Predators: The CIA's Drone War on al Qaeda

by Brian Glyn Williams

Predators is a riveting introduction to the murky world of Predator and Reaper drones, the CIA's and U.S. military's most effective and controversial killing tools. Brian Glyn Williams combines policy analysis with the human drama of the spies, terrorists, insurgents, and innocent tribal peoples who have been killed in the covert operation—the CIA's largest assassination campaign since the Vietnam War era—being waged in Pakistan's tribal regions via remote control aircraft known as drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles. Having traveled extensively in the Pashtun tribal areas while working for the U.S. military and the CIA, Williams explores in detail the new technology of airborne assassinations. From miniature Scorpion missiles designed to kill terrorists while avoiding civilian “collateral damage” to prathrais , the cigarette lighter–size homing beacons spies plant on their unsuspecting targets to direct drone missiles to them, the author describes the drone arsenal in full. Evaluating the ethics of targeted killings and drone technology, Williams covers more than a hundred drone strikes, analyzing the number of slain civilians versus the number of terrorists killed to address the claims of antidrone activists. In examining the future of drone warfare, he reveals that the U.S. military is already building more unmanned than manned aerial vehicles. Predators helps us weigh the pros and cons of the drone program so that we can decide whether it is a vital strategic asset, a “frenemy,” or a little of both.

Genres: War

256 pages, Hardcover

First published July 30, 2013

Reviews

[Thomas Myers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overly dry and not as objective as the author said.

[Roy Szweda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unique book and big thanks to Jim for shoving this under my nose. OK, I thought I knew a fair bit about "drones" or UAS as my work requires but this book really opened my eyes to an extraordinary tale.
First heard of the use of RPVs or drones in Nam and then as spectacularly used by Israeli forces in Lebanon etc. But these were all basically adjuncts to "conventional" offensive warfare. This book gives the story of how these super toys (they are after all just revved up RC models) have been honed to become a rapier like tool in counter-terrorism.
Perhaps the techie in me would liked to have read more of the development of machines like Predator etc - for example, the advances in satcoms etc. But maybe that would have obscured the exposition of his thorough analysis of the CIA operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere. This convinced me that these machines and their controllers are proving an effective response to a very challenging problem: how to prosecute wrongdoers who hide from view in their safe havens while causing mayhem, fear and death to thousands of civilians.
I would recommend everyone read this book but particularly those who should seek a fairer assessment of the operational use of drones. As ever too much smoke and mirrors from those with an axe to grind makes any kind of understanding difficult. Here he presents numbers that are as good as any can get for us to make up our own minds. Sadly I suspect those who refuse to see the views of others will be unaffected by this work and the war continue.

[Ricky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good balanced history of the drone campaign and the debate that it has sparked. Williams shows the rift it has created in Pakistan and the growing anti-American tide that has accompanied the campaign.