The first article I found for this week’s blog entry is by Danial BYman on the Foreign Affairs website. The article was written in 2013, and focuses on my topic of Yemen drone strikes. The author makes a case for using drone strikes over other forms of military intervention, and also addresses criticisms. A big issue with drone strikes are the civilian deaths it causes. Indeed, the reported numbers are high, one must look at the alternative forms of military tactics to really determine wether drone attack are effective. When compared to Tomahawk cruise missiles and F-16s, data shows that drones are the more discriminate form of force. What’s more, putting US soldiers on Yemen ground to combat terrorists is very costly. The author continues by addressing the outrage that Yemen citizens feel over drone attacks. He points out that, despite their objections, the drone strikes are actually doing more good for the citizens than harm, because the attacks kill the militants that cause corruption and poor economic growth in their country. It is hard to make that argument however, when the strikes kill innocents.
This next article by The Washington Post is an in-depth article covering aspects of drone warfare and it’s legitimacy. The author notes how drone attacks have been used to kill US citizens without trial. He also details some drone facts such as the amount of damage they cause:”They feature a maximum payload of 3,000 pounds, or 1.5 tons. That means they can carry a combination of Hellfires and larger 500 pound bombs like the GBU-12 Paveway II and GBD-38 JDAM. Those have an “effective casualty radius” of about 200 feet. That means that about 50 percent of people within 200 feet of the blast site will die.” He goes on to cite the toll in both militant and civilian deaths: estimates range from 3,500 to 4,700 combined deaths by various sources, and 446 to 978 for civilians only. Looking at both these articles, I can start to see drones in a new light. One aspect is the accuracy and expense of drones compared to other forms of military force. It does seem like the best way to handle operations, but after learning of the civilian death numbers, I have to wonder wether or not these military operations in the middle east are helping our cause. Even of the drones are more accurate and less expensive, they are still killing many innocents and could possibly be causing more recruits than what the drone attacks take away.