PACS 4500 Senior Seminar in Peace and Conflict

Transcript:PACS 4500 Senior Seminar in Peace and Conflict:
PACS 4500 Senior Seminar in Peace and Conflict Studies Death from Above: Drone Strikes by the United States in the Global War on Terrorism By John Wilson Overview of Principle Parties / Interest Groups 2. Civilians Effected by strikes 1. Anti – Western Extremists 1. The United States Government 4. Non-governmental organizations / Think Tanks 3. Governments of countries where drone strikes occur 2. Non-governmental organizations / Think Tanks 3 . Allies of the United States Drone and Weapons Manufacturers 3. Public Opinion of civilians in countries where strikes occur 1. Western media 2. Public Opinion of American citizens A: Pro- Drone Strikes B: Anti- Drone Strikes Third Siders Profiteers Timeline Sept. 11th 2001 terrorist attacks prompt US invasion of Afghanistan Taliban are quickly defeated and ousted from power Taliban fighters flee to neighboring Pakistan where the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) provide a safe refuge for Taliban fighters The United States is faced with an insurgency where the enemy fighters have a safe refuge to fight from The inability to decisively defeat the Taliban draw the U.S. into a war that increases Anti-Western radicalism around the world in countries such as: Somalia, Libya and Yemen. Timeline Continued 2004 – First drone strike in Pakistan successful kills enemy insurgents and drone strikes become an option for killing enemy across the legal border of Pakistan 2008 – President Obama loosens the targeting requirements for drone strikes from “known enemy combatants” to “suspected enemy combatants.” As a result, drone strikes in Pakistan increase dramatically 2013 – U.S. Air Force stops releasing public reports of drone strikes. Drone strikes continue to increase in Afghanistan and are expected to continue to increase as U.S. forces withdraw A. 1. The United State Government It is the job of President Obama, as Commander and Chief of the U.S. Military, to defend the U.S. from terrorism Drone strikes are used to eliminate individuals suspected as a threat to the USA Drone strikes are used to eliminate terrorist threats that are in areas inaccessible to U.S. Military forces The U.S. government views civilian casualties to be an unfortunate but acceptable side effect of the drone strikes Data provided by the U.S. government regarding drone strikes shows a high degree of accuracy and civilian casualties to be very low The attacks of September 11th targeted American civilians and the grievances caused from those attacks allow the U.S. government to