To Drone or Not to Drone

That is the question that seems to be a hot topic currently in the news.  Many people are questioning the legality and morality of these unmanned air-crafts killing thousands of people.  It is estimated that the United States Government uses 7500 Drones in attacks in Libya, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and similar countries.  These Drone attacks have caused nearly 3,500 people in Pakistan alone this year.  This is by far a lot of people especially if the numbers are just as high if not higher in the other countries that these attacks are being used in.  

     People are calling this a moral issue and saying that there needs to be "rule books" on the Drone attacks and some are questioning whether they be used at all.  I understand their point of view because not only are we killing the terrorists that are the main targets of these Drones, we are killing innocent people.  These innocent men, women, and children bystanders are becoming casualties of war.  They are getting in the cross fire between those who are terrorists and our unmanned, unemotional, and unstoppable Drones.  

      In class we watched a mini film about a man that was behind the computer, controlling one of the Drones.  He spoke about how he began to get nightmares of all the lives he was "taking", by his own hands literally; through the touch of a button.  The film also showed an American family being killed as casualties of the strike against terrorists.  It is tragic the innocent people that are becoming involved in a fight that they are not apart of and getting killed for something they do not believe in.  

     I know many people disagree with the usage of Drones, but in all actuality I believe it is a great and powerful thing we have come to use.  These Drones may kill thousands of people, most of them terrorists, but at the same time they are saving thousands of Americans.  Why not use a machine over American soldiers?  There may be some casualties that are not foreseen but you are saving your fellow family member, neighbor, employee, or whoever.  In my Criminology class I learned that the news channels over dramatize certain aspects of crime/war.  People assume when they see these things that they happen all the time, but in all actuality the news repeatedly play pieces of the, in this case, aftermath of the Drone attack.  This plays to peoples emotions making us all believe this is a constant event that happens and that thousands of civilians are dying from this unmanned aircraft. 
     I think over time the attacks will become more perfected and in time there will be little to no innocent casualties.  In an article, by Chris Cole and Jim Wright they wrote, "Drones will no doubt make possible the dramatic expansion of the surveillance state. With the convergence of other technologies it may even make possible machine recognition of faces, behaviors, and the monitoring of individual conversations. The sky, so to speak, is the limit."  Now seeing this and wondering if this could be possible how could we not use these Drones?  These will inevitably save time, manpower, and the most important LIVES, American lives.
     We live in a time of technology and in order to stay ahead of the game we must use all of our resources we have available to us and perfect them.  How awesome is the Drone?  I mean come on who wouldn't want to sit behind a computer and pull the trigger without the fear of being shot, blown up, kidnapped, tortured, and all the terrors of being in a battle on the ground with some of the most vicious terrorists that will stop nothing short of killing themselves with even the slightest chance of getting you.