Drones in War: The Controversies Surrounding the United States' Expanded Use of Drones

Abstract

The Obama administration, during his presidency, had embarked on a mission to redefine the guidelines for the development and deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones. There are a number of debates surrounding the use of drones, the most contentious of which have been as to whether governments have legal authorization to do so, and of how combatant status is defined under current international law. The most salient issue today regarding the deployment of drones has been the “culture of secrecy.” In Obama’s first second term, his administration promised significant improvements on openness and scrutiny for U.S. drones strikes in a major speech in May 2013. Although the US has presented a public move to distill the US drone policy more out of the shadows, the actual mechanism by which the US is actually, in practice, employing armed drones and executing targeted killings still presents serious international legal questions. Recently, the White House had proposed that the Pentagon would take over much of the drone operations from the CIA, whereby making drone strikes more transparent. Yet, during this same period, the Obama administration has not shifted key aspects of the drone program to that of being unclassified in form. Given the alarming increase in the use of drones and the sophistication and ease by which such weapons can be used in violent situations, the time is now for the Trump administration to take action on critical alterations of the current policy in the use of drones.