Barack Obama’s Rules For Drones Could Shape The New Global Laws Of War

Out Of The Shadows -- The Economist

Barack Obama’s rules for drones could shape the new global laws of war.

WHEN it comes to lethal drone strikes against foreign targets, America’s government and Congress should be aware that “what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander”, says John Bellinger, for eight years a government lawyer charged with explaining George W. Bush’s global war on terror to allies.

China and Russia are just two of the powers that may soon launch their own fleets of unmanned aircraft against suspected foes. It is not too far-fetched to imagine a near future in which a Russian drone targets a Chechen radical based in neighbouring Georgia, say, who appears immune from capture while apparently plotting an imminent strike on Russian targets.

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My Comment: After years of using drones .... now is the perfect time to have a public debate on this policy.

China Is Emerging As A Real Force In The Drone Warfare Market

China Makes Waves As New Force In Drone Warfare -- Washington Times

China is emerging as a real force in the drone warfare market, with aerospace firms developing and showcasing unmanned aerial vehicles, UAVs, that rival what’s produced in the United States.

The Associated Press reported that Chinese firms have recently unveiled UAVs that are eerily similar to the Predator, Global Hawk and Reaper models used by the CIA and by the U.S. Air Force. Military analysts say Chinese drone technology is still behind America’s and Israel’s — but that it’s catching up quickly.

“My sense is that China is moving into large-scale deployments of UAVs,” said Ian Easton, one of two researchers who wrote a report on China’s drone program for the Project 2049 Institute think tank, AP said.

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Update: China emerging as new force in drone warfare -- AP

My Comment: China wants to flood the market with numerous (and cheaper) drones .... while looking at U.S. drone weaknesses. Something tells me that the Chinese are going to succeed.

Backlash Against The Pentagon's New High-Tech Warfare Medal

VFW Slams Pentagon's Drone Medal, Complains It Would Outrank Purple Heart -- FOX News

WASHINGTON – America’s largest combat veterans group is worried the creation of a new medal for drone strikes and cyber-warfare could bestow higher honor on those using a joystick to kill terrorists than soldiers wounded on the battlefield.

The Distinguished Warfare Medal, announced Wednesday, would rank higher than the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, which is given to servicemembers killed or wounded in battle. The new medal would rank immediately below the Distinguished Flying Cross.

But to some, like the Veterans of Foreign Wars, creating a non-combat medal is turning into a major Pentagon misfire.

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More News On The Pentagon's New High-Tech Warfare Medal

Pentagon's new high-tech warfare medal draws backlash -- USA Today
VFW Wants New Medal Ranked Lower -- Military.com
A New Medal Honors Drone Pilots and Computer Experts -- New York Times
DOD announces new Distinguished Warfare Medal to include drone operators -- Examiner
New Medal for Drone Pilots and Cyber Warriors -- Military.com
New medals for new warriors: Cyberfighters, drone pilots will be eligible -- Washington Times
A New “Afar” Medal: What Does It Mean? -- Mark Thompson, Time
Does the Distinguished Warfare Medal degrade military honors? -- FOX News
Combat medal for remotely piloting a drone is insulting -- Tod Robberson, Dallas News
US gong to honour back-line heroes -- Sydney Morning Herald

America's Secret Drone War

Drones Are Not Delivering The Bang For The Money That Is Being Spent On Them

Weaponized MQ-9 Reaper with camera. GA

Will Chuck Hagel Stand Up to the Drone Lobby? -- Winslow Wheeler, Foreign Policy

Or will he be yet another victim of Pentagon operators?

U.S. Central Command has released some interesting numbers on the performance of modern air systems in Afghanistan; the data do not auger well for our defenses in the next decade, nor for the suitability of the man who appears likely to be the next secretary of defense, former Senator Chuck Hagel -- his admirable iconoclasm toward some national security dogmas notwithstanding.

With the Department of Defense budget looking at no real growth or even reductions in the next few years, there will be a clear need for defense systems that offer more performance for less cost. The data from Afghanistan on what drones are contributing to the war there show that we are getting little but paying a lot, the reverse of what we will need in the future.

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My Comment: What caught my eye in this report was the breakdown of costs .... bottom line .... drones are not cheap, and operating them cost a lot. There is a lot of data in this report .... read it all.

Drone-Warfare Rulebook

X-47B. Northrop Grumman

Obama 'Drone-Warfare Rulebook' Condemned By Human Rights Groups -- The Guardian

New York Times reports administration attempting to set out circumstances in which targeted assassination is justified.


President Barack Obama's administration is in the process of drawing up a formal rulebook that will set out the circumstances in which targeted assassination by unmanned drones is justified, according to reports.

The New York Times, citing two unnamed sources, said explicit guidelines were being drawn up amid disagreement between the CIA and the departments of defense, justice and state over when lethal action is acceptable.

Human-rights groups and peace groups opposed to the CIA-operated targeted-killing programme, which remains officially classified, said the administration had already rejected international law in pursuing its drone operations.

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Update: Revealed: Administration drew up top-secret rulebook for drone warfare to hand over to Romney in case Obama lost election -- Daily Mail

My Comment: One should not be surprised by these guidelines. While drone warfare is an ongoing military/intelligence operation, it is also heavily regulated and watched over by lawyers.

Afghanistan Is The Center Of America's Drone War

Figures on the air war in Afghanistan, supplied by the U.S. military.

Military Stats Reveal Epicenter of U.S. Drone War -- Danger Room

Forget Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and all the other secret little warzones. The real center of the U.S. drone campaign is in plain sight — on the hot and open battlefield of Afghanistan.

The American military has launched 333 drone strikes this year in Afghanistan. That’s not only the highest total ever, according to U.S. Air Force statistics. It’s essentially the same number of robotic attacks in Pakistan since the CIA-led campaign there began nearly eight years ago. In the last 30 days, there have been three reported strikes in Yemen. In Afghanistan, that’s just an average day’s worth of remotely piloted attacks. And the increased strikes come as the rest of the war in Afghanistan is slowing down.

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My Comment: A good review of the U.S. drone war in Afghanistan. My prediction .... this drone war is going to now shift to Yemen and Africa.

America Prepares To Continue The Drone Wars

4 More Drones! Robot Attacks Are on Deck for Obama’s Next Term -- Danger Room

When Barack Obama took office, drone strikes were a once-in-a-while thing, with an attack every week or two. Now, they’re the centerpiece of a global U.S. counterterrorism campaign. Obama institutionalized the strikes to the point where he could hand off to the next president an efficient bureaucratic process for delivering death-by-robot practically on autopilot. Only now he’s the next president. Welcome to Obama’s second-term agenda for dealing with the world. As the Ramones sang: second verse, same as the first.

Early in the first term, then-CIA director Leon Panetta observed that drones were the “only game in town” for attacking al-Qaida in Pakistan. By that he meant invading a country for the third time in a decade was a nonstarter, and the flesh-and-blood spies needed to do a traditional intelligence operation weren’t available in sufficient numbers. So the Obama administration all but crafted its counterterrorism strategy around the drones, turning their surveillance and lethal operations into a bureaucratic apparatus led by White House aides with minimal outside oversight.

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Update: Why Drones Stayed Out of Sight in the 2012 Campaign -- Ramesh Ponnuru, Bloomberg

My Comment: Both articles are a must read.

U.S. Drone Campaign Evolving Even As Pakistan Continues To Protest

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

Drones At Issue As U.S. Rebuilds Ties To Pakistan -- New York Times

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Making up is never easy. But as Pakistan and the United States try to restart their troubled relationship after a year of spectacular crises, the difference could come down to drones.

For the Obama administration, facing a faltering war effort and increasingly distrustful allies in Afghanistan, the covert C.I.A. drone strike campaign centered on North and South Waziristan in northwestern Pakistan has acquired new relevance.

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My Comment: Pakistani claims that they are concerned about their sovereignty while U.S. drone strikes continue is laughable in view of the Taliban openly using Pakistani safe sanctuaries to launch attacks against U.S. and Afghan forces in Afghanistan. Unless Pakistan changes its policy in regards to providing these safe havens .... which I am 100% sure they will not .... these drone strikes will continue.

CIA's Info On It's Drone program Will Still Remain Secret

Judge: CIA Need Not Release Drone Strike Files -- Politico

A federal judge ruled Friday that the Central Intelligence Agency does not have to release any records related to its use of unmanned drone aircraft to kill suspected terrorists in Pakistan, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Ruling in a Freedom of Information Act case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, Judge Rosemary Collyer said records about the use of drones could be withheld under the rubric of "intelligence sources and methods." She rejected the ACLU's arguments that lethal drones aren't really involved in acquiring intelligence.

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Update: Judge dumps suit for info on use of drones to kill -- AP

My Comment: No surprises here. Why give the enemy a heads up on the technology/procedures/rules of engagement that the CIA uses in its drone program .... a point that this judge made very clear in her ruling.

The Not So Secret Drone War In Pakistan

An Open Secret: Drone Warfare In Pakistan -- NPR

Drone warfare is now one of the most fundamental features of the U.S. battle against its enemies. Just don't ask anyone in the government to talk about it.

Since 2004, the United States military has fired about 270 missiles into Pakistan, killing thousands of militants, according to the U.S. government. Dozens of so-called high-value targets have been eliminated, like al-Qaida's No. 2, who was killed in an attack last month.

But since the CIA runs these attacks, they are secret. As a result, no one in the government is supposed to admit they're happening.

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My Comment: In an "ideal world", U.S. intelligence boots on the ground coupled with Pakistani cooperation and the direct involvement of their own military and intelligence assets would be the best way to hunt down and eliminate extremist threats in Pakistan. Unfortunately .... with very limited cooperation from Pakistan .... and no other good alternatives in combating militant Islamic groups like Al Qaeda .... the drone war is the route that our political masters have taken.