Drones: A rain of terror

DIE HARD III

Herman Tiu Laurel

1/11/2013

Daily Tribune

The recent discovery by fishermen off the island of Masbate of a US drone focuses our interest on the drone wars of the US.  Before this latest news of the mysterious US drone, another US drone made the local and international news in February 2012.  Jacob Zenn wrote in Asia Times, entitled "US drones circle over the Philippines" and reported on a drone attack in Mindanao that killed 15 Abu Sayyaf elements, including three most-wanted by the names of Zulkifli bin Hir, Gumbahali Jumdail and Mumanda Ali who are all wanted by the US with prices on their heads amounting from $50,000 to $5 million. The attack highlights the role of the US in the operations of the Philippine military against its targeted enemies, as well as raises the question of who really controls the Philippine military operations.

The Philippine military says the drone found off Masbate does not appear to be a surveillance drone, which we take to mean that no camera of any sort was found on it. Some reports claim it is a BQM-74e Chuka, a model produced by Northrop and used as targets for anti-aircraft shooting practice. I researched the drone photo, it also looks like a Hunter, a small drone used for communications relay or monitoring. It was later reported that the US claimed the drone was used and was lost in a naval war game outside Philippine waters, and drifted into Philippine waters. I don't expect that we'll ever really know the truth as there is no reason for the US to level with the Philippines anyway.

As Jacob Zenn wrote, US drones, with emphasis on the plural, already circle the Philippines and few are aware of them until they crash or kill somebody.
Drones are still strangers to the Filipino's consciousness. We should be thankful for that. In many other countries the impact of constant drone flights cause sleepless days and nights, fill wedding celebrations or community meetings with anxiety in countries experiencing US drone strikes.

US drones have been used extensively by the US the past two decades, from the war in the Balkans and Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, Libya and Pakistan, and probably Syria soon from the late 90s to this day. Today, not only the targeted countries of US military adventures are affected by fear of these terror drones, even US citizens are fearful of drone flights over their own cities and communities, as highlighted by the article by Susanne Posel in Occupy Corporation entitled "Drone Over American skies: Obama is Watching You."

The highly controversial The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) approved by Obama that endorses detention of suspects, even US citizens without charge also "established six national drone test sites where the unmanned planes could fly through civilian air space."  Posel cites congressional representatives' concerns about drones in civilian airspace: "The potential for invasive surveillance of daily activities with drone technology is high." In February of 2012, Congress demanded the Federal Aviation Administration to create "rules to guide domestic drone flights," which ironically paved the way "for defense and aerospace lobbyists to vie for profits amid the hopes of using drones against American citizens…" from the acquisition of drones by the anti-terror Department of Homeland Security (DHS). People can never really know when drones are already hovering above and targeting them. They fly so high up that people won't know if their conversations are already monitored, pictures taken, e-mails or short message texts recorded, or dive bombing already under way on targets beside innocent peoples' activities and taking them down as "collateral damage." 

That's what drone do to people in Pakistan or Afghanistan — traumatizing communities that never know when their mothers and daughters, brothers and/or grandparents are going to be killed in a wedding rite where suspected Talibans may just happen to be walking by. But the drone masters may also be its ultimate victims, as US studies have shown — drone use is backfiring on the US and Obama, victims of backlash and backfire.

A study by Stanford Law School and New York University's School of Law put the percentage of "high-level" targets killed by US drones in Pakistan at only about 2 percent. From June 2004 through September 2012, various drone strikes killed between 2,562 to 3,325 people in Pakistan. The most evil part of the US drone war led by the CIA, is the "double-striking…. moments after the initial hit" killing those extending help. One Pakistani is quoted, "Before this we were all very happy… But after these drones attack a lot of people … have lost members … family. A lot of them, they have mental illnesses."

Drone uses desensitize war and killing, making it a video game for the US war machine and soldiers. With its drones, the US wages a reign and a rain of terror over the World.

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