Drones and Modern Warfare: The Fall of Honor

A discussion on the topic of drones and how they relate to our understanding of warfare

not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you 

will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”2  So 

where do drones come into this?  Drones are seen as a cold, hardened way  of executing your enemy 

without any danger to pilot.  When you remove the humanity, and the fear, and the courage that is in war 

you have removed what makes us human.  The ability to bleed, the ability to forgive, the ability to feel are 

what saves us from becoming monsters.  On the ground and faced with a child with their hands shaking in 

fear as they hold a grenade, a soldier may have a very different response than if they were sitting in a control 

room holding a remote.  What may just simply look like a target on a computer screen maybe something 

much more real on the ground.  The soldier might have to still make the same call but at least it will be a hard 

choice.  War should always be the last choice, not the first.

     

      

     The Guardian brings up in an interesting point by stating, "The drone is destabilizing the small 

tribal communities of the Pukhtun, Somali, and Yemeni with their ancient codes of honor, 

making it difficult to implement any long-term peace initiatives in the volatile regions 

already being pounded by their own militaries."1  The middle east is a hotbed of complex, 

ancient problems.  Their conflicts now can extend back to conflicts that happened hundreds 

of years ago.  We simply cannot understand these issues without an incredibly in depth 

understanding of their culture and history.   Although we may have good intentions our 

reliance on technology may doom our cause in the middle east.  I argue that we must either 

find a means of warfare that does not degrade our enemies or find a completely different 

solution to our dilemma.  And all I ask is that you think about it, that you really ponder this question of right 

and wrong.    How will this new way of warfare affect our minds?  Each new advance brings new and 

terrifying problems.    I am reminded of the words of one of soldiers who was on board the Enola Gay when 

they dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, "My God, what have we done?"3

1.  

2.   Art of War by Sun Tzu

3.  mentalfloss.com/article/24269/crew-enola-gay-dropping-atomic-bomb