Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Drones on the Ground
- Part II Drones and the Laws of War
- Part III Drones and Policy
- 11 “Bring on the Magic”
- 12 The Five Deadly Flaws of Talking About Emerging Military Technologies and the Need for New Approaches to Law, Ethics, and War
- 13 Drones and Cognitive Dissonance
- 14 Predator Effect
- 15 Disciplining Drone Strikes
- 16 World of Drones
- Part IV Drones and the Future of War
- Index
- References
14 - Predator Effect
A Phenomenon Unique to the War on Terror
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 December 2014
By
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Drones on the Ground
- Part II Drones and the Laws of War
- Part III Drones and Policy
- 11 “Bring on the Magic”
- 12 The Five Deadly Flaws of Talking About Emerging Military Technologies and the Need for New Approaches to Law, Ethics, and War
- 13 Drones and Cognitive Dissonance
- 14 Predator Effect
- 15 Disciplining Drone Strikes
- 16 World of Drones
- Part IV Drones and the Future of War
- Index
- References
Summary
Drones and the CIA: A Model for Future Wars?
The widespread deployment of robotic systems in combat is one of the most significant technical advancements of the post-9/11 era. The technology that has attracted by far the most attention is the Predator, an armed drone used by the United States for reconnaissance and to conduct precision missile strikes on targets in many parts of the world. The US military has used Predators in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as part of NATO operations in Libya, and for more than 400 air strikes on terrorist targets in Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia, and the Philippines. The Predator has become a poster-child for the war on terror and some government officials have lauded it as the “the only game in town” for disrupting al-Qaeda. In light of the Predator’s widespread deployment and significant impact, it has become fairly common to hear that drones represent a revolutionary technology and herald a new era of warfare. Michael O’Hanlon, a defense policy expert at the Brookings Institution, has gone so far as to declare that “the era of manned airplanes should be seen as over.”
Despite the obvious novelty of drone use, these claims are both overly broad and excessively narrow. Arguments predicting a drone revolution are too broad, in part because commentators refer to drones as a single class of technology when in fact that there are many types of drones that are used in a variety of ways. While the US military has dozens of different types of drones (and other militaries have many additional versions), a significant amount of commentary focuses on armed Predator drones. Yet even discussions on the Predator are often too narrow because they focus on the transformative impact of the technology without considering the impact of the organizations and policies controlling drone operations, which may represent the predominant drivers of change.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Drone WarsTransforming Conflict, Law, and Policy, pp. 253 - 284Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014
References
, , , , , and , “The revolution in military affairs” in and (eds.), Battlefield of the future: 21st Century warfare issues (Maxwell Air Force Base, AL: Air University Press, 1995), pp. 65–97.Google Scholar
, “Beyond butterflies: Predator and the evolution of unmanned aerial vehicle in air force culture (BiblioScholar, 2012).
, and , The age of sacred terror: Radical Islam’s war against America (New York, NY: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2003), p. 321.Google Scholar
, Final report of the National Commission on terrorist attacks upon the United States (New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010), p. 189Google Scholar
, The art of intelligence: Lessons from a life in the CIA’s clandestine service (New York, NY: Penguin Press, 2012), p. 154.Google Scholar
, Ghost Wars: The secret history of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet invasion to September 10, 2001 (New York, NY: Penguin 2004), p. 534.Google Scholar
, Against all enemies: Inside America’s war on terror (New York, NY: Free Press, 2004), p. 222.Google Scholar
, At the center of the storm: The CIA during America’s time of crisis (New York, NY: Harper Perennial, 2008), pp. 177–178.Google Scholar
, and , “Threats and responses: Hunt for Al Qaeda; Bush has widened authority of CIA to kill terrorists,” New York Times, December 15, 2002.
, and , “Threats and responses: Hunt for suspects; Fatal strike in Yemen was based on rules set out by Bush,” New York Times, November 6, 2002
, and , “Threats and Responses: Hunt for Suspects; CIA is reported to kill a leader of Al Qaeda in Yemen,” New York Times, November 5, 2002.
, Between threats and war: U.S. discrete military operations in the post-cold war world (Stanford University Press, 2010), pp. 85–86Google Scholar
, The way of the knife: The CIA, a secret army, and a war at the ends of the Earth (New York, NY: Penguin Press, 2013), pp. 86–87.Google Scholar
, “A U.S. license to kill,” Los Angeles Times, January 11, 2003.
, “Top secret America,” PBS, Frontline, September 6, 2011.
, “CIA killed U.S. citizen in Yemen missile strike,” Washington Post, November 8, 2002.
, “Despite apparent success in Yemen, risks remain,” Los Angeles Times, November 6, 2002.
, “United States: Killing of Al Qaeda suspects was lawful,” Daily Times, November 25, 2002.
, and , “The opening shot,” Newsweek, November 18, 2002.
, “The intrigue behind the drone strike,” Christian Science Monitor, November 12, 2002.
, and , “Afghanistan, Iraq: Two wars collide,” Washington Post, October 22, 2004.
, and , “Ex-fighter for Taliban dies in strike in Pakistan,” New York Times, June 19, 2004
, and , “Night raid kills Nek, four other militants: Wana operation,” Dawn, June 19, 2004.
, “Nek killed in missile strike,” Daily Times, June 19, 2004.
, “High-profile attacks force Pakistan to confront extremists,” Washington Post, June 19, 2004
, “Surveillance operation in Pakistan located and killed Al Qaeda official,” Washington Post, May 15, 2005.
, “The courage of Pakistani journalists,” Atlantic, September 20, 2011.
, “Senior Al Qaeda commander killed,” Dawn, December 3, 2005.
, “Most Bajaur victims were under 20,” News International, November 5, 2006.
, “The day 69 children died,” Express Tribune, August 12, 2011.
, “At CIA, a convert to Islam leads the terrorism hunt,” Washington Post, March 24, 2012.
Manhunt: The ten-year search for Bin Laden–from 9/11 to Abbottabad (New York, NY: Crown, 2012), pp. 71–72.Google Scholar
, The longest war: The enduring conflict between America and Al-Qaeda (New York, NY: Free Press, 2011), p. 345Google Scholar
, “Increased U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan killing few high-value militants,” Washington Post, February 21, 2011.
, “The covert commander in chief,” Washington Post, September 10, 2011.
, “Drone war’s rules: Shoot first, ask permission later,” Wired, March 23, 2009.
, and , “CIA shifts focus to killing targets,” Washington Post, September 1, 2011.
, “C.I.A. leaves Pakistan base used for drone strikes,” New York Times, December 11, 2011.
, , and , “U.S. tightens drone rules,” Wall Street Journal, November 4, 2011.
, Rise of the drones II: Examining the legality of unmanned targeting: Hearing before the Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, 111th Cong., 2nd sess., April 28, 2010 (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office 2011).Google Scholar
, “Under Obama, an emerging global apparatus for drone killing,” Washington Post, December 27, 2011.
, “Congress zooms in on drone killings,” Los Angeles Times, June 25, 2012.
, “The rise of the killer drones: How America goes to war in secret,” Rolling Stone, April 16, 2012.
, “A CIA veteran transforms U.S. counterterrorism policy,” Washington Post, October 24, 2012.
, “Plan for hunting terrorists signals U.S. intends to keep adding names to kill lists,” Washington Post, October 23, 2012.
, and , “Secret ‘kill list’ proves a test of Obama’s principles and will,” New York Times, May 29, 2012.
, and , “U.S. knew of suspect’s tie to radical cleric,” New York Times, November 9, 2009.
, “Christmas day bomb plot detailed in court filings,” New York Times, February 10, 2012.
, Kill or capture: The war on terror and the soul of the Obama presidency (New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012), p. 260.Google Scholar
, and , “U.S. drone strike in Yemen is first since 2002,” Washington Post, May 5, 2011.
, “Manhunt: The Bush administration’s new strategy in the war against terrorism,” New Yorker, December 23, 2002.
, “CIA seeks to expand drone fleet, officials say,” Washington Post, October 18, 2012.
, “Drone strike said to kill at least 8 in Pakistan,” New York Times, May 6, 2011
, “Coming soon: The drone arms race,” New York Times, October 8, 2011.
, , and , “Drone strikes’ risks to get rare moment in the pubic eye,” New York Times, February 5, 2013
, “Yemeni president acknowledges approving U.S. drone strikes,” Washington Post, September 29, 2012.
, “U.S. acknowledges its drone strikes,” Wall Street Journal, June 15, 2012.
, “U.S. drone targets in Yemen raise questions,” Washington Post, June 2, 2012.
, “Yemen’s leader, President Hadi, praises U.S. drone strikes,” New York Times, September 29, 2012.
, “When U.S. drones kill civilians, Yemen’s government tries to conceal it,” Washington Post, December 24, 2012.
, “Drone use surges in Yemen, the frontline against Al Qaeda,” Christian Science Monitor, December 28, 2012.
, “The drone blowback fallacy,” Foreign Affairs, July 1, 2012.
, “Drone war spurs Pakistan militants to deadly reprisals,” New York Times, December 29, 2012.
Pew Research Center, “Pakistani public opinion ever more critical of U.S,” Global Attitudes Project, June 27, 2012
Pew Research Center, “Global opinion of Obama slips, international policies faulted: Drones strikes widely opposed,” Global Attitudes Project, June 13, 2012
, and , “Where the drones are,” Foreign Policy, May 29, 2012.
, and , “U.S. drone targets two leaders of Somali group allied with al-Qaeda, official says,” Washington Post, June 29, 2011.
, “US accused of making insect spy robots,” Telegraph, October 10, 2007.
, “The secret war: How U.S. hunted AQ in Africa,” Army Times, October 30, 2011
, “US drones circle over the Philippines,” Asia Times, February 29, 2012
, “U.S. drones crowd Iraq’s skies to fight insurgents,” New York Times, April 5, 2005
, “Obama’s pick for CIA could affect drone program,” Washington Post, November 24, 2012.
, “Predator drones ‘useless’ in most wars, top air force general says,” Foreign Policy, September 19, 2013.
, Wired for war: The robotics revolution and conflict in the 21st century (New York, NY: Penguin Press, 2009), p. 62.Google Scholar
- 2
- Cited by