Just Finished Reading: Drone Theory by Gregoire Chamayou (FP: 2015)

This is a strange little book (a mere 227 pages not including notes) and wasn’t at all what I expected. After reading two previous books on the use and abuse of Drone technology I was expecting more of the same. I was pleased that this was far from the case. Where my previous two reads had concentrated on the legality, morality and (to a lesser extent) the technology of Drones this book addressed the philosophy aspects of Drone use. Now this in itself came as a bit of a surprise – as I’d never really thought of Drones as generally philosophic issues. I suppose that I should have, considering that I have an MA in the subject but it’s been a while and I’m out of practice (at least that’s the excuse I’m sticking to).

Starting off with a standard look at the history of tele-operated machines and the introduction of Drone technology into warfare, the author quickly delves into the theoretical aspects of the whole enterprise and presents an intriguing example of the vagaries of moral indignation. Do you remember a few years ago when someone offered virtual hunts to anyone online – where you could ‘drive’ around a real hunting zone and ‘hunt/kill’ animals via remote control over the Internet? Well the protests quickly brought that idea to an end. How inhumane and frankly creepy people said. Whereas doing effectively the same thing with Drones and hellfire missiles hundreds or thousands of miles both from the US and any recognised warzone is just fine and dandy. People, as it’s been said before, are strange!

Then there are the questions, so many questions. If a soldier/contractor ‘flying’ the Drone has absolutely zero risk whilst in combat them what exactly is s/he doing? Without ‘skin in the game’ how exactly are they fighting? Is it combat or simply killing when the designated enemy cannot fire back under any circumstances? Are the pilot’s soldiers or assassins? If those targeted cannot fire back then can they reasonably be called ‘enemy combatants’? If they cannot engage in actual combat how can they be combatants? Also if we are not actually at war with the people we’re attacking how can they be the ‘enemy’? Is it legal to be ‘at war’ with non-state actors such as the Taliban or other groups? Is such a thing even possible (never mind being at war with a technique such as ‘terror’)? But if they’re not a recognised enemy and are not capable of being combatants then how can we in all conscience target and kill them? But is it OK to target their leaders, known bad people who organise others to do very bad things? Without anything that might be called adequate oversight, without the possibility of challenge, without recourse afterwards (unless it can be proven – posthumously – that they were not ‘insurgents’ or ‘combatants’), often without adequate intelligence or consideration of who else dies in the strike (or the famed ‘double-tap’ where a second missile kills those coming to the rescue of those hit in the first strike – a war crime by the way). Consider that the KILL radius of a hellfire missile is 15 meters so anyone in a targeted house will probably die as well as those passing close by outside. What price a high value target kill?

That’s before we get onto the even more bizarre idea of a signature strike (as opposed to a personality strike when the identity of the target is generally known). In signature strikes the hellfire lands on individuals who are suspected to be ‘dirty’ by their unusual behaviour which ‘fits the profile’ of known bad guys. So they have no real idea who they’re targeting but their behaviours (calculated by a classified algorithm) flag them as potentially dangerous. Seconds later the danger is gone in smoke and a wide debris field.

Full of disturbing ideas, uncomfortable questions, twisted definitions, word play, moral and legal conundrums and convoluted justifications this was (at least to me once I knew I needed to bring my philosophy head into the briar patch) a fascinating, gripping and unusual look at the Drone issue which continues to raise its head around the world. It’s an issue that isn’t going to go away anytime soon especially as more and more countries get in on the act. Wait for the first Chinese, Russian or Iranian Drone kill of dissident elements either in their own country or in others. Wait for the first effective hacking of an Allied Drone which results in Allied casualties. Wait for the first Drone strike on US soil by US authorities. It’s all coming and it’s going to make the future very, very interesting. I think I’ll be reading more military philosophy in the future. Recommended to anyone who wants their mind bent just a little and who enjoys plenty of food for thought.  

Translated from the French by Janet Lloyd.