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Annotated Bibliography

Are future developments in military drones beneficial to the United States?

Meghan Garnett Professor Malcolm Campbell English 1103 October 18, 2012

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Annotated Bibliography Alessi, Scott. "Catholic Scholars Weigh Ethics of Military Drones." Our Sunday Visitor. 1 Aug. 2010. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. <http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? sid=018f10c8-bee4-4fd8-9dea-e56b251b3a0b%40sessionmgr10&vid=9&hid=26>. In this Newspaper article, it explains what a drone is, explains some facts about drones, and voiced a strong view on how drones can be a positive and a negative thing for humanity. They talk about the moral complications that come with killing using a remote control. Drones use has become increasingly prevalent in recent years. They also stated that a February 2010 study by the New America Foundation states that there have been 142 drone strikes in Pakistan since 2004. Totaling between the estimated amounts of 1013 to 1536 deaths. Some experts say that as many as 50 innocent bystanders have been killed for each successful drone attack. A political professor at holy apostles college and seminary in Cromwell, CN said, " if they are being used in ways that raise questions about those being targeted, then their use would be illicit and immoral." people are worried that "remote operators" might take controlling the drones to be like a video game. This would cause them to assess the target on the screen as just a speck rather than a human being. Theres a big difference mentally and physically between being on the battlefield and sitting at a desk pushing buttons. Studies show that the more removed a person is from the act of killing, the easier it is for them to take a human life. They also value how they have found a way to save more human lives in the field by having drones. They close with stating that drones are too powerful for the government and military to resist. Overall, this is a good mix up with the usual information that I already have. Its made for the general public, but it is focusing more on Christians since it was published

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in a catholic newspaper. It explains both sides to the topic too, to help with my main idea. Goodman, Marc. "Marc Goodman: A Vision of Crimes in the Future." Speech. TEDGlobal 2012. Edinburgh, Scotland. June 2012. Web. 3 Oct. 2012. <http://http://www.ted.com/talks/marc_goodman_a_vision_of_crimes_in_the_future.html >. This lecture video talks about how technology is rapidly growing and it can fall into the wrong hands at anytime. Everyday technology and military technology if fallen into terrorist hands can be used against the US. The way terrorists now use modern information communication technologys to access certain people and slaughter them. they monitor their attacks on social media sites as the attacks are happening. Our openness can be used against us, a search engine can determine who shall live and who shall die," said the speaker. Robotics can now be used against us now because of drone technology. For example, recently the FBI arrested and Alkyd affiliate in the united states that was planning on using remote controlled drone aircrafts to fly C4 explosives into government buildings in the US. The aircrafts he was planning on using travels at 600 mph. this video will help me get my ideas across that drone technology can also be a very dangerous weapon that could be used against us. It shows the negative sides of remote control technology, but only if it gets put in the wrong hands. Schogol, Jeff. "Demand Grows for UAV Pilots, Sensor Operators." Air Force Times. Gannett Government Media Corporation, 21 Apr. 2012. Web. 14 Oct. 2012. <http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2012/04/air-force-demand-grows-uav-pilotssensor-operators-042112w/>. The overall idea of this website article was to show readers what its like going through

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life as a drone pilot. The whole piece is focused around a few different pilots and sensor operators that give some insight to their lives. For these and many other airmen training to join the drone community, the act of killing goes from abstract to intimate. They discuss the career growth and need to keep the program going. Pilots and sensor operators are among the busiest airmen, and the demand for their skills is expected to continue. They go on to talk about the psychological strain of watching people get blown up can cause to a person. The stress of having to trust the person giving them information on who his target will be can be hard enough. Different stressors are also mentioned, including how airmen usually seek mental health care for problems within their unit. An official closed with this statement, You are 18 inches away from 32-inch, highdefinition combat, where you are in contact [by headset with] the guys on the ground, the official said. You are there. You are there. You fly with them, you support them and a person you are tasked with supporting gets engaged, hurt, possibly killed, its a deeply, deeply emotional event. Its not detached. Its not a video game. And its certainly not 8,000 miles away. This piece will really help explain what my actual topic is about. It gives it a good personal background for readers to understand what a Drone pilots life is like. I can use this to explain how the Pilots feel about their job and the problems that come with it. Shachtman, Noah. "Obama Finally Talks Drone War, But Its Almost Impossible to Believe Him." Web log post. Brookings. The Brookings Institution, 6 Sept. 2012. Web. 16 Oct. 2012. <http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2012/09/06-obama-talks-drone-warshachtman>. This article from a blog, gives a face to someone higher up talking about drone warfare.

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President Obama speaks about the general precautions taken when considering a target for a drone aircraft. As the Bureau of Investigative Journalism notes, Obama told CNN that a terror suspect had to pass five tests before the administration would allow him to be taken out by a drone. Drones are one tool that we use, and our criteria for using them is very tight and very strict, the president said. 1. It has to be a target that is authorized by our laws. 2. It has to be a threat that is serious and not speculative. 3. It has to be a situation in which we cant capture the individual before they move forward on some sort of operational plot against the United States. 4. Weve got to make sure that in whatever operations we conduct, we are very careful about avoiding civilian casualties. 5. That while there is a legal justification for us to try and stop [American citizens] from carrying out plots they are subject to the protections of the Constitution and due process. I like this article because it shows a familiar face to the readers and it hints at how the government feels about drones and their targets. I can use this information to help get across the fact that drones are taken very seriously and the government is aware of not trying to hurt innocent people. Singer, P.W. "PW Singer on Military Robots and the Future of War." Speech. TED 2009. Long Beach, California. Feb. 2009. TED. Web. 3 Oct. 2012. <http://http://www.ted.com/talks/pw_singer_on_robots_of_war.html>. In this Lecture video, the speaker talks about all the new developments in technology and how they can be used against us. The main point he wants to get across is the robotic technology can be either good or bad, depending on how humanity uses it. "What one Predator drone pilot described of his experience fighting in the Iraq war while never leaving Nevada: Youre going to war for 12 hours, shooting weapons at targets,

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directing kills on enemy combatants. Then you get in the car and you drive home, and within 20 minutes youre sitting at the dinner table talking to your kids about their homework. (P.W. Singer). Another quote is, When a robot dies, you dont have to write a letter to its mother he goes on to state that Robots are already being used in wars right now at the proto type stage. Soon "tens of thousands of robots" will be working in the field, and they will be a billion times stronger than they were before. Present day, the US is ahead in robotics technology. If fallen into the wrong hands, these remote control aircrafts and robotic can be very dangerous. For the US, for example, "the parts for robotics are made in china, while our codes for them are made in India." Its not a secret and people can get a hold of them. He says another example, "During the war between Israel, a state, and Hezbollah, a non-state actor, the non-state actor flew four different drones against Israel. There's already a jihadi website that you can go on and remotely detonate an IED in Iraq while sitting at your home computer." this kind of technology will bring definite change to humanity. It will reinforce the power of individuals against governments, but then the second is that we are going to see an expansion in the realm of terrorism. "The future of it may be a cross between al Qaeda 2.0 and the next generation of the Unabomber." A Lebanon news editor quoted, this is just another sign of the cold hearted, cruel, Israelis and Americans are cowards because they send out machines to fight us. They dont want to fight us like real men because they are afraid to fight. Later on, they state a problem with this is the physiological toll it can take on the pilots. Trying to balance out those two worlds. One pilot quoted its like playing a video game. We do things in the video world that we wouldnt do face to face. A Pentagon robot scientist says theres no real social, ethical moral issues when it comes to robots. Unless

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that is that the machine kills the wrong people repeatedly, then its just a product recall issue." a cool fact that I enjoyed hearing was about a movie list. Hollywood created two lists a few years ago of the top 100 heroes and villains of all time in all of movie history. The Terminator, a robot-killing machine, was the only character to make both lists. (Pointing to the fact that machines can be both good and bad for humanity) For this lecture, I would say its more of a popular speech that everyone can understand. I do consider this information to be reliable as a different perspective on my topic. It goes in detail of all the bad things remote controlled technologies can do. Its a good step back from the overall positive side of drone intelligence.