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Benjamin Rust
Professor Connie Douglas
English 112_78
11/6/2014

Drone Warfare
Military tactics have evolved just as much as the world. First developed in the early
1900s, unmanned flying drones have been used in warfare for many military tactics. A drone is
an aerial vehicle or aircraft without a human pilot in the pilots chair instead the aircraft is being
controlled from an air base by a soldier on a computer. Drones have many uses in warfare such
as; surveillance, reconnaissance, ground strikes, electronic attacks, and communication with
bases. These drones have helped keep military soldiers safe and out of harms way of
dangerous battle zones and off enemy territory. Although drones have helped in warfare there
are still negative sides, for example these attacks may kill innocent bystanders and also damage
large areas of land. Drones should still be used in warfare today because of all the benefits they
provide such as, keeping pilots safe, observing landscapes and providing alerts on attacks and
enemy camps.
With technology on such a rise in the past fifteen years it is no surprise that drone
warfare is becoming the new tactic for how wars are fought. However, sending drone attacks
causes tension in foreign countries and civilians that were not involved in the war become
involved. People are getting mad at the government for sending these strikes into foreign

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countries and are questioning why they are making these calls. With drones on the rise and
being easy to produce and manufacture it is impossible for the United States to stop other
militaries or terrorist groups from making their own.
Countries have been competing with one another for as long as history has been
written. War today is nothing like it was in any other period of time, people are smarter and
more advanced. America has always been the top Dog when it comes to warfare, and drones
has helped our military keep its rank. Drone warfare is the next new method of how wars will
be fought in the future. There is no way for America to stop other countries from producing
drones, because they are inexpensive and easy to make. Nearly 90 other countries already have
surveillance drones in their arsenals, and China is producing several inexpensive models for
export (D. Byman). These surveillance drones are spreading fast unlike the drones that carry
weapons. Armed Drones are more difficult to produce and deploy (D. Byman), however when
people start making them right the armed drones will spread at a fast rate.
Instead of America trying to stop the spread of drones they can set an example and
impact the way drones are used for warfare. With other countries following our lead we need
to be careful and not act over aggressively so we do not make a bad impression. The coming
proliferation means that Washington needs to set forth a set policy now on extrajudicial and
extraterritorial killings of terrorists (D. Byman). As long as we use drones in a safe and
protective way there should be no problem with threats of attacks from other countries. The
drones the United States have in Pakistan protect their citizens.

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The big disagreement with using drones is that they have been creating more terrorism
than stopping it. The government mostly calls drone strikes on areas with high terrorism,
however not everyone in the area is a terrorist and sometimes innocent civilians get killed.
When these civilians die their family is distraught and look for revenge. Drone strikes are
causing more and more Yemenis to hate America and Join radical militants; they are not driven
by ideology but rather by a sense of revenge and despair (I. Mothana). Drone attacks are
causing outbreaks of terrorist groups and might be doing the opposite of its job. These attacks
have caused political and economic consequences and are only making things worse.
When drone attacks kill innocent civilians terrorist groups know what people to seek out
and recruit to join their movement. The terrorist groups are also providing goods and services
to people that have been affected in these areas. When the terrorists help the people and
provide support the people are comfortable around them and give in and do what they say. A
new generation of leaders is spontaneously emerging in furious retaliation to attacks on their
territories and tribes (I. Mothana), which is causing long term damage in the drone program.
The main terrorist group in Yemen is ten times as strong today as it was a few years ago, going
from hundreds of members to thousands, because of the drone attacks by the United States.
The President of the United States is the person with all the power behind each drone
strike, he is the one that has the deciding vote whether or not the strike is carried out. Few
experts think the drone strikes should be halted or that the U.S. should return to its pre-Sept.
11 complacency (B. Iannotta). The Obama administrations sudden transparency about the
drone war has sparked a long overdue public debate about the appropriate role and scope of
the administrations policy of robotically killing enemies in distant lands (B. Iannotta). When a

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city is destroyed by a drone attack it is hard to investigate what was going on and try to gather
evidence or information of the terrorist group that was at that place. These strikes need to be
moderated more and there needs to be clear evidence of terrorist activity before we send any
attacks.
When the government carries out a drone attack the public has every right to know
when and where that attack is going to happen. Whether the issue is secret prisons,
extraordinary renditions or drone strikes, national security policy is strengthened, not
weakened, when the public is included in the conversation (B. Iannotta). When the public is not
made aware they rely on lawmakers to oversee and determine whether a drone strike would
be beneficial in certain situations. All of the peoples trust is in the government when they
decide on sending strikes and we just have to agree with them.
In conclusion we have learned many different uses for drones and how they have
changed warfare. Drones are creating enemies and making allies. The United States has the
biggest influence in drone warfare and has to make a good impression for other countries. With
drones being produced more frequently around the world it is going to be hard to control how
countries use drones. Drones are the new method for fighting a war and will continue to grow
and create new way of going to war with other countries.

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Works Cited
1. Byman, Daniel Why Drones Work." Foreign Affairs. 9 Oct. 2014. Web. 9 Oct. 2014.
2. Iannotta, Ben. "How Drones Are Used to Fight Terrorism Requires Public Debate."
Drones. Ed. Louise Gerdes. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2014. At Issue. Rpt. from
"Editorial: Debate the Drone War." Defense News 28 June 2012. Opposing
Viewpoints in Context. Web. 6 Nov. 2014.
3. Mothana, Ibrahim. "Drones Promote Terrorism." Drones. Ed. Louise Gerdes. Detroit:
Greenhaven Press, 2014. At Issue. Rpt. from "How Drones Help Al Qaeda." New
York Times 13 June 2012. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 6 Nov. 2014.