These Aren't the Drones We're Looking For

These Aren’t the Drones We’re Looking For

    The concept of unmanned remote controlled drones is brilliant. There are many possibilities for using the various drones we have built and are planning to build. There are Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) That fly around like fly like planes, quad-rotor drones, and drones that walk on four legs. In theory the use of these drones in the military should have made missions safer. However, this safety only seems to work one way. The casualty rate among civilians killed is unacceptably high. Since their implementation, hundreds of civilians have been killed in drone strikes many of which were children. There have been estimates that say as many as 50 civilians are killed for every single enemy combatant. Drone strikes have also been striking terror into the civilians in the area. Many civilians live in fear that they may be gunned down at any time.

Much of this may be caused by the training and protocol in the operation of drones in missions. When compared to similar missions that are carried out by manned aircraft which have much less civilian casualties. This is because pilots of aircraft go through strict and rigorous training in order to keep casualties to a minimum. However  because the drone program is relatively new and the massive growth in the program in recent years there is not as much emphasis in training operators to keep civilians casualties low. Some of the operating procedure for drones is to circle back after the initial  strike and attack anyone attempting to aid the injured regardless whether they are civilians or not. This is an inhumane way of dealing with combatants and makes it impossible to tell if you are shooting at a civilians.

Drones are being used to attack enemy combatants in busy city streets and areas where there are many civilians. Prior to drone strikes these missions were done by groups of soldiers or manned aircraft. Using drones in place of the soldiers may keep our soldiers safe but it is coming at the cost of hundreds of civilians. With more and more drones being built and developed I fear that this trend of disregard towards civilians continue. There may be a dehumanizing aspect of seeing people miles away on a small screen. With the operator only seeing people as targets instead of as people. I believe that unmanned remotely controlled drones are amazing inventions, but only if they are used responsibility. I believe they could be vital for exploration, rescue missions, and even attacking dangerous targets away from civilians. But as we have seen the current way we use them is creating far more death and destruction than there needs to be. If this trend continues with new drones in development, we are creating mechanical combatants with complete disregard for who ends up in its sights. There needs to be proper training and procedure to prevent unnecessary tragedies.