Rodriguez 1 Bruno Rodriguez Lynn Taylor English 1010 4 December 2013 Argumentative Essay: Drone Morality Its a normal

Monday here in America. Everyone is out and about doing their daily weekday routine, which includes work, work, and more work. However, everyone seems to be paranoid to some extent. Heads occasionally look up into the sky and you begin to wonder What are they looking at?. Its a clear sunny day. You look up and pay close attention and see a small jet-like craft flying over you. A drone that has the capability to kill you. However since youre not a suspected terrorist youre off the hook (right?). Some question the morality of drones however, it is moral for the United States to use drones because drones are a moral improvement, a country has to protect its people first, and they are more accurate at tracking and killing suspecting terrorists. Drones, or also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs); they are a fairly new technology used in the military compared to other artillery. They resemble a jet, but much smaller with no man on board and theyre controlled by a remote control. Although this sounds like a wonderful technology, there has been a debate whether the usage of drones is good or bad, since innocent civilians have been killed by drone strikes in the past. First, drones are a moral improvement. Yes, although some innocent civilians have been killed by drone strikes, they are still a moral improvement. Drones have the ability to be able to distinguish innocent civilians from combatants or suspected

Rodriguez 2 terrorists (Strawser). This means that drones can be sent instead of American soldiers into a war zone. This substitution results in American lives being saved because their risk of being killed is decreased, which equals morality improvement. If drones existed when America was involved in World War I or II, think about the number of American lives that couldve been saved because of the invention and usage of drones. Besides morality being increased by saving American lives, our national security is also improving. You may ask, how? As mentioned before, drones can distinguish a suspected terrorist or combatant from a civilian, which results in a decrease in the number of potential terrorists and the deaths of innocent civilians. Al Qaeda is being weakened and American lives are being saved. It is a countrys duty to protect its people and the development of the drone and its accuracy is great for national security purposes (Plaw) Some may argue that drones really arent that accurate at tracking and killing suspected terrorists because innocent civilians are still being killed therefore they are not a moral improvement. Yes, I do agree that innocent people are being killed, however they need to know that this is inevitable in wars. In a real world, there is no world peace due to the innate human characteristic of survival. Its human nature. However drones do decrease civilian casualties which is a moral improvement. According to Scott Shane, a national security reporter for The New York Times, there have been records that of the total deaths in Pakistan by drone strikes, 20% may have been innocent civilians. However he continues and says that 20% is still considerably lower than 41% by bombings and missile strikes in Israel. Collateral

Rodriguez 3 deaths are inevitable but our chances of decreasing it is far better by drone usage than other measures like bombing and missile strikes because of its increased accuracy at specific targets. In conclusion, the invention of the drone is a moral improvement. Civilian casualties are being decreased in wars thanks to the accuracy it provides. Although some people may want to do away with drones altogether, a country must protect its people first and in a real world, there is always danger of a terrorist attack.

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Works Cited Plaw, Avery. "Drones Save Lives, American and Other." NYTimes.com. The New York Times, 14 Nov. 2012. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. Shane, Scott. "The Moral Case for Drones." NYTimes.com. The New York Times, 15 July 2012. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. Strawser, Bradley J. "The Morality of Actual Use." NYTimes.com. The New York Times, 26 Sept. 2012. Web. 1 Dec. 2013.