Drone Wars: The Ethical Tug of War
Unseen, unmanned, just as, if not more, lethal as any other weapon of war. Although there are benefits to using unmanned vehicles, also known as drones, to make assaults on enemies, there are plenty of ethical and moral dilemmas that come along with them. Although drones save soldiers lives, they also put more civilian lives in danger, and in turn, cause more civilian casualties than if foot soldiers were used. Along with civilian casualties being a major factor, and a main negative factor on drones used in warfare, drones also end up creating more terrorists than they do eliminate them. Although saving soldiers should be a priority, so should keeping innocent bystanders safe and eliminating enemies faster …show more content…
When drones are used for raids on enemy hideouts, there is little to no worry about having soldiers lives lost. Drones are, and will always be an effective alternative for manned raids. The advantages of drones is that it “keeps soldiers, and pilots out of the way of bullets” (Murphy). This should be the most important thing when conducting wars, so many would think. Lowering the amount of soldier casualties in turn, leads to a more successful war/battle. Even though the strikes end up saving lives of Americans, it also puts the lives of civilians in danger. Drones are not as effective as foot soldiers because they can't make the calls on what is right and wrong when it comes to blasting a building to the ground. Drones just go out and do it. Although the enemy is killed in the process, “A high majority of those killed are in turn civilians” (Bamford). Killing civilians leads to backlash by those in the country we are conducting strikes on, and in the country the strikes originated in. At the end of the day, the real reason for the constant use of drones as weapons is simple, they are effective. There is no denying it “Military success has improved since the implementation of drones equipped with weapons” (Radsan). So, since there is an increase of soldiers surviving in war, and an increase in military effectiveness, there should be no issues with having civilian casualties. As many would issue “All is fair in love and war” it is just something that happens with wars. Yet that is an issue. It will stay and issue, until people with higher power create regulations on the types of weapons that drones can carry, or even ban drones with weapons in the first place. Although drones can save many lives, it does not make up for how many innocent it takes in the
Unseen, unmanned, just as, if not more, lethal as any other weapon of war. Although there are benefits to using unmanned vehicles, also known as drones, to make assaults on enemies, there are plenty of ethical and moral dilemmas that come along with them. Although drones save soldiers lives, they also put more civilian lives in danger, and in turn, cause more civilian casualties than if foot soldiers were used. Along with civilian casualties being a major factor, and a main negative factor on drones used in warfare, drones also end up creating more terrorists than they do eliminate them. Although saving soldiers should be a priority, so should keeping innocent bystanders safe and eliminating enemies faster …show more content…
When drones are used for raids on enemy hideouts, there is little to no worry about having soldiers lives lost. Drones are, and will always be an effective alternative for manned raids. The advantages of drones is that it “keeps soldiers, and pilots out of the way of bullets” (Murphy). This should be the most important thing when conducting wars, so many would think. Lowering the amount of soldier casualties in turn, leads to a more successful war/battle. Even though the strikes end up saving lives of Americans, it also puts the lives of civilians in danger. Drones are not as effective as foot soldiers because they can't make the calls on what is right and wrong when it comes to blasting a building to the ground. Drones just go out and do it. Although the enemy is killed in the process, “A high majority of those killed are in turn civilians” (Bamford). Killing civilians leads to backlash by those in the country we are conducting strikes on, and in the country the strikes originated in. At the end of the day, the real reason for the constant use of drones as weapons is simple, they are effective. There is no denying it “Military success has improved since the implementation of drones equipped with weapons” (Radsan). So, since there is an increase of soldiers surviving in war, and an increase in military effectiveness, there should be no issues with having civilian casualties. As many would issue “All is fair in love and war” it is just something that happens with wars. Yet that is an issue. It will stay and issue, until people with higher power create regulations on the types of weapons that drones can carry, or even ban drones with weapons in the first place. Although drones can save many lives, it does not make up for how many innocent it takes in the