I want to write about combat drones that are being flown over Afghanistan from the New York Air National Guard Base in Syracuse. Drones are unmanned fighter jets that are flown my remote control. Last April, thirty eight protestors were arrested outside of the base because they were participating in a “die-in”. They argued that drones were killing innocent civilians in Middle Eastern countries. However, the problem is that I am not sure if I want to support the protestors or support the use of drones. There are very good reasons to be for or against their use.
If I was to support drones I would make the following points:
- They can perform missions that are otherwise too dangerous for ground troops- The only risk involved is losing the aircraft
- They provide surveillance 24/7 to keep ground troops out of harm’s way
- They are cost effective. Drones cost approximately $4.5 million while an average fighter jet costs around $150 million. This would help to reduce the military budget
- One setback for using drones is that it is very difficult to distinguish between civilians and terrorists. However technology is improving everyday and this problem can be resolved.
If I was going to agree with the protestors I would make these points:
- As I mentioned earlier, drones cannot distinguish between the enemy and civilians. Killing innocent civilians is a violation of international human right laws. So…the US is committing a crime by using drones. One of the protestors compares the use of drones to the Jewish Holocaust. I can quote her in the publication.
- I can use moral & ethical arguments: For example, I can say that drones devalue human life: firing missiles from a drone from behind a computer monitor is the same is playing a violent video game
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