Governance, Ethics and Law: What You Need to Know

Michael Walzer argues that drone warfare poses limited risks to the people involved, and they are technologically easy to use compared to other types of target killings. He says that there is no need to expose soldiers to danger at some difficult terrain in contested airspace (Walzer, 2016). Killing by drones is politically easy because the operators are not left in vulnerability, and there are chances that the world will end with limited casualties and funerals. However, the ease of using drones in warfare raises concern because it is a dangerous and tempting technology. This paper intends to critique the use of drones in targeted killings, and contents that drone warfare should be stopped. 

Even though drone warfare is common, if used legitimately it can be of great benefit. It should be considered that sometimes, the same weapons can illegitimately and indiscriminately be used beyond the expected limits, especially by the wrong people (Walzer, 2016) . When this happens, the world is likely to be in chaos, and the probable outcome is governments to place sanctions against people who manufacture and sell such deadly weapons, especially to the enemies. The use of drones is mechanized and impersonal warfare which is no longer science fiction but a war machine that leaves human beings in an excessive state. The use of drones in warfare gives governments the ability to wage wars beyond democratic control by freely acting brutally against the citizens. This means that whoever controls the machines controls the country and whatever goes on around it, thus leaving other people in a state of vulnerability. The relentless development and use of drones is likely to give birth to mechanized totalitarian politics, which will not go in hand with democratization. Drone warfare brings about radically mechanized war and should be banned when there is still a chance to. When the warfare drones are not used discriminatively, the lives of soldiers, civilians, and politicians can be jeopardized.  

References 

Walzer, M. (2016). Just & unjust targeted killing & Drone Warfare. Daedalus , 145 (4), 12-24.