The Pros And Cons Of Drones

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During the early 20th century, the allied powers started to develop a type of technology, which had the sole purpose of surveying enemy territory. During both World Wars, both the Allied Powers and the Axis Powers used aerial surveillance extensively. This was extremely crucial because of the fact that aerial surveillance monitored enemy grounds, which was the foundation of battle-plans and warfare tactics. As technology advanced towards the early 21st century, many engineers and military tacticians were determined to see how the new technology could be used to advance drones. In the early stages of development, drones were used to help pilots with control as well as use anti-aircraft gunners. The superpowers of the world like the United …show more content…
There were a series of initiatives between the 1920’s to the 1980’s like the Aphrodite Operation, Lightning Bugs in Vietnam, and the Compass Cope Program that kick started the evolution of unmanned vehicles from being aerial surveillance to being a predator drone. An Israeli-immigrant by the name of Abraham Karem built the first predator drone. The drone could fly 56 hours consistently, which broke the previous record of two hours of surveillance. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) quickly assimilated this project. Since the tragic event of 9/11 and the “hide-and-seek” of Osama Bin Laden, drones have been more potent in military tactics. However, are drones really necessary despite all the setbacks? Drones are unethical and should be banned from all uses in warfare. This is because the predator drone causes civilian casualties, causes more hatred towards western countries, which can lead to increased rate of terrorism, and breaks international law by trespassing the sovereignty of other countries as well as severs …show more content…
They blend in with the common people, pretending to be regular civilians but inside, they bide their time and calculate their plans. Army personal that control the unmanned vehicles from control stations use many equipment such as high-tech cameras, sonar, high frequency radio stations, satellites, etc. All of the equipment is used to triangulate the target’s location as well as any environmental or man-made barriers that protect the target. The official at the target center has an objective, which is to complete the objective without any casualties. The question in many higher official’s minds is why are innocent men, women, and children still being killed despite all the precaution? According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, since 2004, there have been 408 drone strikes in tribal region of Pakistan alone. The result of these drone strikes has reportedly killed 2,410-3,902 people. From that range, approximately 416-959 civilians have been killed and 168-204 children from the civilian totals have been killed. Overall, 1,133-1,706 people have been injured and may have later died from those injuries. When looking at these statistics, does it seem moral and ethical to take the life of those civilians, especially when