حرب الطائرات بدون طيار: القتل بالتحكم عن بعد

by Medea Benjamin, أيهم الصباغ (ترجمة)

تبين ميدينا بنجامن في هذا الكتاب المقنع بصورة لافتة، والذي استوفى حقه ن البحث، أن الطائرة بدون طيّار (درون) هي السلاح الأحدث في ترسانة الأسلحة عالية التقنية والمُتحكّم بها عن بثعد. وعلى الرغم من انها لا تختلف عن الطائرات المقاتلة العادية في قدرتها التدميرية وبربريتها وترويعها المدنيين، فغنها بطبيعتها أكثر ملاءمة للمهام القذرة والخطرة. لذلك، تعوّل الولايات المتحدة عليها في تنفيذ برامج الاغتيالات والقتل المستهدف، ضمن ما تسميه "الحرب على الإرهاب"، منتهكة في معزم الأحيان القانونين الدولي والأمريكي معًا.
وكما توثّق بنجامن، فإن وكالة المخابرات المركزية الأمريكية (سي. آي. ايه.) عي المسؤولة، لا البنتاغون، عن شنّ معظم ضربات الطائرات بدون طيّار، من دون أي محاسبة أو دليل او محاكمة تدين المستهدف بالموت، بل تمامًا حسب أهواء البيت الأبيض، وبحصانة كاملة من المسؤولية عن قتل المدنيين الموجودين في ساحة الإعدام، والذين كثيرًا ما يتحوّلون إلى مجرّد "أضرار جانبية"- سواء في أفغانستان أو باكستان أو اليمن أو الصومال أو فلسطين أو العراق أو مؤخرًا سورية.
كذلك تتقصّى بنجامن في هذا الكتاب بدقّة تاريخ الطائرات بدون طيّار، وأنواعها، و تخصّصاتها، وتكلفتها، ودرجات تسليحها، ودور المؤسسة العسكرية الإسرائيلية (خصوصًا مهندس الطيران الإسرائيلي أبراهام كاريم) والأمريكية في تطويرها.
ولأنّ الطائرات بدون طيّار أكثر ملاءمة لمهام المراقبة والتجسّس (إذ تستطيع متابعة شخص من ارتفاع 60 ألف قدم أحيانًا، وتصويره بالأشعة تحت الحمراء وفوق البنفسجية)، تتوقّع بنجامن رواج استخدامها داخليًا في التجسّس على الناشطين والمواطنين الأمريكيين العاديين.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, War, History, Military Fiction, Technology, Activism

256 pages, Unknown Binding

First published May 1, 2012

About the author

Benjamin grew up in Long Island, New York, a self-described "nice Jewish girl." During her freshman year at Tufts University, she renamed herself after the Greek mythological character Medea. She received master's degrees in public health from Columbia University and in economics from The New School.

Benjamin worked for 10 years as an economist and nutritionist in Latin America and Africa for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Health Organization, the Swedish International Development Agency, and the Institute for Food and Development Policy. She spent four years in Cuba, and has authored three books on the country.

In 1988 with Kevin Danaher, her husband, and Kirsten Moller, Benjamin co-founded the San Francisco-based Global Exchange, which advocates fair trade alternatives to what she describes as corporate globalization. She is a co-founder of the left-wing feminist anti-war group Code Pink: Women for Peace, which advocated an end to the Iraq War, the prevention of future wars, and social justice. Benjamin has also been involved with the left-wing anti-war organization United for Peace and Justice.

Reviews

[Nadienne Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I honestly do not know why this book received such low ratings from so many people - aside from the fact that they are drone warfare fanboys who are all about murdering brown people in far away places.

The charge that this is not researched seems ridiculous when there are over 300+ citations in a book of less than 300 pages. The charge that the author resorts to swearing is ludicrous when the instance in which she does is when she is quoting YouTube comments - they are not her own words.

The charge that this book is overly political and that the author is trying to push an agenda is valid, but absurd as a criticism. This book is dealing with the subject of murder bots deliberately raining death from the sky down upon innocent civilians. How, in any way, is that an objective subject that can not be taken as political? How can one not have an "agenda" when discussing it. You are either for the murder of children by uncaring assassins in the sky or you are against it.

Her point is amazingly valid, too. Hell, Robert E. Lee said much the same thing - and I'd think the critics who are all for killing brown people in faraway places would also be Lee fanboys. "It is a good thing war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it." War is supposed to be awful and horrible and require tremendous sacrifice, and those who engage in it are supposed to be scrutinized until the very last day of the very last war when the very last person finally returns home. To sanitize war and make it so incredibly easy, painless, and hidden is one of the worst developments of the 21st century. "War is hell." No one should be able to slaughter dozens of people, Mon to Fri, 8 to 5, and then go home and hang out at a family BBQ on the weekend - that is the recipe for psychopaths and serial killers.

What's worse is the tremendous war profiteering that is going on because of this. Instead of building up our society or advancing science and research in credible, useful fields, we are wasting billions upon billions of dollars on whole-scale murder machines. We could have free health care. We could have free education. We could house the homeless, feed the hungry, etc., etc. This is just another example of why capitalism kills.

To their defense that they "won't use these machines to spy on us domestically." Yah, put the laws on the books that prevent it, with actual teeth in the enforcement of it, and then maybe, MAYBE, I'll think it's maybe okay when used in certain times for very specific reasons. But, until such laws exist - we should do everything we can to make sure our local areas remain 100% drone free.

And, it is ruining the very art of diplomacy, negotiation, trade, and just talking and understanding. When it becomes so easy just to murder a person you slightly disagree with, why bother trying to understand where they are coming from?

[Courtney · Rating 1 out of 5]

I respect Medea Benjamin's activism, but couldn't make myself finish this mess of a book. Even though I tend to agree with her perspective, I was incredibly annoyed by her general lack of critical engagement. There really isn't an "argument" here - just a rambling polemical diatribe. I feel she would strengthen her position as a writer if she included some critical discourse and THEN justified her personal convictions. Cutting out some repetition would help, too.

[Joshua Stein · Rating 1 out of 5]

This probably would have been a two-star review if not for the last three chapters. Benjamin is the co-founder of an anti-war organization called CODEPINK and discloses this right up front. The thing is, having a strongly held ideological position doesn't give anyone the right to strawman or outright ignore the positions of those they claim to be arguing against.

For those who are interested in the contemporary military industrial complex and the role of the government in perpetuating the arms race through robotics, there are lots of good pieces of writing. Singer's Wired for War, which is quoted several times by Benjamin, is a much better assessment. Unlike Benjamin's writing, Singer does a good deal of his own research and he tries hard to accurately articulate the positions of those he strongly disagrees with; in this sense, the contrast between Singer and Benjamin is painful.

The first portion of the book deals with a sort of popularized account of the historical use of drones and their contemporary use in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Much of the data is questionable and where it does raise good points, the rhetoric so far oversteps the content of the claims that it seems positively hyperbolic, to the point of being ridiculous. It also includes extended references to Vietnam and the importance of the draft in building support in the anti-war movement. As a 21-year-old man, listening to a middle-aged woman acknowledge that a draft would have been a major boon for her movement is disturbing and, frankly, infuriating.

The last few chapters of the book are a discussion of the anti-war movement, more than anything else. While Benjamin could've chosen to look back to Eisenhower and the military industrial complex and make compelling arguments regarding wanton use of force, arguments I find compelling and often engage myself, she instead chooses to engage the same tired talking points, taken [again] to the hyperbolic extreme. Her descriptions attempting to shine light on the protests used by the anti-war movement serve to alienate moderates who might have been open to some compelling, thoughful rhetoric.

The title of the book is misleading and, for those genuinely interested in drone technology and its impact on contemporary war, I strongly recommend going elsewhere in pursuit of that information. Benjamin's account is, at best, badly argued and poorly researched and, at worst, gratuitously ideological and intellectually dishonest.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not the most polished or focused book imaginable, but Benjamin is first and foremost a peace activist, not an investigative journalist. To her credit, the parts of the book that focus on Drone warfare: how it developed, how much money is involved in their production (hint: it's A LOT), how they are used, and the basic ethical/legal dilemmas involved in secretively killing people from the sky thousands of miles away receive a marginally thoughtful summary, and she obviously put a lot of research (though nowhere near enough to make this book as powerful as it could be) into the topic.

Honestly, this is a subject which just needs a stronger, more disciplined writer, one who is able to focus in persistently on the ramifications of these machines, and not someone who will hijack their own work with hopelessly naive, 3rd rate reasoning about "just-war theory" and the embarrassingly negligible role that the U.S.'s already hopelessly emasculated peace movement has played in bringing more attention to how totally insane and terrifying the implications of drone warfare are.

[Hope Wilke · Rating 1 out of 5]

If the United States Government had pants, they would definitely be on fire right now. When the government reports the death tolls caused by the U.S. in other countries, they lie right through their teeth by claiming many deaths of innocent civilians were actually militants. This along with many other facts and opinions shared by the author stood out to me. Medea Benjamin, author of Drone Warfare: Killing By Remote Control, states many times--from the very beginning--she is the co-founder of an anti-war organization called CODEPINK. For 30 years she has been an advocate for social justice. After September 11, 2001, she became so obsessed with stopping the civilian casualties caused by America in attempt to make Al Qaeda pay for what they did. Benjamin’s book focuses on the events following 9/11, especially covering all negative aspects of drone warfare. With many stories and statistics of the casualties of innocents, she theoretically shows drone warfare is an evil thing. In reality, Medea Benjamin was extremely biased, hardly touching on any of the positives drone warfare brings to the table. She also tended to ramble on and on about the same topic with her opinions. While Benjamin did at times have good points, it was difficult to become completely enthralled in the text because of the scattered facts. Even when Medea touches on the cost of producing modern day drones and the mindset of drone pilots, she twists situations around to influence the reader's outlook on drones. Drone warfare usage in America has skyrocketed after September 9th; before this date, a crew of air force personnel manned the combating aircrafts. My grandfather was a tail gunner in World War II, so I am personally interested to see where aircraft combat is heading. Since this field is so quickly changing, Drone Warfare: Killing By Remote Control’s publication in 2013 made this the best selection out of my school’s library. I was very disappointed how this non-fiction book focused purely on the negatives while I was expecting a very informational read. I would not suggest Benjamin’s novel because it had interesting points within. but with all of the biased text and scattered explanations. it proved extremely difficult to finish. If you are involved with or interested in any anti-war organizations. this novel is a peek into the brain of a co-founder and may be less ridiculous to you.

[محمد إبراهيم · Rating 4 out of 5]

آلات القتل الفتاكة التي تشق سماء أفغانستان وباكستان والعراق وغزة واليمن وغيرهم، استراتيجية القتل التي بدأها بوش وقام أوباما - الحائز على نوبل للسلام - باستخدامها أضعاف المرات التي استخدمها سلفه، فالرئيس الذي انتخب لإنهاء الحرب اتبع تكتيكًا يُسهم في تغييب الحرب عن وعي الأمريكيين، الطائرات بدون طيار
وفي حين تكافح الصناعة الأمريكية للبقاء، يشكل قطاع صناعة الطائرات بدون طيار سوقًا مزدهرًا، ويشكل صانعوها ومشغلوها ومؤيدوها من الكونجرس لوبي ضغط مرعب يتعرض له الكتاب بالتفصيل
الطائرات بدون طيار التي بُرر استخدامها بأنها تقلل الكلفة البشرية للحرب تسببت في مقتل آلاف الأبرياء في العراق وأفغانستان وباكستان وغزة واليمن وليبيا بل وسوريا مؤخرا، وتفترض الكاتبة أنه لو أن آلات القتل هذه تقتل فعلًا بعض الإرهابيين (من وجهة النظر الأمريكية) فهل يُبرر هذا قتل آلاف المدنيين بالخطأ وبمجرد الاشتباه ؟ وهل يحق للاستخبارات الأمريكية والبنتاجون قتل إرهابي "محتمل" هكذا بالاشتباه وبدون محاكمة ؟ وبما يشمل أيضًا مواطنين أمريكان كأنور العولقي وولده رحمهما الله ؟
الحقيقة أن إدارة أوباما فضلت الخيار الأسهل والأكثر دموية، فتبعات قتل "إرهابي محتمل" أخف من تبعات اعتقاله واستجوابه ، وأوباما يفضل أن يغرق في دم هؤلاء على فضيحة كفضيحة "غوانتانامو" أو "أبو غريب"، فالشعب الأمريكي لا يعرف كم ضحية سقطت بأموال ضرائبه !!
يتحدث الكاتب أيضًا عن نفسية القاتل مُشغل الطائرة بدون طيار، حيث عملية القتل تتحول للعبة بلاي ستيشن، ويتحول الضحايا لمجرد أهداف تتحرك على شاشة باردة، فما هي مدى أخلاقية قاتل لا يجرؤ على مواجهة غريمه وجهًا لوجه ؟
تتحدث الكاتبة في النهاية عن الناشطين ضد القتل باستخدام الطائرات بدون طيار وتمدد هذه الحركات المعارضة عالميًا

[Jeff Whitley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unexpected foul language at the mid point or just afterward.

[Clif · Rating 3 out of 5]

Media Benjamin is a well known activist who for years has been speaking out boldly and acting in person against injustice. She is probably best known for her association with CODEPINK, the group she cofounded back in the days of the absurd national terrorism alert system that used colors to indicate the supposed danger to the US from terrorists. She has a habit of popping up unexpectedly to embarrass the powerful. I recall her standing up and calling out Henry Kissinger, quite properly, as a war criminal bringing a denunciation as "low life scum" from Senator John McCain.

She is a tireless campaigner against war and injustice, be it the US interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq or US support of ethnic cleansing in the West Bank. I attended one of her many talks around the country and had her autograph this book that I purchased at the event.

Not being a fan of sarcasm, I found this book a bit heavy on it in the early chapters, but otherwise Benjamin provides a very good background on armed drones. Though she doesn't mention it, before 9/11 the US with Clinton as President was extremely hesitant to and did not launch a drone attack on the compound in which Osama bin Laden resided in Afghanistan for fear of killing innocent people including his wives and children. That hesitation is long gone and Benjamin documents the use of drones armed with Hellfire missiles becoming routine. With seemingly endless Pentagon announcements of a top person in Al-Qaeda or the Taliban having been executed by drone it was remarked that nobody should be left to take the job.

After telling the history of drone development and describing the job of the drone pilot who kills someone thousands of miles away from his control console, Benjamin goes into the legal aspects of drone warfare, the morality of it and finally the actions that have been taken to oppose the practice. Though she doesn't mention it, crews stationed in ICBM silos pioneered the role of one or two people having the ability to kill hundreds of thousands upon command. The big difference is that the idea of ICBM launches is abhorrent while killing by drone is so routine that the President is, from one administration to the next, an assassin by drone and the subject isn't even discussed by the media. As she reports, Obama increased the number of drone strikes ten times over what GW Bush had ordered. Trump continued it and there's no reason to believe any change has come with Joe Biden. The policy of the President as assassin is not even worth debate.

Power on high is clearly at ease with this killing by drone regardless of a host of questions that surround it. Where is any responsibility for the killing of innocents that almost always accompanies a drone strike? If there is such a thing as international law, how can one country, the US, completely disregard the sovereignty of another such as Pakistan and launch drone strikes without permission from the country where the killing takes place? When there is no declared war, how can individuals be executed with no trial, including American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki killed by an American drone in Yemen?

The appeal of drone strikes to power is great. Why go to the trouble and possible embarrassment of capturing and bringing to trial some person who can simply be eliminated? Why risk even one American life to get a wanted man? Why send in troops when surveillance can be maintained 24 hours a day from the sky? There is no down side to drone strikes for US administrations, or to Israel which engages in exactly the same thing, when no counterstrikes are possible. I do think GW Bush was missing the mark when remarking that "they hate us for our freedoms." This privilege of only two militaries in the world will not continue indefinitely. Harry Truman once said that the Golden Rule should be the standard of foreign policy, but the reality at present is that great power may do things that it would not tolerate coming from the another country.

Media Benjamin has written an easy to read and short account that can inform the American public on a very questionable practice done in the name of that public. There is a more recent edition than the 2012 edition I read. When I encountered the name of this or that organization that was either pro or anti-drone I looked it up on the net. I found that more often than not the groups either no longer existed or had websites that were years out of date.

Clearly there is little concern with the routine killing done by our Presidents and that in itself is alarming if not surprising. I think many may think that if troops can be kept at home then go right ahead and execute in distant lands, forgetting the horror of being on the receiving end of drone strikes and the anxiety for everyone on the ground who must hear the sound of drones constantly without knowing where or when another attack will come. Americans do not want a Big Brother watching us. People in distant lands do not want Uncle Sam watching either, particularly with the additional ability to kill instantly and unpredictably without appeal.

In 2021, 9 years after the publication of this book, on it goes.

[Dr. Phoenix · Rating 1 out of 5]

A Book You Will Love to Hate.


Perhaps this hearts and flowers 'author' had an troubled childhood, perhaps she suffered later on in life to become so embittered, but then again, perhaps she is just another of those intolerant left wing radicals; a rebel with a thousand causes.Benjamin has a point to make and she does not care who she sullies in the process. She libels large industries and slanders individuals with reckless abandon, using her sharp tongue and barbed quill as weapons of choice.

My initial expectations were to discover a well balanced and researched title from the experts and various reviews. However when I opened to the prologue and found the infamous liberal anti-heroine Barbara Ehrenreich lauding the title, I knew I was headed for liberal la la land. Regardless, I forged bravely on into the unknown. As I might have expected from an author who is also a co founder of codepink a far left radical feminist group of limited significance, I was not to be disappointed, at least not in my assumptions. It was a test of patience in turning the pages I assure you.
Benjamin's, scathing, jingoistic journalistic style of writing is already enough to grate on the nerves of any well educated reader, This book among a few scattered bits of interesting information, usually gleaned from others, is little more than a socialist tirade and manifesto from the far left where the writer dictates to the reader. The peace and love, kumbaya, pro-feminist indoctrination at its worst does not allow critical thinking or for the reader to user their own critical judgement for form their own opinions, rather her she spoon feeds them her version of right and wrong.

Totally biased research presented with a one sided slant the epic mark of failed research is prevalent throughout. There is not even a modicum of balance (unless it is cached within her snide and insulting use of metaphorical language). Benjamin rolls over the opposition as if waging war on her own terms.This leaves the reader wanting for at least the appearance of balanced reporting, which never arrives.


At the end of the day the author criticizes advances in technology, and precision seeing them as a waste of funds and effort, yet also criticizes the lack of precision of said instruments. She would, it appears much rather see US personnel maimed and dead in exchange for proportional collateral damage.What Benjamin and others promise here is a well balanced account on the current state of drone warfare. What they deliver is far from that. This was a lost opportunity to research and present to the public a well balanced and informative account of this important new technology. The end result leaves the reading public wanting and being mislead. It could have been a great book by using a balanced approach, which avoids one sided arguments, but much of it is based upon unfounded speculation and a lack of serious research.

As a serious scholar practitioner I can only recommend that any reader seriously interested in the topic read 'round the topic.' A colleague asked me "If you dislike the book so much , why not write a more balanced accounting?" I thought this was a grand idea and my new title, "The Icarus Protocol" will be published at the beginning of 2014.

[Tariq Mahmood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its hard to go home to one's family after wiping out someone else's.

If you do something long enough, the world will learn to accept it eventually.

The book is short very factual account of the drone industry, lobbying and narrative in the USA. Narrative-for is pretty powerful, as drones provide an easy and effective manner of engaging with an allusive enemy hidden among the ordinary, the argument-against is very compelling as well, with all the civilian deaths and ill-will generated against the USA every time another 'successful' drone strikes somewhere in the badlands of Pakistan or Somalia. Even if most of the collateral goes unreported the resulting anger directed against the West is felt every time another foreigner is killed in reprisal attack.

But there is one aspect which also needs to be considered in the drone narrative, that is the delight felt by the locals each time a real terrorist is killed by a drone strike. Because lets not forget that these terrorists are pretty nasty bullys who have been disrupting the locals working class people in areas with almost non-existing government control, leaving drone strikes as the only real outcome for any known bully. The recent killing of Taliban number 2 leader in Pakistan is a great case in point. Apparently the number one and number two leaders had broken apart prompting the number one to find a convenient mole to convey the location of number 2 leader to the drone operators, who obliged him by not only getting rid of his sworn enemy but also made him a pretty rich with the reward money.

Ways of the world are indeed strange.......

[Larry Bassett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was published in 2012 and my biggest criticism of it is that that might be too long ago to accurately reflect the current state of affairs in drone warfare. The book notes that Barack Obamas first authorization of a predator drone attack occurred three days after his inauguration. Now at the end of his eight years in office we know that he has relied significantly on this manner of warmaking. And it is possible that he has gotten better or more careful about it under the glare of public awareness and criticism. Within the past month under considerable public pressure Obama has released a 18 page summary of the policies and procedures used in drone attacks. Collateral damage that is the deaths of women children and other non-combatants Buy drone attacks is among the most controversial of the topics.

This book was written by a extremely outspoken activist with an anti-drone point of view. It might even verge of the edge of propaganda against the use of drones. Actually it is one of the things I love about this book! But in spite of that the book actually admits or concedes that the drone Jeanie might already be out of the bottle. It suggests that the real battle for change should be to stop the drones that are in planning to be able to go out and attack targets with minimal human intervention.

Now I need to find the book the covers the five years about the drone technology since this book was printed. I am a war tax resistor and plan to use the mantra No Nukes and No Drones for my resistance next April.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though this book has a strong bias that I didn't initially agree with I found a lot of my thoughts on the use of drones have been changed. It raises a lot of critical issues involving the law, morality and the problems of using drones in targeted assassinations without oversight. The only reason I am giving this book middling grades is that I found Benjamin's prose to be a bit too biased at times, when a more dispassionate approach would have added more weight to her arguments. The facts are damning enough.

[Akshat Upadhyay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this book without seeking any review from goodreads but could not resist the temptation of a peekaboo. This book has been trolled by almost everyone with one to two star reviews. So on a sad note I started this book, but surprise surprise, after a cliche start with some sad story about an orphaned child in Afghanistan, this book takes a leap of faith by delving straight into the various types of drones in service with major powers, international law, and the cavalier attitude of the Americans. Overall an interesting book

[Briana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good primer on global drone warfare. A note to sensitive readers, however: the first half of the book is quite graphic. The second half of the book offers hope via examples of active resistance against military drones and briefly describes drones intended for environmental monitoring and humanitarian relief. The end of the book left me wanting to learn more deeply about the issues, which of course, is part of the point.

[Judy Gacek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Researched with endnotes. Author cofounded Codepink so the reader understands her stand on the subject which is she is against their use. While I also have concerns about their use in war I am equally concerned about their use by law enforcement officials and private citizens. Need to research what else is available on the subject as I need more information than what the author provided.

[Faisal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Medea had put so much effort into presenting the facts with the corresponding evidences, however ideas were so scattered in away that your mind would hardly function.

Again, this book is full of evidence which support the story Medea wanted to convey.

Worth reading for people interested about drones.

[Tom Nason · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good summation of the motivations for and use of drones in modern asymmetric, eternal war. A scary future well predicted. The -1 star may be more because we have no good solutions on the horizon, more than a deficiency of the book itself.

[Zare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good account on what technology does to inter-state relations and how this affects life of ordinary people.

War is not meant to be bloodless, distant and perceived as a video-game. We live in a society that embraces desocialization as a way living - but basically this is nothing more than excuse to embrace total personal isolation as a way of life (much easier when you do not have to think about others but only of yourself) and removal of family [as a basic social unit] from everyday life. Whoever thinks that alienating from others is a way to go is terribly wrong. When society is split apart that society is not able to do anything at all.

So is it strange that dehumanization is now starting to find it's way in the activity so closely related to human society? Horrors of war are there for a reason - they are part of it. Without it war is becoming common thing, something that you hear on the news and skip it so you could move on with your favorite TV show. Be concerned when you do not even blink after hearing news of some war atrocity taking place somewhere in the world. Without the risk of loss of life, of destruction, without fear, war becomes an industry, something that people will find acceptable because, hey, it does not happen here but someplace over the seas and who cares about that - right?

War is an exception in politics, disregard the hawks who say that there is always some conflict around the corner. it is true but war is an exception, end to a means - it is not supposed to be a means to itself. Using war to start and run industries and create work-places is perversion by definition - does this mean that in order to have everything running in order war must be made persistent? War for the war's sake is a path to total obliteration of society and rise of all those social elements as described in very books of Orwell and Huxley. Are the people ready to go this way is up to them but one thing remains true - they cannot say they were ignorant of the facts.

[Shawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very shocking account of a long list of murders that have been accomplished with American drones. This book also provides a very alarming account of the present state of drone technology. The capabilities of drones far exceed the imaginations of most everyday citizens. There are drones that can be unfolded and dispatched into the air like robotic hawks. Drones that can see what a person is reading from so far in the sky that the person doesn’t even know it’s there. Insect-like drones that can hover inside buildings and even inject substances into people! Etc. Etc. Etc. This book will blow your socks off!

OCT. 2014 NEWS ARTICLE

I must warn the prospective reader that this book takes a very liberal, non-violent perspective that may offend the ultra conservative, but the liberal bent is worth tolerating to absorb so much esoteric information about the state of this drone technology. Of particular interest is the author’s brief incursion into the psychology of warriors who kill by computer screens, thousands of miles away from the actual conflict, simply by controlling drones. Of shocking interest is the state of unawareness that most Citizens harbor regarding many obviously verifiable assassinations conducted by the United States using drone technology.

It is frightening to realize that some mysterious authority possesses the power to murder someone by merely commanding that it be done, without trial, without due process, and without anything more than pushing buttons on a computer screen thousands of miles away. This book is very well researched and extremely well written. I used the unabridged audio version read by Hillary Huber, which is very clear and articulate.


Tiny Insect Size Drone

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being both a reporter and an author, Medea Benjamin took the controversy of drones and brought the reader into the subject personally. Using stories and personal research, Medea shows every perspective, both the positive and negative arguments, by talking to both the victims and the perpetrators of drone use. Though her views are somewhat biased towards ending the drone use or having restrictions, Medea does strive to give the reader a good perspective on both views of the controversy. Medea also gives facts on drone use and the multiple types of drones purchased by the government, which helps with understanding the cause and start of drone use.
The beginning of the book begins with Medea's personal accounts while visiting the Pakistan-Afghan border. A young girl had approached her after a few weeks of Medea's visitation. The young girl, named Roya, had an interesting story. Now at the age of thirteen, Roya describes the terrible life she has experienced at such a young age. Roya's family is very poor. Her father worked as a street vendor to support the family's home located on the outskirts of Kabul. One day, there was a loud whirring sound and an explosion. Her house was desolated and the bodies of her family beside her father and surviving sisters were torn apart and airborne. Looking back, the Americans must have thought Roya's home had something to do with a nearby Taliban housing compound. This is just one of the tales told in Medea's book, among facts on the making and use of drones and government discussions on the subject.


Word Count: 263

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Medea Benjamin is one of the few Americans with the guts to take on President Spybot in public with pointed questioning about the murder of Abdulrahman Alawki- questions which he has yet to answer, and circumstances which his administration is still cowardly hiding behind executive privilege from fully explaining, even though so ordered by a federal judge. The mainstream media themselves are still avoiding the issue, a highly impeachable one, which involved the first presidential murders of United States citizens without trial, without charge, and without public scrutiny. Her work takes us far into the drone industry, explains its many ubiquitous ties to the government and military of Israel, and into places where even the father of all flying killer robot rockets, Werner Von Braun, failed to take us. This book is important because it deals with the human fallout of the "targeted killing" program in ways the mainstream media fail to approach it- from witnesses on the ground. Ameicans would do well to take the examples taught by Nazi Germany to heart- even drone killer flying robots will not break the spirit of the ones who live in their shadows as "collateral damage", and all one can say is, "why would Washington deal with such an unproductive means of fighting terror, by being terror, themselves?" Why indeed.

[Lauren Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard to write about technology in a way that's both clear and interesting, and Medea Benjamin is, first of all, an activist. But what this book lacks in polish it makes up for in passion. Remote-control weaponry—a chilling idea I'd be happy never to think about.

Whether I think about it or not, though, I am now part of a society in which some guys on an air force base outside Las Vegas sit at a video-game console and kill people in Pakistan and Yemen. Not even, necessarily, the right people. And my taxes help pay his salary and buy the explosives.

Incredible, if you stop to think about it: One of the advantages money can now buy (along with so many others) is the ability to wage war without undergoing any of the customary mortal risks. Even when we get it wrong and kill the innocent and defenseless, we face no consequences.

Wow. That went from sci-fi to reality way too fast.

How did this happen with so little public debate? As a society, we went from "We can do it" to "We are doing it" without the intermediate step of asking: Should we?

Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind—isn't that in the Bible somewhere? Don't these people profess to believe in that book?

I'm so glad someone is speaking out against this immoral madness.

[Ricky Macdonald · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was very informative, however, I had no clue it would be so opinionated and biased. It wasn't a problem for me because No matter my view on a subject, I like to see both sides of an argument or a point of view. Before I read this book, I had a very slim amount of knowledge how drone warfare was approached by the U.S. After reading it, I have a much better understanding of why drone missiles are used and what the effects, and capabilities of them are. The title is very true to what the story is about; The book is all about drone missiles and what the technology behind them is really capable of.

The author goes on to say how the average American citizen doesn't really understand just how powerful the technology of drone warfare is, and that they are unaware of it's effects on the countries it is used on. The author is an activist who is strongly against war, and violence. While I give the author recognition for giving so much information, I found that she reiterates her opinion too often and that some parts of the book are a bit redundant. I ended up giving this book 3 stars because it was well written on a topic that I'm fond of, but lacked excitement and was rather boring during some points throughout.

[Austin Dicerbo · Rating 4 out of 5]

DRONE WARFARE is a book about how the government making some wrong chooses with large amounts of money. They choose to buy million dollar drones instead of using man operated planes. The government thinks that using them will help the with winning wars and saving troops. The problem with them is that they fail and the remotes don't operate right. Medea Benjamin uses some many sources that show it's true information.

DRONE WARFARE is a very well written book with its information and telling the reads how everything went down with getting into buying more drones than the man operated planes. I think that if Benjamin didn't have all the information he included the book would of never been as well written.

The thing I didn't like about this book was that it didn't tell many story's about how the drones helped the troops and the missions that they went on. I also wish he included more names of people who runs the drones and how they got the positions of controller.

I didn't think that I would read a book that is more like a research project, but I would definitely tell people to read this book if you are into government and military.

[Segan Friend · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good if one sided look at drone warfare, mainly as prosecuted by the USA but a bit about Israel and other nations. The author states from the very beginning that she is anti drone and anti war and occasionally her hyperbole and rhetoric get a little repetitive and grating, weakening her very valid concerns and view points. I would have preferred a few other opinions in there from other sides of the issue to make it a more balanced read even though i agree with a lot of what she says. Dead foreign civilians, the expansion of the CIA into a paramilitary force with little oversight and illegal undeclared wars in far off parts of the globe don't garner much airtime with the news here in the States. Americans are pretty apathetic about foreign conflict unless it involves their troops on the ground and in peril, the use of drones neatly bypass this. Maybe if this books gets a wider audience that would change, maybe.

[Fenix Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

So very well written. This book gives a brief look into the history of drones
but mostly concentrates on modern usage and by whom, which is greater then we are led to believe.
It shows both sides of the issue, including the vantage point of those who have drones flying overhead 24/7 never knowing when they will be next to be targeted.
Though drones, or unmanned aircraft may have good positive uses, the usage of them in war, or for remote assassination is wrong. It makes the toll of war too far away from us and not only extends warfare for years, but makes war a first response instead of last resort to deal with conflicts and differences. The use of drones such as they are today has set a bad precedent which will only increase if not scaled back and proper common sense and legal guidelines put in place.

[Anurag Sethi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author provides a very passionate account of why drones should not be used including the fact that drone usage is probably causing more people to turn into terrorists. Most importantly, he provides an informative account of what the main media is not covering and the book needs to be widely read just for this reason. However, where it fails is in making a fair comparison of warfare before n during drone usage, i.e., number of innocent citizens (and real targets) killed during drone usage as compared to the war before drones. In addition, the author does not provide a real solution except stop drone usage.

[Will · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a very well written book; seems to be more of a condemnation of anything war-related or military in general more so than a sound argument against the use of drones (which isn't a difficult argument to make). This book focuses on the arguments that drones can make mistakes and kill civilians, which don't really make the drone an exceptional weapon. In fact, it is more on the tame side than most other weapons since not that many people die as a result of their use. The book would have been stronger if it focused on the legal aspects of delivering death across borders and the connections that can be drawn to the development of autonomous weapons systems.

[Jon Box · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing new here--information is cherry picked from NY Times, further distorted and plastered with Code Pink and Global Exchange snipes. She requotes various experts, many out of context, and anyone else who would sit down and spout their drone fears. Some of the information is factual and she may have some valid issues, but her presentation is one-sided, self-glorifying, and guaranteed to give you a headache! I would have given it two stars had she not spent the last quarter of the book delineating any and all protests against drones and many unrelated anti-war issues. Yuk!

[Marcy Winograd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author Medea Benjamin gives us hope that opposition to drones, both for surveillance and for not-so targeted kilings,will go global. In a groundbreaking analysis, Benjamin introduces us to terms like the "swarm" which is a "bevy of unmanned aerial ground and sea vehicles" that autonomously converge on enemy troops. Think about this not as sanitary warfare to save our own skins, but as cowardly mass murder that leaves our joystick operators with PTSD and the world an Orwellian nightmare.