ABstract Glass Castle
Killing Machines
A drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle, an aircraft, without a human pilot on board. Its flight is controlled by a pilot on the ground or in another vehicle. These drones are used for remote sensing, commercial aerial surveillance, domestic policing, transport, scientific research, armed attacks, search and rescue, etc. The most controversial use, however, is armed attack.
These drones are MQ-1 Predator UAV’s armed with Hellfire missiles. They were first used in 2001 from bases in Pakistan and Uzbekistan, aimed at high profile terrorist leaders. A benefit to using drones is that if they are shot down, there is no pilot to be captured and tortured. “Technology has been forever tilting the balance of battles since Goliath fell” Mark Bowden states in Killing Machines. This is proved true throughout all of history, you can have all the soldiers in the world but if your opposing country has a nuclear weapon then you stand no chance. Technology has brought us a long way in just the past 50 years. Something new is made or discovered every day in some country around the world.
These armed attacks with drones have been the cause to killing major al-Qaeda leaders and dozens of lower-ranking operatives. Drones are the Obama administration’s weapon of choice and Obama has signed off on over 400 attacks in the last four years. President George W Bush, however, only oversaw less than 50 strikes during his term. US drones have killed about 3,300 al Qaeda, Taliban, and other operatives in Pakistan and Yemen. The drones allow for a pilot’s life to not be in danger at the battlefront or risked being shot down. A pilot can sit at his desk, safely, on US soil and control the drone just as he could flying it. “He can, for instance, choose a moment when his victim is isolated, or traveling in a car, reducing the chance of harming anyone else.” These pilots watch the target for days, weeks, even months to gain knowledge on the person and their routines. This
A drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle, an aircraft, without a human pilot on board. Its flight is controlled by a pilot on the ground or in another vehicle. These drones are used for remote sensing, commercial aerial surveillance, domestic policing, transport, scientific research, armed attacks, search and rescue, etc. The most controversial use, however, is armed attack.
These drones are MQ-1 Predator UAV’s armed with Hellfire missiles. They were first used in 2001 from bases in Pakistan and Uzbekistan, aimed at high profile terrorist leaders. A benefit to using drones is that if they are shot down, there is no pilot to be captured and tortured. “Technology has been forever tilting the balance of battles since Goliath fell” Mark Bowden states in Killing Machines. This is proved true throughout all of history, you can have all the soldiers in the world but if your opposing country has a nuclear weapon then you stand no chance. Technology has brought us a long way in just the past 50 years. Something new is made or discovered every day in some country around the world.
These armed attacks with drones have been the cause to killing major al-Qaeda leaders and dozens of lower-ranking operatives. Drones are the Obama administration’s weapon of choice and Obama has signed off on over 400 attacks in the last four years. President George W Bush, however, only oversaw less than 50 strikes during his term. US drones have killed about 3,300 al Qaeda, Taliban, and other operatives in Pakistan and Yemen. The drones allow for a pilot’s life to not be in danger at the battlefront or risked being shot down. A pilot can sit at his desk, safely, on US soil and control the drone just as he could flying it. “He can, for instance, choose a moment when his victim is isolated, or traveling in a car, reducing the chance of harming anyone else.” These pilots watch the target for days, weeks, even months to gain knowledge on the person and their routines. This