I know that this is a controversial topic, but I feel like this is a topic that needs to be addressed.  Drone strikes inherently present a violation of respect, sovereignty, and an international rule of law.  Over the past few years Americans have become increasingly aware of the drone strikes happening abroad in places like Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Afghanistan.  These strikes are America’s answers to the terrorists that live in those areas.  Before drone strikes, US forces were sent abroad to fight, but soon after drones came along, the need for sending US soldiers to do the job lessened.  Though drones cost more than a pretty penny, many praised drones for their efficiency in counter-terrorism.

We know what drones are, but are they worth the price?

However, drone strikes sometimes target civilian areas and create collateral damage that lead to thousands of deaths.  Recently, for example, a hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan was bombed, killing innocent doctors, patients, staff members, and nearby civilians.  According to a recent post published by the Huffington Post, “nearly 90 percent of people killed in recent drone strikes in Afghanistan ‘were not the intended targets’ of the attacks.”  The collateral damage in foreign countries bombed by US drones inadvertently creates an atmosphere of hatred, animosity, and revenge that leads to more recruitment of extremist terrorism.  While drones were supposedly the solution to terrorism, more people are joining terrorist organizations in those third world countries because of those same drones.

Drones also violate the sovereignty of other nations.  There is seemingly a never ending cycle with terrorism: it comes, a superpower country tries to use its advanced technology to end it, people in areas destroyed by said technology learn to hate the superpower country, and those people join terrorist organizations.  Yes, the amount of American soldiers dying abroad has lessened and the American government is trying really hard to lessen amount of terrorists in unstable third world countries, but the death toll of innocent civilians in third world countries has drastically increased.  The American government might be trying hard, but it is not trying its best.  

Neither drone strikes nor US soldier intervention needs to happen to stop terrorism.  An alternative action would be for the United States to take the help of law enforcement and intelligence agencies abroad to effectively put individual terrorists behind bars.  This is a matter of diplomacy and will require a lot of cooperation and negotiations with the United Nations, but in order to create a world with a minimum amount of terrorism, every move has to be meticulously calculated.  The terrorist must be captured without innocent civilians dying.  Containing terrorism without causing casualties will be difficult, but the other choices do not seem preferable to using intelligence and law enforcement agencies to carefully track down terrorists using advanced technology that is NOT destructive.  An absence of drone strikes will create a safer environment for third world countries already in an unstable position.

NOTE: This is an opinion – it’s neither right nor wrong.  However, this post opens up the discussion to you.  What do you think about drones?  Please let us know in the comments section below.  Thanks!

Feel free to follow me on Twitter @MohitPuvvala

Source(s):

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/civilian-deaths-drone-strikes_us_561fafe2e4b028dd7ea6c4ff

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/05/asia/afghanistan-doctors-without-borders-kunduz-hospital/