The Importance of the Civilian Impact of US Drone Strikes

The US government claims that its covert drone program has little impact on the civilian populations in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia, where unmanned aerial vehicles are used to strike al-Qaeda and its affiliates. There is reason to believe this may not be true. While the Obama administration began publicly acknowledging in 2009 the use of drones outside of the Afghanistan combat theater, many elements of the program remain secret, leaving serious questions about the impact of the program on civilians.

For many Americans, drones make all the sense in the world. The public is tired of its sons and daughters being killed in faraway places for seemingly abstract reasons. For policymakers, drones may appear like the antidote to the expense, exhaustion, and dubious results of US military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq. For military strategists, drones may be preferable to other weapons. They can stay in the air for far longer than fighter jets and other aircraft and gather information that may assist in accurate targeting, helping to distinguish between civilians and combatants. This is especially true where drones’ around-the-clock video surveillance is supported by good ground intelligence.