US drones killing innocent civilians

“Homeland” is an American TV series that swept this year`s Emmy Awards in the drama category, including the honors for best drama series and best actor and actress. The protagonist is Nicholas Brody, a U.S. Marines sniper who fled eight years of captivity with the terrorist group Al Qaeda and returned to the U.S. by overcoming many hardships. Considered a big hero in his hometown, he is secretly an Al Qaeda spy whose mission is to assassinate the U.S. vice president and top government officials. The drama implies that because a boy who was Brody`s friend was killed due to a U.S. drone attack, Brody was persuaded by Al Qaeda to betray his own country.

Since 2004, the U.S. government has been using drones to kill the leaders of the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen. The weapon is remotely controlled by a U.S. military base about 10,000 kilometers away from these regions. The operator aims to strike targets while viewing images on the screen, which are transmitted from a video camera on the drone. This is little different from playing a computer game. When the U.S. set plans to kill Osama bin Laden, it reportedly considered until the last minute a method to utilize a “sniper drone,” which is far smaller in size than a conventional drone.

Since the inauguration of the Obama administration in 2009, the number of operations using drones and that of resulting civilian casualties have significantly increased from those reported under the Bush administration. More than 3,000 senior officials and rank-and-file troops of the Taliban and Al Qaeda have been killed due to drone operations led by the CIA. Statistics suggest that the number of civilian victims has exceeded a third of those killed, however. For this reason, anti-American sentiment is escalating among residents of the regions under drone attacks. Certain critics say Al Qaeda forces remain unabated even after the end of the American war on terrorism due to killings caused by drone strikes.

The drone has recently re-emerged as a key issue in U.S. foreign policy after Iranian fighter jets reportedly attacked a drone that was conducting surveillance in international waters. Constant controversy in the U.S. is raging over whether drone strikes are legal and how effective they are. Strong criticism has risen about the non-transparency of drone operations, which are conducted so secretly that even Congress cannot track them properly. The drone`s biggest advantage from the U.S. perspective is the prevention of U.S. troop deaths. But drone operations have caused the deaths of innocent civilians who are around terrorists. President Obama, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has good reason to agonize over drones.

Weekend Section Reporter Min Dong-yong (mindy@donga.com)