Drone Horrors

Author: Daily Times

Drone warfare in Waziristan has long been legitimised through a discourse on humanism that claims very low rates of civilian casualties and a concerted effort to spare the lives of the innocent. But what of the two children who lost their lives to a drone strike in South Waziristan just yesterday? Pakistan has denied that they initiated the drone strike but if they didn’t, answers should be sought regarding who did.

Drone strikes in Waziristan have killed a substantial number of civilians in the past; tearing apart Waziri civil society and further cultivating a culture of terror. We now know that drone essentialism-a conviction claiming that drones are used in a way to minimise suffering-conceals a process that has enabled drones to become terror weapons.

These were the same justifications provided by the US when it waged its war on terror against Pakistan; arguing that it represented a kinder way of fighting insurgents more in line with international statutes on war-so precise that they kill only the intended target, magically sparing everyone else.

But the truth is that drone operators themselves do not know how many civilians lie in collapsed buildings. In a war where insurgents do not wear uniforms, they use a flawed methodology that counts all military-aged males in a strike zone as combatants.

While there are no reliable accounts of the exact number of casualties produced by drone attacks, the error rate is incredibly high. Material casualties set aside, the terror of drone strikes lies in their ability to impart psychological and cultural damage.

Even when drones kill relatively few people, they terrify many more. It is impossible to uproot terrorism through a culture of fear for the innocents who watch and hear the incessant buzzing of drones circling and hovering over their neighbourhoods for hours, sometimes, for days at a time. That alone is enough to ruin someone’s life. Imagine the horror when they actually die due to such a strike. *

Share
Leave a Comment

Recent Posts

  • Editorial

Targeted Tragedy

By the time of writing this editorial on Thursday evening, the number of innocent passengers…

8 hours ago
  • Cartoons

TODAY’S CARTOON

8 hours ago
  • Editorial

Sour Sweeteners

Sugar. The sweetener word brings sour taste to one's mind when people come across the…

8 hours ago
  • Op-Ed

Trump’s Bureaucracy Cuts

The stunning results of the USA elections surprised both Democrats and Republicans alike. Trump's unprecedented…

8 hours ago
  • Op-Ed

Countering Misinformation

The advancement of technology around the world and the widespread spread of social media have…

8 hours ago
  • Op-Ed

“It’s the economy stupid!”

Pakistan's democratic system is in jeopardy. Civilians and the military have taken turns to rule…

8 hours ago