Debate: Remote-control warfare

What are the pros and cons of drone operations?

Background and Context of Debate:

Ethics: Can pilotless airplanes be morally justified?

Pro

• "Pilotless aircraft can hit targets without placing a pilot in harm's way." [The Economist, "Droning on", April 2010]

Con

• Killing civilians. Attacks on civilian sites (if they had not been so commandeered) "may constitute war crimes. (...) On June 23rd 2009, for example, an attack on a funeral in South Waziristan killed 80 non-combatants." [The Economist, "Droning on", April 2010]

Efficiency: Are drone operations crucial for military success?

Pro

• They are useful for assassinations. "On February 17th [2010], for example, Sheikh Mansoor, an al-Qaeda leader in the Pakistani district of North Waziristan, was killed by a drone-borne Hellfire." [The Economist, "Droning on", April 2010]

Con

• They are counterproductive. Errors, such as accidental bombing of civilian sites, "are not only tragic, but also counterproductive. Sympathetic local politicians will be embarrassed and previously neutral non-combatants may take the enemy's side." [The Economist, "Droning on", April 2010]

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Pro

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Con

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See also

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