The Impurities of Targeted Killing

 The Impurities of Targeted Killing       

       The issue of drone strikes certainly has much dichotomy.  But overall, it seems the the United States use of drones has created a very high number of civilian casualties, leading me to believe they should not be used at all.  For those who have read my previous blogs, I should not need to reiterate that I typically am relentlessly supportive of our government.  I do, however, realize that we perfect, nor do I expect us to be.  When it comes to war, I think minimizing civilian causalities should always be a number one concern.  As barbaric as the enemies we fight against can be, I believe the US government should always hold itself to a high standard.  It is evident that this is typically the case when you evaluate our countries meticulous rules of engagement.  But the use of drone strikes seem to undermine these rules.  More innocent lives seem to be lost as a result.  

         The International Security article "Drone War Pakistan: Analysis" provides enough evidence for me to conclude that drone strikes are not effective enough to be used as commonly as they are.  Since Obama has come into office, there have been 346 drone strikes on Pakistan.  Of those 346 strikes, an estimated 143-166 innocent lives have been claimed.  So in approximately half of all the targeted killings the government has issued, there have been civilian casualties.  In Yemen, a total of 117 strikes have been issued that resulted in 81-87 civilian casualties.  That means that between Pakistan and Yemen alone, close to 300 civilians have lost there lives as a result of the United States' use of targeted killings.  These numbers are  simply too high to support the use of drones.  

        I do feel there are other ways that are effective.  While targeted killings might be the "convenient" option for the United States, statistics show they have been the cause of many civilian deaths.  When the CIA believed they had discovered the compound which Osama Bin Ladin was hiding, president Obama considered using a drone strike to wipe out the entire compound.  He ruled against this option only because he wanted confirmation of Bin Ladin's death.  Not because he lacked the knowledge of whether innocent people could be living within the compound.  So when SEAL team 6 launched their night operation which ultimately killed Bin Ladin, they were able to effectively get to Osama without harming the many non-combatants within the houses (women, children etc.)  Special Forces are highly trained, and high effective and because of that, they prevented the deaths of all of the innocent people living in Bin Ladin's compound.  My point, here, is that there are other solutions to capturing and/or killing high value targets without the use of drones.  Methods that save the lives of civilians.  That is something we cannot overlook.