Bermeo 1

Miguel Bermeo
Mrs. Shari McGriff
ENC 1101
11/24/2018

The man impact behind Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

In today's news industry, there is a lot of fluff, lots of miscellaneous information that only lasts a

second. However, there is one consistent topic but it does not make the headlines. Under almost

every news agencies broadcast, in small fine print you read “Drone strike in Pakistan today kills

Al Qaeda syndicate” or “Drone strike in Yemen kills civilians” or “Drone strikes killed ISIS

leader”. However successful as these strikes may seem there is a reason they are kept quiet, they

should not be taking place. The availability of military unmanned aerial vehicles has become a

way for the executive branch to undermine the necessary steps needed before an act of

aggression can be carried out against another sovereign state, and use a less efficient and more

costly mean to wage war.

What is an Unmanned Aerial vehicle? Simply it is a vehicle that is not manned by a

human and controlled on its platform. In an interview with Lt. General David Deptula USAF

(Ret.) by Brian Glyn Williams, Lt. Gen Deptula states “The intent behind the term ‘Unmanned

Aerial Vehicle’-the term that is most commonly used by the department of defense-

Was to indicate that there is much more to operating and exploiting the unmanned vehicle than

simply the operation of the aircraft itself. In reality, today there is nothing unmanned about the

system, except the aircraft itself which does not have a pilot on board.” With this statement

UAVs can be seen for what they really are, remotely piloted aircraft without a pilot on board.

Not the Science fiction robots that are in common culture, but rather platforms that are piloted by
 Bermeo 2

humans far away from the conflict zone, with this being the case there still remains the fault of

human error and the imperfection within our species.

"In America, our Constitution explicitly divided the president’s role as commander in

chief in war from Congress’s role in declaring war. Yet these links and this division of labor are

now under siege as a result of a technology that our founding fathers never could have

imagined.” Singer, Peter. . In this text Singer illustrates how nowadays, the executive powers

that be are able to circumvent the process before going to war. With the availability of drones,

anywhere in the world can receive strikes with simply presidential power. This means that the

use of drone technology very well negates any necessity for consent of the governed to carry out

actions for the interests of the United States.

An example of the abuse of this power can be seen under the Obama administration with

the increased prevalence of drone strikes in Yemen. These strikes killed many civilians, and the

strikes themselves would be based off of inconclusive intelligence and factoring to determining

which forces and entities would be on the receiving end on these strikes. “Such Strikes do not

target known militants but rather people who are displaying the behaviors of suspected

militants.” Bergen, Peter. “Obama's High Stakes Drone War in Yemen”. This quote and article,

which gives an analysis as to how many strikes have occurred under the Obama administration,

illustrate how not only these strikes without constitutional backing but also are targeting civilians

and “Militants” who are not even confirmed to be conducting acts of terrorism. In a world where

innocence until proven guilty is held in the highest regard, it is clear that the use and prevalence

of UAVs does not uphold these standards and violates American exceptionalism and integrity

across the world.

 Bermeo 3

The steps necessary for an act of war to be carried out upon another nation are illustrated

under Article I, section 8 of the US constitution. In this section, congress shall be the entity that

declare war on a foreign power. Although this may be the case, congress has not declared an act

of war since 1942. Since then every war has not been officially declared by congress, and white

washed into being “Conflict resolutions” rather than actual declarations of war. Joshua

Anderson with an article from the Yale journal of international law illustrates, “As John Jay

wrote, one advantage to a republican union would have over a monarchy is ensuring against

war,” “not sanctified by justice or the voice and interest of the people” In this quote John Jay,

and Joshua Andersen write about the conceptual idea of America and its practice. We already

have the tools in place to mitigate the problem of unfair and unrighteous foreign intervention,

however we do not uphold those truths. Are drone strikes in Yemen, Mali, Niger, the Philippines,

Pakistan and Syria within the common interest of the American people?

There is a slick avenue that also removes the need for a declaration of war to be used on a

country before conducting strikes. It is the use of a civilian agency to conduct the strikes and

have foreign intervention, rather than the armed services of the United States. The exact agency

that conducts these kind of strikes overseas, is the CIA. Although the use of the CIA negates the

need for a declaration of war, it only alleviates the presidential burden of being responsible for

the conflict, as civilian agencies are prohibited from conducting such strikes in accordance with

civil law, “ Under the laws of war, only organized armed forces can kill during hostilities;

civilian agencies like the CIA cannot….”” Unlike the military, which has the laws of war to

guide it, we simply do not know how the CIA chooses targets and how many civilian bystanders

it decides can be killed before it suspends an airstrike.” Christian Montero “Use of Drone strikes:

deadly or legal”.
 Bermeo 4

The use of military unmanned aerial vehicles, or remotely piloted vehicles as the air force

calls them, also have accrued a bad rap for the amount of civilian casualties that have come by

result of their use. There is always collateral damage, but dozens and dozens of reports illustrate

that unmanned aerial vehicles have not had a good track record at keeping those numbers of

civilians killed down. As Maggie Michael and Maad Al-zirky of the associated press write “The

Associated Press found that at least 30 of the dead likely did not belong to al-Qaeda.

That is around a third of all those killed in drone strikes so far in 2018.” This report was

done on the ongoing Yemen conflict which is receiving the most coverage particularly in

critique of the US’s use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in the conflict. Additionally “The AP

count gives a glimpse, even if incomplete, into how often civilians are mistakenly hit by

drone strikes, at a time when the Trump administration has dramatically ramped up the use of

armed drones. It has carried out 176 strikes during its nearly two years in office, compared to

the 154 strikes during the entire eight years of the Obama administration, according to a

count by the AP and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.” Maggie Michael and others.

This goes to tell that the current strategy for the Middle East is going to continue and

intensify, and transcends American political party lines.

The mission does not to extend to just Yemen and Pakistan. For the reach of the Global War

on terrorism extends, well globally. Drone strikes are most prevalent in those countries, but the

threat of Islamic extremism, or at least that perceived threat shown by the media, extends into the

Middle East, south East Asia, Africa and Latin America. Andrew Bacevich Col. (Ret.) US Army,

PH.D., (334) “In Somalia, drone strikes began only in 2011, but US special operators, sometimes

employing AC-130 Spectre gunships, had been active in that country since 2007, as they

attempted to curb the activities of Al Shabab, another Al Qaeda affiliated group. In each of these
 Bermeo 5

three countries (Yemen, Libya, Somalia) commando raids supplemented the ongoing drone

campaign.” Thus making the drone campaign, and commitment of US forces larger than what

may be portrayed in the media.

With such a staggering loss of civilian life it seems that there is a disconnect when it

comes to selecting targets that are suitable for striking. The prevalence of civilian casualties

throughout conflicts like Yemen showcase how errant US foreign policy, on the shoulders of

UAVs has become. These mishaps do not only cause a severe penalty to human life, but they

also break international law. As Joshua Andersen 172 “Where commanders have fired only on

military objects and reasonably calculated military advantage to outweigh anticipated civilian

casualties, the drone strike should be found lawful. Such findings will reinforce the practice of

distinguishing military from civilian objects and calculating proportionality, while contributing

to much needed jurisprudence on the subject in the U.S.” this means that all of these strikes must

be reviewed, and prove that they followed proper protocol to ensure minimize civilian casualties.

Although, Misidentifying terrorists and killing loads of civilians whether because of

complacency or intent, is the grim reality.

To say that the US government, and particularly the Air force, does not take civilian

casualty considerations in hand would be a lie. There is a very strict Rules of Engagement policy

that is set in place, and the armed services must follow the Geneva Convention. It is a

consideration, but a civilian agency like the CIA and its contracted counterparts do not have to

“Adhere” to these policies do keep in mind. In the interview with Lt. Gen Deptula, Brian Glyn

Williams asks “No weapon system is perfect and all, for all their state-of-the-art technology,

even drones are only as good as the HUMINT [Human Intelligence] and technical intelligence

that goes into a strike. What does the air force do to prevent drone strike errors and how has it
 Bermeo 6

learned from past mistakes?” To which Lt. Gen. Deptula replied rather extensively “Every

Second of a remotely piloted aircraft high video footage, communication and aircraft parameters

is recorded and stored for very precise review and evaluation. This, ironically, is one of the

reasons, there is so much attention paid to what the media labels “drones”. Imagine if one could

see the result of every missile, artillery, mortar and rifle round fired, as is the case with drones. A

principal value of remotely piloted aircraft is that they provide a perspective only available from

operating in the air, and surveillance persistence to a degree much greater than an aircraft flown

by a pilot.” Drone operations are scrutinized, and rightfully so. And although there application

provides a better venue for situational analysis and time on target, the results of their

engagements are not in support that these policies and strategies are being carried out

successfully.

The air war in today’s time is certainly one of modern technology and futuristic

capabilities that hasn't been seen before. However, there is a case for drone crews and their use.

Over the course of the century, aviation has become a critical part of every conflict worldwide.

Not just for dropping bombs and fighting other planes either, but aircraft have been designed to

fit every need for any kind of conflict, from cargo, intelligence, medical evacuation, search and

rescue, reconnaissance, or even firefighting and environmental solution distribution. However all

these platforms have one thing in common, and that is manned crews. For every flight there is

always a combat and non-combat risk to aircrews.

This risk of could be best showcased on the second night of the first gulf war, during an

air force F-15E squadron targeted an oil refinery in Basra, Iraq. One of the F-15 E's, piloted by

Maj. Tom Koritz, M.D., fight pilot, and Weapons system officer Lt. Col. Donnie Holland would

perish due to enemy triple AAA fire. (Jim corrigan 84-88) This would not be the only aircrew
 Bermeo 7

lost in this conflict, “In April 1994, a flight of F-15C’s patrolling the northern zone miss-

identified a pair of army black hawk helicopters, which were ferrying an international team to

meet with Kurdish representatives. AWACS [Airborne Warning and Control System] filed to

correct the error and the eagles destroy both helicopters with missiles killing all twenty-six

aboard.” This loss of American Service men and women rocked the military community greatly,

as does any loss of life. Aviation in the armed forces is the most dangerous job and MOS, and

has the greatest peacetime mortality rate more than any other branch.

Drones mitigate this risk, they are able to be controlled from far away environments that

have no immediate threat or need for protection or defense. Although at the moment there is a

limit as to how effective drones can be, primarily due to the limitations of armament many

current platforms possess, there is also a great need and advantage to them. Although in the news

most drones are displayed solely as being used to drop “Warheads on Foreheads” drones are

actually used to collect intelligence and recon certain areas as well. All the while mitigating the

risk to aircrews and preventing the loss of life of American Service members in result of a crash.

The American people may stomach the loss of a few machines rather than their countrymen on a

regular basis.

The global war on terrorism has been one of the most costly wars in American history.

There are many reasons as to why that is, Afghanistan is the longest American war since our

inception, the US’s defense budget is more than the next 11 countries combined, state of the art

warfare has replaced older less effective number and ground heavy forces. The cost of the Iraq

war alone at one point in time, as illustrated by Andrew Bacevich Col. (Ret.) US Army Ph.D.

“Financial costs skyrocketed. By the end of 2004, U.S. war-related-expenditures in Iraq were

approaching 7 billion dollars a month…. Although President Bush had inherited a budget
 Bermeo 8

surplus, the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan combined to generate huge deficits. In

2004, the federal government spent 412 billion dollars more than it took.” The cost of war is

never cheap, and most of these prices were based off an invading force required to take over and

cease Iraq. However a considerable amount of the budget dedicated to Afghanistan was used

directly for drone strikes. To understand what is so expensive about drones, Justin Gonzalez

writes in “Drones are expensive and inefficient” that “A predator drone costs 12.5 million dollars

per unit, and one hellfire missile costs 70,000 USD.” As if that price tag is not enough to fathom,

he later goes on to display the volume of strikes and direct warheads used, that “Obama in 2016

dropped 24,000 bombs and missiles in that year alone” The 70,000 dollar price tag surely starts

to add up, if that was 2 years ago and the current administration is continuing to increase the

prevalence of drone strikes, and increase the amount of countries in which they occur, then how

large can that budget grow to?

In a TV age where media is at our fingertips, war should be one of the topics left out of it.

The lure of futuristic technology is exciting and thrilling to any, at this point we are advancing

further than our current understandings of the technology and how it should be regulated. The

drone wars over the past decade have costed human lives, and a tremendous financial burden on

our country. The fight for freedom must be preserved by a representative government, and an

active populous, not one that sits idle while powers in government go unchecked and wage

illegal conflicts that have no clear path of defense for the American public and homeland. It is

for these reasons that I encourage you to take action, by reviewing lawmakers foreign policy

ideas, keep track of “resolutions” and stay more aware with the US’s interventions around the

globe, the only way we can protect ourselves and others around the world is by doing just that.

So Vote!
 Bermeo 9

Works Cited

Bacevich, J. Andrew. America’s War For The Greater Middle East. New York:

Random House, 2017.

Corrigan, Jim. Desert Storm Air War. Guilford: Stackpoole books. 2017.

Montero, David. “Use of Drones in Pakistan and Afghanistan deadly, but legal?” The

Christian Science Monitor. August 2009

.https://www.csmonitor.com/World/terrorism-security/2009/0812/p99s01-duts.html

Michael, Maggie and Al-Zikry. “Hidden toll of US drone strikes in Yemen: Nearly a

third of deaths are civilians, not al-Qaeda” Military Times. November 14th

2018. https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/11/14/hidden-toll-of-us-

drone-strikes-in-yemen-nearly-a-third-of-deaths-are-civilians-not-al-qaida/

Amadeo, Kimberly. “US Military Budget, its components, Challenges, and Growth”

The Balance. November 12th 2018. https://www.thebalance.com/u-s-military-

budget-components-challenges-growth-3306320

Williams, Brian Glyn, and David Deptula. “The Drone Campaign against Al Qaeda and ISIS:

Interview with Lt. General David Deptula USAF (Ret.).” Perspectives on Terrorism, vol.

9, no. 3, 2015, pp. 65–70. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26297382

Andresen, Joshua. “Due Process for war in the age of Drones”. Yale Journal of

International Law. Article 5, vol. 41.

 Bermeo 10

Singer, W. Peter. “Do Drones Undermine Democracy” The New York Times.

January 21st 2012.

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/opinion/sunday/do-drones-

undermine-democracy.html

Gonzalez, Justin. “Drones are Expensive and Ineffective.” The Telescope. April

27th 2017. https://www2.palomar.edu/telescope/2017/04/27/drone-

strikes-needs-headline/

Bergen, Peter. “Obama's High Stake Drone War in Yemen” CNN. April 21st

2014.

https://www.realcleardefense.com/2014/04/22/obama039s_high-

stake_drone_war_in_yemen_261553.html