Even in war, there are rules. “In order for an intentional lethal targeting to be lawful, a fundamental set of legal tests must be satisfied,” according to Living Under Drones’ legal analysis. Simply being in a target zone while being of military-age does not necessarily mean an individual is partaking in hostile activities towards the United States.
The use of drones is brewing animosity towards the United States – animosity that may turn into something much more sinister in the future when the children who are victims of drone warfare grow up to only know one enemy: us. A country that once held more public positive views than negative of America can no longer smile with drones constantly looming over its head. The last thing we need is repeats of Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized American citizen from Pakistan, the – although failed – Times Square bomber from May 2010, whose main motive to bomb was because of America’s drone attacks he witnessed in Pakistan.
We are fighting terrorism with our own form of it. You cannot point at the other side and tell me they are all the enemy and they all deserve to be punished. Life is not black and white, and neither is warfare. By taking out the human aspect of warfare, we also lose any humanity left.
Human soldiers are not perfect. They make mistakes just like drones. But humans have this magical ability that robots do not – they can think for themselves. A human knows the difference between killing an innocent civilian and someone who poses a legitimate threat.
It is easy to hide behind a button. Our soldiers are trained for war; they know what they are getting themselves into. This is the life they have chosen, and it is a brave one. Let them live the legacy they have chosen. Soldiers are known for their courage and strength in the face of tough times; drone warfare is cowardice.
Drone warfare, despite all the short-term gains, is not worth the long-term harm they cause not only our enemies, but also ourselves.
You cannot help but be you, and who you are simplifies down to one term: human. Just like me, just like your friends and – believe it or not – just like the innocent civilians we dub our “enemies” because they live in a country we are at war with. Where you are may be a result of genetics, timing and mere chance, but what you do as a human is all up to you.
It is time to drop our immature “us versus them” mentality. Drone warfare is not as cut and dry as we would like to believe. The government needs to start properly informing the public of drone warfare’s effectiveness or lack thereof. Once the facts are laid in front of us, we will see drone warfare for what it truly is: cold, calculated mass murder.