4/25/14
Drone Strikes Not The Answer On the morning of March 17th, 2011, in a town of Datta Khel, North Warziristan, two missiles sent from a US drone struck ground, killing forty-two people and injuring 14 others. Out of the forty-two people who were killed, thirty-four of them were civilians. The USA’s use of specialized drones to carry out military missions does not promote the ideals of our country and the amount of civilian deaths is much greater than the amount of militant deaths. Therefore, the United States of America should cease the use of specialized military drones in all fields of combat. January 23rd, 2014 marked as the fifth year anniversary of President Obama’s drone campaign. This campaign began when a CIA drone demolished a house in Pakistan’s tribal region. On this day, fourteen civilians were killed compared to the three reported military associated deaths. Only one survivor was left from the blast, a fourteen year old Pakistani boy who was left crippled and blinded from the strike (BureauInvestigates). According to The Washington Post, at least fifty-seven of the eighty-two casualties suffered in 2009 from drone strikes have been civilians. The bottom line is that drone strikes are simply not effective. Originally promoted by President Obama as an efficient way of dealing with military combatants, the drone strikes have served as the opposite. An estimated number of 2,200 people have been killed by drone strikes in the past five years (Washington Post). Though we do not know the specifics of these casualties, it is suspect to believe that more than half of these deaths were of civilians. It is a truly disturbing number to a nation that prides itself as being a watchful protector of the world. When confronted with the efficiency of drone strikes, President Obama claimed that he “wrestles” with civilian casualties. However, he claims that “It is necessary to keep the American people safe” (New York Times). From what we can tell from the statistics, these drones strikes are in no way necessary. Though they may get the job done, at what cost? There is no excuse for innocent deaths in exchange of the lives of suspected criminals. The United States need to end the use of drone strikes as soon as possible because it goes against what our nation stands for. In May of 2012, President Obama held a press conference in which he revealed that he would be cutting the number of drone strikes in the Middle East. The President