Blair Beyer English 2010 Dani Liese

Final Report If I could say one word that would sum up this year in English 2010, that word would have to be interesting. I never knew I would have to take a English class online, but I am really glad I did. Right after midterms, my wife and I had to pack up and move across Utah and go to vernal. So I am really glad I didnt have to drive back a couple times a week just to go to class. Although I am not good with online classes, I think this is a good way to English, the teacher Dani Liese was very informative in what we had to do ever week so that really helped me along the way during the year. Besides trying to do my homework in the mix of moving and starting a new job. The hardest part of the class had to be trying to think of a topic I would have interest in writing about. When an article popped up about the usage of military drones and wither or not they should be used to carry out attacks. Not knowing one thing about drones, I figured it would be an interesting topic to study up on it. It was, I never knew what those UAV were capable of until I started to do a little more research about it. I came to find that there is a lot more being discussed about this topic in current media that one might actually know about. I found out that it was a very serious topic and learned that everybody should take time and at least do a little research about it. I will be the first to admit that this topic wasnt the easiest to write

about. After I turned in my midterm paper, Ms. Liese left me a note saying that there needs to be more info saying that she didnt think something so serious shouldnt be talked about so lightly. After reading that comment and reading back over my papers, I found out she had a very good point about what she had said and made me think I needed to go and add stuff to my research and dig a little deeper. A topic like this I found out that I needed to be direct and get the point about a serious problem out and not beat around the bush. I can also be the first person to tell you that English is not one of my favorite classes. Writing about something and keep writing about it has been very tough for me trying to keep the focus, and when it comes to punctuations you can pretty much forget about having a perfect paper. So when doing our peer grading I really enjoyed getting honest feed back from other students. Even getting a blunt answer from my teacher about my paper was pretty refreshing and helped me improve my paper and learn from my mistakes. The honest feed back has always been helpful for me to improve my paper even if it might hurt a little to hear. This year has been a good year of learning; I was able to learn about something I never thought I would ever give a chance to learn about. It has helped me learn how to direct the writing to the proper audience. I hope that I have learned enough for future writings that I might be able to perfect my papers that the audience will enjoy what they are reading.

Blair Beyer English 2010 Dani Liese The Red, White, and Drones. Evaluation The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the oth er bastard die for his George S. Patton. There have been articles and books over the past few years claiming that the American dream is dead. What about the American Pride? How far is one willing to go to and take the ultimate sacrifice and lay down their life for their country? If there was a way to protectevent this our brave military soldiers from danger from our brave militant soldiersand the risk for their. Wwould the beautiful country we live ingrew up in take this option? With all the advancements in technology and modern warfare, the US could possibly have the answers to that question. The only question now is; are we ready for it?

(UAV), This word might be one that you might not really understand unless you are part of military or CIA or even if you are just really smart. (UAV) actually stands for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or Drones for those of us that dont really understand these big military

terms,. These dDrones are actually just recently becoming popular, even though the first drone attacks happened way back were in the year 1849, when the Austrian Empire launched 20 unmanned balloons equipped with bomb against the revolution-minded citizens of Venice (ProCon.org)! There have been a lot of people saying there has not been enough attention brought to drones. Although tThese past 15 years we have been hearing a lot more about them and their attacks. These small airplanes that are controlled by a computer and an operator, are equipped with missiles and other types of bombs that can carry out an attack across the world without ever having to leave their office desk;. Pretty scary right? Although we might only hear about drone attacks, there are other (UAVs) that the CIA uses to do surveillance without people ever knowing that these drones are watching them. Even with these you will be hearing a lot more about in the upcoming years as they perfect them and purchase more. Studies from the Washington Times believe there will be more than 30,000 drones in the U.S. by 2020 (Waterman).So be careful what you do! You never know who is watching you especially when the pentagon operates over 7,000 and the CIA around 30 Drones.

Looking to buy one of these drones for your house? Well be ready to fork out some serious money. Each drone can cost anywhere from $5 to $14.5 million. Plus dont forget that you are going to need to fork out a little more every time you want to take your drone out for a flight, these flights can range anywhere from $3,700 to $4,800 per flight hour. Not quite the cheap hobby you might be looking for. Although that might sound like a lot, the new modern fighter planes can cost up to $150 million each, just a

slight difference. Also where drones can fly 15-20 hours fighter jets can only fly for about 2 hours. Drones will only consume 100 gallons of fuel unlike fighter planes can consume 1,000-3,000 gallons in just their two hour flight.That might be the biggest reason you have never might heard of drone. Because Ffrom 1997- 2011 the entire US drone program took 14 years to reach one million flight hours where in the past 2 and years, the Air Force Fleets have already reached two million flight hours and its becoming the new version of war.

One of the biggest reasons for the big change of drone strikes was because of the change in Presidents. President Obamas drone campaign started three days into his presidency. But of the 12 23 reportedly killed in the pair of strikes, at least 12 were reportedly civilians, including four children. When the president was told of the civilian deaths he was not a happy man, Newsweek later reported. But this didnt prevent the CIA from launching more covert strikes in the first year of Obamas presidency than in all of Bushs eight-year tenure (Ross, Woods, Leo). On December 1st 2012 a drone strike in Shin Warsak, marked the 300th drone strike ordered by President Obama in his terms as the President of the United States of America. This was more than 6 times more than President Bush in his 8 years of service. Even during the election in 2012 when things with Pakistan started to get sour over the issue of drone strikes. The Republican front runner Mitt Romney supported the Presidents decision in using drones saying: I support drones entirely and feel the president was right to up the usage of that policy(Ross, Woods, Leo).

On May 23rd, 2013 President Obama stated at a National Defense University said: The United States has taken lethal, targeted action against al Queda and its associated forces, including with remotely piloted aircraft commonly referred to as drones.. To begin with, our actions are effective. Dont take my word for it. In the intelligence gathered at bin Laden s compound, we found that he wrote, We could lose the reserves to enemys air strikes. We cannot fight air strikes with explosives Dozens of highly skilled al Queda commanders, trainers, bomb makers and operatives have been taken off the battlefield. Plots have been disrupted that would have targeted international aviation, U.S. transit systems, European cities and our troops in Afghanistan. Simply put, these strikes have saved lives Beyond the Afghan theater, we only target al Queda and its associated forces. And even then, the use of drones is heavily constrained. America does not take strikes when we have the ability to capture individual terrorists; our preference is always to detain, interrogate, and prosecute; our actions are bound by consultations with partners, and respect for state sovereignty. Remember that the terrorists we are after target civilians, and the death toll from their acts of terrorism against Muslims dwarfs any estimate of civilian casualties from drone strikes. So doing nothing is not an option (Procon).

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These drones are small, quick, and for the most part very accurate in what they do; and all of this without ever having to send any US soldiers on foreign ground. When I say accurate for the most part, I mean like all types of war it does come with a cost and

that is civilian casualties. Actually a study done by the University of Massachusetts has proven that drones caused only 20 percent of the strikes of civilian causalities in Pakistan. A number that was considerably lower than any other rate. Not to mention they have been seeing these number drop considerably in the past couple of years. In 2012 of the 152 people killed by drone strikes, only 7 percent were civilians much lower than in 2011 where 16 percent of the civilians were killed. In the chart above done by the Bureau of Investigation, shows us a few more years of the amount of civilian causalities (Ross, Woods, Leo). Although this study is only is halfway though 2012, 20092011 shows us a dramatic drop in civilian causalities caused by drone strikes.

Besides the big issue of civilians death, there are many protesting that these terrorists arent getting the punishments that they deserve and that death is the easy way out for them. Saying that with hundreds of terrorist killed, only one has been taken into custody and many are saying that the military drones are actually encouraging unnecessary killing. Many people believe this is a violation of international laws. These people believe that drone strikes cause more terrorists than they kill and feel like the drones make the horrors of war appear as innocuous as a

video game. The US has actually put drone strikes on hold for some time in Pakistan while they work things out.

There are many people also agreeing with these attacks. To be exact, 61 percent of US citizens agreed for these attacks. They believe that these drones are a relatively inexpensive weapon with a precise attack, and will prevent the boots on the ground combat. They also think they have made America safer (ProCon.org). Everyone is going to have their own opinion on these drones, but some of the most recent stats are showing people that these (UAV) are effective and they are saving many of our soldiers lives. They even save soldiers from seeing things that are going to scar them for life. Its up to everybody to do their own personal research and find out for themselves whether or not we should be able to use these for the new modern warfare.

Work Cited Eland, Ivan. "United States Accelerates a Counterproductive Drone War in Yemen." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 23 Apr. 2014. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ivan-eland/united-statesaccelerates_b_5198396.html>.
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ProCon.org. "Drones ProCon.org" ProCon.org. 12 Mar. 2014. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. <http://drones.procon.org/>.

Ross, Alice K, Chris Woods, and Sarah Leo. "The Bureau of Investigative Journalism." Drone strikes in Pakistan The Reaper Presidency: Obamas 300th drone strike in Pakistan. N.p., 03/12/12. Web. 25 Mar 2014. <http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2012/12/03/the-reaper-presidencyobamas-300th-drone-strike-in-pakistan/>.

Waterman, Shaun. "Drones over U.S. get OK by Congress." Washington Times. The Washington Times, 7 Feb. 2012. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. <http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/feb/7/coming-to-a-sky-nearyou/>.

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Blair Beyer English 2010 Dani Liese

The Red, The White, The Drones! Position Sometime we need to lose the small battles to win the war. At what point do we decide if we are winning or losing, or is war a game where there isnt a winner?War! War isisnt the same thing something that isnt something like it was the past couple decades ago; with the technology we now have. someSome might not even considerate war anymore. Those days of the d-day and desert storms could all be over with all the new types of guns, missiles, and even drones we are now using in battles. This has been bringing up a lot of issues between countries saying it isnt fair and some of these

poorer countries cant compete.The only issue with this; is it should worry people more than we the people actually think. With these improvements in technology people should take the time and find out more about what these new weapons can do. Such as aWe have (UAVs) or drones that are loaded with missiles weighing more than the actual drone itself, that are carrying out strikes and eliminating terrorist across the world without the pilot of these drones ever having to leave his own house here in the United States.

When first hearing this, one might think th ese drones arentis isnt such a bad idea and in most cases theyit sounds like the answer for us. But with every good or bad idea there is are always going to be somebody who is going to disagree with it;. Or its never going to be has perfect as we though. But Before we go into pro and cons on wither or not the US military should be able to continue to use these drones on the battlefield; we better learn a little more about these Unmanned Ariel Vehicles.

Drones are a remotely controlled aircraft in which the Military might arm with missiles or bombs for attack missions. Although the use of drones have been around since 1849, after the World Trade Center attacks in 2001 the use of drones have exploded and the United States has used these drones to kill some of the biggest terrorist in countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Somalia. They are small,

quick, and extremely accurate in what they do. With most of these drones being able to fly under the radar, these attacks can be carried out without the terrorists ever knowing it was coming. For those CIA surveillance drones, there could be camera watching you right now and you would never know.

Ok Nnow lets take a little time talking about the pros and cons of the use of drones in the military, starting with the cons. There have been many people claiming that using military drones for strikes saying that they are creating more terrorist than they kill. According to the author Jeremy Scahill, the vast majority of militants operating in Yemen today are people who are aggrieved by attacks on their homes that fo rced them to go out and fight(ProCon.org). Another con that people have been worried about is they are not accurate enough and there have been to many civilian casualties. But this is not completely true, this is a number have dropped dramatically over the past couple years and will continue to get better.

There was also a study done in 2011 where 1,400 members of the Air Force drone program were asked to rank their stress on a scale from 0 to 10 with 10 representing feeling extremely stressed. Studies found out that 46 percent of Reapers and Predator pilots reported high operational stress. Although every job in the military

can be very stressful, just fewer than 700 were experiencing a high volume of stress in their part of their field. This is a number that most people wont think too much of to shut down a process like drones (Chow).

Another con for military drones are that pilots are saying that drones are just like playing a video game. People think were sitting here with joysticks playing video games, but that is simply not true, these are real situations and real-life weapons systems. Once you launch a weapon, you cant hit a replay button to bring people back to life(Chow). Another ex drone pilot once said It is a lot like playing a video game, but playing the same video game four straight on the same level. But those bombs kill real people and often not the people he was aiming at . One US senator Lidnsey Graham in February of 2013 Weve killed 4,700. Sometimes you hit innocent people, and I hate that, but were at war, and weve taken out some very senior members of al-Qaida (Brown). Many pilots have felt like all they were doing was playing a game and even killing innocent civilians when they were carrying out attacks. It has been pretty scary for people knowing that war has become so easy for the military by the usage of drones.

Now lets talk about the more important things. Lets take a second and talk about the pros and whether or not the U.S. military should be able to continue to use drone strikes. If there was a way where you could save your brother, dad, or just anybody wearing that uniform fighting the battle for our freedom. friend who is a soldier part of a battle. Drones are actually the perfect answer for that, drone strikes are saving thousands and thousands of lives where the U.S. has been able to keep our soldiers of foreign grounds by accomplishing the same missions with drones. It is also keeping these hundred of thousands soldiers experiencing something that is going to have a lasting impact mentally. Although before we go jumping to conclusions, there have been pilots who have experienced the same symptoms of PTSD. Some people have called these drone attacks a video game. People think were sitting here with joysticks playing video games, but that is simply not true, these are real situations and real-life weapons systems. Once you launch a weapon, you cant hit a replay button to bring people back to life(Chow). Although this sounds like a bad thing, pilots suffering from PTSD is a number than is much fewer than those soldiers fighting on the battlefronts. But like all bad things of war, PTSD is just another cost of battle, and it is going to happen no matter what type of war you are a part of.

EvenAlthough drones have had a bad reputation for the amount of civilian casualties from their attacksin which they caused, drones have actually killed fewer civilians than any other military weapon. Thanks to their precise attacks. In 2001 roughly 8-17% of the civilian casualties were actually caused by a drone attack. During the last 4 years of Bush Administration there were only 11 Drone strikes executed. Unlike the Obama Administration where over 300 strikes have taken place, with 2012 being considered the deadliest year with approximately 42 airstrikes and 238 casualties in Yemen (Procon) Since 2004 the United states has conducted a program to target and kill al Qaeda and Taliban commanders in Pakistans northwest region. 96% of all these strikes have taken place in the two regions of North and South Waziristan on the boarder of Afghanistan. Between 2004 and 2013 in Pakistan an estimated 326-380 drone strikes have resulted in 1,620-2,783 enemy, extremist, or militant deaths, as well as 156-951 civilian deaths. Although Pakistan told the United Nations in October of 2013 that over 400 civilians have died from these drone strikes. With 2010 being in the deadliest year in Pakistan but , and like what was spoken earlier; this is a number that has been dropping dramatically over the past couple of years (Procon).

Another pro for these drones is that they are cheaper than any other type of military tactic. With $5 billion allocated for drones in the 2012 Department of Defense budget, Americans entire drone program constitutes only 1% of the entire annual military budget. US manned military attack aircraft cost anywhere from $18,000 to

$169,000 per hour to operate 6 to 42 times more than attack drones. Not a bad way to save money during a war and also while trying to save more soldiers lives.

In July of 2013, 61% of Americans supported the drone strikes in Pakistan and Somalia with 69% percent of those being Republicans and Democrats at 59% (ProCon.org). There are people that see the good in these drone attacks and see how beneficial these drones could be if we continued improving them and making them more accurate and precise in what they do. Thousands of our friends, brothers, sisters, father or mothers who are serving this country lives could be saved and could avoid these face to face battles and keep our soldiers safe and never having to have them step foot on foreign ground. Also with the price of these being so cheap compared to everything else that the US military has to spend money on. We could continue making these drones safer were at one point there might not ever be any more civilian casualties.

With all the statistics and number coming back from these drone strikes, it is starting to show everybody that they might just be the answer for the new modern warfare, plus with technology the way it is and how fast it continues to grow, who knows;. tThat day might not be very far off. A day where we might be able to start protecting our soldiers and saving our Nation money from the cost of war.

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Work Cited

Chow, Denise. "Life Science." Drone Wars: Pilots Reveal Debilitating Stress Beyond Virtual Battlefield. N.p., 05 November 2013. Web. 25 Mar 2014. <http://www.livescience.com/40959-military-drone-war-psychology.html>.

ProCon.org. "Drones ProCon.org" ProCon.org. 12 Mar. 2014. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. <http://drones.procon.org/>.

Ross, Alice K, Chris Woods, and Sarah Leo. "The Bureau of Investigative Journalism." Drone strikes in Pakistan The Reaper Presidency: Obamas 300th drone strike in Pakistan. N.p., 03/12/12. Web. 25 Mar 2014. <http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2012/12/03/the-reaper-presidencyobamas-300th-drone-strike-in-pakistan/>.
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Brown, Mark. "Life as a US drone operator: 'It's like playing a video game for four years'." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 29 July 2013. Web. 27 Apr.
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2014. <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/28/life-us-droneoperator-artist>.
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