The Drone Paradox: Fighting Terrorism with Mechanized Terror
26 Pages Posted: 28 Jul 2016 Last revised: 7 Dec 2017
Date Written: July 27, 2016
Abstract
The U.S. government’s covert drone program is a defining aspect of its military strategy in its transnational “War on Terror.” We highlight a fundamental paradox with the use of drones to combat terrorism. The U.S. government justifies drones as an efficient method for weakening, and ultimately ending, the threat of global terrorism. Drones, however, create terror among foreign populations. Drone strikes may annihilate specific targets, but they do not eliminate terror, which is instead propagated by the U.S. government’s drone program.
Keywords: drones, drone strikes, terror, terrorism, War on Terror
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