How We Do Drone On!

In older times, military surrogates were usually mercenaries hired by one side to fight against the “enemy” on the other. Oh sure, “surrogate wars” were/are often fought between the puppets of greater powers rather than risk more direct confrontations: the squabbling factions within Vietnam represented communists backed by the USSR and China against “elected” governmental and pro-Western forces backed by US troops aimed at preventing a fall of Asian dominos into the communist bloc or Iran’s backing anti-U.S. terrorists and our funding Israel’s clandestine subversive activities in Iran. But mostly, it was men and machines on the same battlefield, inflicting as much damage on the enemy as possible.

But now, hugely expensive weapon systems – from the $385 billion F-35 fighter-bomber program to the $4.5 billion average cost to build each ship in our fleet of 10 Nimitz Class nuclear aircraft carriers – are decimating our deficit and impairing the nation’s very ability to continue under the strain of sophisticated weapons systems that may simply have grown too big to sustain economically. The rage, these days, is the use of drones: unmanned mobile robots that are used for everything from surveillance to delivering missiles and smart bombs with little chance of detection and zero chance of killing the pilot, often located thousands of miles away at a military based somewhere in the United States. Foreign powers have them. Some police departments have them. And for about $16K, you could have a drone to fly over and check out your competitor “up close and personal.” Most are aircraft, but there are little robotic boats able to attack with lethal torpedoes and missiles as well.

This newest fad in military technology is clearly a very high priority among the highest ranking officers at the Pentagon, all probably getting the feeling that the years of wildly uncontrolled budgets are no longer supportable. Though sophisticated drones can cost seven figures, that’s still a whole lot cheaper than the $100 million plus some of our most sophisticated jet fighters cost today.

And the Obama administration has grown this lethal capacity into a very powerful and sophisticated surveillance and assassination network: “In the space of three years, the administration has built an extensive apparatus for using drones to carry out targeted killings of suspected terrorists and stealth surveillance of other adversaries. The apparatus involves dozens of secret facilities, including two operational hubs on the East Coast, virtual Air Force­ ­cockpits in the Southwest and clandestine bases in at least six countries on two continents… With a year to go in President Obama’s first term, his administration can point to undeniable results: Osama bin Laden is dead, the core al-Qaeda network is near defeat, and members of its regional affiliates scan the sky for metallic glints.

“Those results, delivered with unprecedented precision from aircraft that put no American pilots at risk, may help explain why the drone campaign has never attracted as much scrutiny as the detention or interrogation programs of the George W. Bush era. Although human rights advocates and others are increasingly critical of the drone program, the level of public debate remains muted.” Washington Post, December 27^th. There is very little Congressional oversight in connection with attacks mounted with drones, and it is fairly easy and very antiseptic to order a killing in which no American soldier would be placed in harm’s way. Statutes require Congressional notification, but there are many who argue that current practices provide too little information too late… that there should be some civilian authorization before the attack. “Within 24 hours of every CIA drone strike, a classified fax machine lights up in the secure spaces of the Senate intelligence committee, spitting out a report on the location, target and result.

“The outdated procedure reflects the agency’s effort to comply with Title 50 requirements that Congress be provided with timely, written notification of covert action overseas. There is no comparable requirement in Title 10, and the Senate Armed Services Committee can go days before learning the details of JSOC strikes.” The Post. And just think how a well-placed drone strike can become the little event that triggers a full-on war. Drone attacks are high on the list of American practices that have all but destroyed the tattered threads we call the “relationship” between the US and Pakistan. While they may be highly cost effective, drones are also too easy to use… making getting embroiled in military expeditions way too easy. Where is the balance, and when will Congress address the obvious need to make the use of assassination drones subject to a lot more civilian scrutiny?

I’m Peter Dekom, and does anybody really believe that the US allowed Iran to capture one of its more sophisticated drones intact… by accident?