Drones & autonomous weapons

On 23 January, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported that ‘Across Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, the Obama administration has launched more than 390 drone strikes in five years – five times as many as were launched in the entire George W Bush presidency [ie 51 strikes in four years]’. According to the Bureau these strikes have killed more than 2,400 people, at least 273 of whom were reportedly civilians. On 5 February, Pakistani drone investigator Karim Khan was abducted from his home…

According to figures obtained from the ministry of defence (MoD) by Drone Wars UK in January and February 2014 under the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA), unmanned British Reaper drones launched 457 weapons over Afghanistan up to the end of 2013. A further 39 launches (during 250 missions) were made using US drones up to the end of December 2012.

In what appears to have been a deliberate attempt to mislead parliament, the MoD neglected to mention the latter strikes when asked ‘how…

On 31 January, four intrepid individuals from Oxford CND braved continuous rain to hold up banners outside the main gate of RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, calling for an end to drone warfare.

Inside the base, British prime minister David Cameron and French president François Hollande held an Anglo-French summit at which they agreed to jointly invest £200 million in a two-year study into a future military drone – the study to be carried out by French company Dassault and Britain’s…

The British government may have had Tacitus in mind when it launched its latest PR offensive on drones by inviting a select number of journalists — not once, but twice — to view the UK’s new drone control centre at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire.

British pilots in Waddington fly the deadly unmanned aircraft currently in operation over Afghanistan (see PN 2558). ‘This is [about] defence correspondents talking about defence and the military ... If you start touching [on foreign nations…

Defendant Linda LeTendre wrote afterwards of her shock: ‘I sat at the defense table with my mouth hanging open while the courtroom erupted in cheers and applause. I remember thinking, “I must look a fool with my chin hanging lower than my navel.” ’

“We will not be complicit with our government’s war crimes”

It was the first acquittal of anti-drones…

In a Kafkaesque twist, even the explanation of why the release of this information would involve ‘risk to [service personnel’s] life and limb’ has been witheld.

Chris Cole, founder of the small NGO Drone Wars UK, brought a case before the tribunal in September after an earlier appeal to the information commissioner was turned down in February.

Early in 2012,…

US drone attacks are increasing the risk of terrorism, the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize nominee told US president Barack Obama during a private meeting in the White House in Washington DC on 11 October.

Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan, 16, said in a statement released after the meeting that she had thanked the president for supporting education in Pakistan and Afghanistan: ‘I also expressed my concerns that drone attacks are fuelling terrorism. Innocent victims are killed in…

Military technology company QinetiQ has signed a contract to use Llanbedr, near Harlech, Gwynedd, for testing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or ‘drones’. Llanbedr airfield estates claimed its 2,300m runway can handle larger drones than are tested at Aberporth in Ceredigion.

Welsh government economic minister Edwina Hart said that she sees it as an important step forward as ‘Llanbedr Airfield has the capacity to significantly increase Wales’ capability in the [unmanned aerial…

On 7 October, six peace activists were found guilty of criminal damage during a protest at a British drones base, RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire. They were given a conditional discharge for six months, were fined £10 and ordered to pay £75 in court costs.

Defendant Keith Hebden told PN: ‘The judge recognised the validity of our arguments, saying Waddington was a “legitimate target for protest”. The token order to pay £10 in compensation reads to me like an invitation to press home the…

When Melanie Phillips, doyenne of the right, posed the question ‘drones – what’s not to like?’ on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Moral Maze’ programme, I was incensed at the sheer crassness of her words. Statements by politicians and ministry of defence (MoD) spokespersons justifying the use of drones for military and surveillance purposes need to be countered at every opportunity.

Bankrupt civil servants, politicians and warmongers never mention the civilian deaths and injuries, nor the invasion…

This book offers important insights into US covert military operations over the past decade. While US drone strikes tend to get the headlines, behind the scenes – and perhaps even more lethal – is the work of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) on which much of this book is focused.

In the first 100 pages, Scahill traces the rise of the neocon movement back to Watergate, and…

This collection of academic essays is edited by Bradley Jay Strawser, a philosophy professor at the US navy postgraduate school in California. Interviewed last year by the Guardian, Strawser was quoted as saying that, as far unmanned drones are concerned: ‘It’s all upside. There’s no downside. Both ethically and normatively, there’s a tremendous value.’

Like most collections of essays, some are better than others. In ‘Just War Theory and Remote Military Technology: A Primer…

On 4 June, six Christian peace activists were held overnight after breaking into the British drones base, RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, and planting a peace garden.

The ‘Disarm the Drone Six’, who posted information about British drone warfare around the base, were marking the fifth anniversary of the first UK drone strike, and the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression.

Susan Clarkson, Chris Cole, Henrietta Cullinan, Martin Newell, Dr Keith…

As European countries step up their lobbying of the US to sell them armed drones, German activists have been leading the charge against the ‘competitive rush of governments in Europe and elsewhere to acquire and use’ the robotic killing machines.

On 30 April, during a visit to Washington by the German defence minister Thomas de Mazière to meet his US counterpart Chuck Hagel, Der Spiegel reported that the US was ready to approve a German request for three armed…

‘Ah, here they are!’

As the bearded South Asian gentleman and the young woman in her 20s hoved into view, clutching their coffees, our coach driver fired up the engine.

It was 8.50am, and having travelled up to London the night before and slept on a floor to guarantee making the 8.30 rendezvous, I was somewhat peeved that we still hadn’t left.

‘Why did we wait for these two?’ I mused uncharitably,…