Unmanned killing jets
Shahriar Feroze ruminates on a book that exposes history, politics and the secrets of the unmanned aerial vehicle
Medea Benjamin's Drone Warfare is a well researched book full of firsthand reports, investigative writing, and historical facts enriched with one-to-one encounters with victims of US drone attacks and technical information about the unmanned aerial vehicle. The book comes with fearless comments on what she terms 'Drone politics' spearheaded by American politicians and the Pentagon.
The book, having nine chapters with an introductory note and a conclusion, comes at a time when use of drones by the US in war-torn countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen has given rise to serious debates following deaths of innocent civilians and children.
The military role of unmanned aircraft systems is growing at an unprecedented rate. Its use in the US has not only been upgraded but also increased 40-fold within the span of a single decade. So has increased the mass abuse of the drone technology.
As Benjamin's well-researched book points out, speculation about the potential of autonomous flying vehicles long predates their actual construction. It was in the early 19880s that one Abraham Karem, chief designer for the Israeli air force, who migrated to California, began building drones in his garage with direct support from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and, later, from the CIA.
Although it may never be known how many civilians have actually died so far as a result of U.S. UAV strikes in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq but there are estimates of thousands of innocent bystanders who have perished due to drone attacks carried out from as far as 8,000 miles and more.
Military abuse of drones is the focus of Benjamin's book. Though initially used for surveillance, by 2003, US drones were flying 1500 hours a month in Iraq; and by 2010, 20 Predator flights were providing some 500 hours of video surveillance a day in Afghanistan. Their use was limited during George W Bush's presidency, which Barack Obama widened by approving "targeted killing". An escalation in drone use has also been pioneered by the Israelis in Gaza.
Chapters 5-9 of the book urge readers to create a global campaign against the use of drones. To our relief, her campaign comes with jaw-dropping data, with hundreds of thousands of peace lovers supporting this cause.
Nevertheless, an advanced technology such as this can be used for the common good of mankind. It largely depends on the intention on how the technology should be used. As of late, US intentions and practices of unmanned mechanical planes known as drones have been criticized globally for an alarming number of civilian casualties in times of ongoing and non-military conflicts.
Shahriar Feroze is current affairs analyst, The Daily Star.
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