The Pros And Cons Of Drone Warfare

In this essay will discuss the pros and cons of drone warfare considering the current moral and ethical debate. It will firstly discuss what drones are, they’re pros and cons, and will cover several aspects linked to the current debates with regards to drone usage and the implications of either following correct procedures or using drones for illegitimate reasons. Autonomous weapons and their relation to drones will also be discussed.

Drones can be described as machines which can operate without there having to be an individual manning them but they are operated with the use of remote controls by a pilot at a further destination. These pilots make decisions with regards to when they fire the weapons. Drones are especially increasingly used

The debates related to the law as well as the ethics surrounding the use of drones have been neglected. There has also been a noticeable increase in the number of times in which drones are used. When referring back to the pros of drones we see that drones are able to be on standby for up to 18 hours this allowing the pilot to make the decision to fire it when they think that it is the right moment. This increases the success rate of drones and decreases the harm which would be caused to innocent individuals if perhaps the time when the drone was fired was not a suitable one. This makes drones an ideal candidate when it comes to the tracking and killing of terrorist groups whereby other options cannot be taken into consideration due to certain risks etcetera. Terrorist groups can be put to a stop without having to sacrifice the lives of soldiers and putting their lives at risk; no blood shed. Several questions are asked such as whether or not a form of restraint has been removed if war causes no risk to individuals’ ‘lives? Also, if weapons of the future are smart enough to act on their own then who will be held liable if an algorithm is unable to tell the difference between a tank and a school bus with innocent civilians? These are ethical questions and the United States must prove that an attack is essential because or the right to self-defence. The responsibility aspect of the debate is

At the end of the day drones are not solely self-operating machines, they are machines which people are in charge of and are not “independent moral agents”. There are obviously pros and cons related to drone usage , some of which are extreme but a border line needs to be found between these or else there will be an infinite debacle about the issue but it will never truly be resolved. Drones should be used to eliminate targets only in situations where no other option would be viable and civilians are not caught up in the