Drones are doing in Gaza and Iraq what they have done in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, not only performing the work of occupation and killing, but giving the political and military leaders who command them a completely false sense of their power to control the people whose privacy and lives they feel a God-given right to violate. Just because you can stalk a person doesn’t mean you can make that person love you; most likely, it will make the person want to kill you.
But the leaders of the United States and Israel and other wannabe colonial “powers” have not only failed to learn from such horrible, failed efforts at technological domination as the Viet Nam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars, they have failed to learn from the miserable fiasco of drone surveillance and attack in Gaza. For at least the last five years, drones have been at the heart of Israel’s attempts to make life intolerable for the people of Gaza to the point where they would give up any sense of self or wish for personal or community freedom.
The result is a situation of increased Gazan resistance, tragedy and hatred that threatens an expanding war that will suck in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and, of course, the United States.
Now in Iraq, the United States is using drones much the same way the Israelis are using them in Gaza. This assault, in concert with bombing by manned aircraft, is almost certainly part of preparations for a reintroduction of US military force into Iraq on a permanent basis. This can only bring widening war that could well engage Syria, Turkey and Iran. (Here is a link to a report on United States and Iranian drone operations in Iraq.)
Would these wars happen anyway, without drones? Possibly. But it is very obvious that drones are massively contributing to a fantastical sense of power to dominate that will only lead to more and more killing.
Grounding the drones is essential not only to save lives, but to bring the United States government and the American people a step closer to confronting the hideous history of United States imperialism and the sick desire to now advance this violent system by remote control.
(Speaking of imperialism, check out this article from the New Yorker.)