Chad Blair: Do we really want deadly Hawaii-based drones?

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The Marine Corps and Air Force are expected to conclude exercises involving MQ-9 Reaper drones in Hawaii on Friday.

The Agile Combat Employment Reaper exercises began on September 8 and, according to my colleague Kevin Knodell, is the first time this particular drone has been flown from the mainland to the islands.

“As the US military shifts its focus from the Middle East to the Pacific, it turns to drones to extend its reach over the vast blue expanse,” Knodell wrote last week, explaining that until six of the planes must be parked at all times. at Kaneohe Marine Base.

The news did not go unnoticed by some Hawaiians who have long protested against the militarization of the islands.

They included Ann Wright, who served 29 years in the US Army and Army Reserves and retired as a colonel.

Wright – who resigned from the US government in 2003 to oppose the US war in Iraq – and half a dozen other residents demonstrated outside the Marine Corps base in Hawaii on September 24, holding up signs reading ” No Reapers! And “Drones kill children”.

An Air Force crew prepares an MQ-9 Reaper for operations at Marine Air Station Kaneohe during Agile Combat Employment Reaper exercises on September 27. Kevin Knodell / Civil Beat / 2021

At the same time, activist Jim Albertini – who runs the Malu Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action – and a few other like-minded Big Islanders held their own signs (eg, “Ban Killer Drones”) in front of the downtown Hilo post office. Leaflets were distributed during the vigil and at least one protester, disguised as a Grim Reaper, held a sign reading “I love killer drones”.

In emails to Civil Beat publicizing the protests, Wright and Albertini both called the Reaper drones “assassins.”

In fact, the military says the drones in question, which have a wingspan of 66 feet, are unarmed and are to be used for surveillance and reconnaissance.

But the name Reaper, as a former Air Force Chief of Staff said in 2006 when the name was announced, is appropriate, “because it captures the lethal nature of this new weapon system.” .

The chief of staff in the same article on the Air Force website said of unmanned aerial vehicles: “We have gone from using (drones) mainly in intelligence roles, to surveillance and reconnaissance before Operation Iraqi Freedom, to a real hunter-killer role. with the Reaper.

A protest against drones in Hilo on September 24.
A protest against drones in Hilo on September 24.

Hawaii’s drones may not be armed – “for now,” as Knodell wrote – but it seems very likely that they will be very soon. And that has people like me grappling with the moral consequences.

As Wright and Albertini remind us, the August 29 US drone strike that killed up to 10 civilians – including seven children – was mistakenly seen as targeting a car carrying ISIS explosives.

“It is time for people of conscience to rise up and join peaceful protests against the growing militarization of Hawaii and the threat of nuclear war,” Albertini said.

‘Above the horizon’

I am not naive. The war has always been with us. And with the Biden administration pulling out of Europe and the Middle East to focus on China and Russia, the role of the American Indo-Pacific command will only grow in importance.

But I’m afraid America’s 20 years in Afghanistan will be remembered more for its horrific ending than for the bloody and costly mistake it was.

President Biden has said that the end of our involvement in Afghanistan is the first time the United States has not been at war in two decades, but that is simply not true. As The New York Times reported last month, “In a letter to Congress in June, Mr. Biden listed all the countries where US troops are operating against various militant groups – from Iraq and Syria to Yemen to Philippines in Niger.

It seems clear that much of our future combat will be via drone strikes – an offensive posture “beyond the horizon” rather than “boots on the ground”.

Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, speaking to Fox News’ Tucker Carlson about the drone strike in Kabul, said the fight against ‘Islamic jihadists’ left the United States with two military choices: ” First, we can continue to invade and occupy the countries under construction. in the world, as we did in Afghanistan at great expense. Second, we can take a targeted approach using air strikes, using our special forces to enter and pursue these terrorist cells. “

Gabbard concluded “the cost to civilians will be much lower if we take this very targeted approach.”

A screenshot of Tulsi Gabbard appearing on Fox News in September.
A screenshot of Tulsi Gabbard appearing on Fox News in September.

I respect Gabbard’s point of view as a veteran military man, but I’m less certain that the civilian cost is negligible. Reports have circulated in recent years that the use of drones, although carried out from a distance, can be traumatic, both for survivors and military personnel who have used the weapon from a distance. I recently read a report from a military drone operator who described how upsetting it was to see a child attempting to piece together a parent’s pieces after a deadly drone attack.

In July, a former US Air Force intelligence analyst was sentenced to 45 months in prison after pleading guilty to leaking government documents exposing the inner workings and “high civilian costs” of the drone program. US military, The Intercept reported. Daniel Hale told the sentencing judge he believed it was “necessary to dispel the lie that drone warfare protects us, that our lives are worth more than theirs.”

Meanwhile, China, Iran, Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia and even ISIS and the Mexican drug cartels all use drones regularly or intend to build or d ‘get more. This is “the future of war,” says the Washington Post.

In a world where flying drones are becoming ubiquitous – from the buzzing Ala Moana Beach Park to Amazon Prime Air’s 30-minute expected delivery system – it’s also only a matter of time before they’re used to kill. in our own country.

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