Drone-proofing

"Drones" have been a topic of intense scrutiny over the last few months in American politics, particularly over their use against American citizens. Just this week, Senator Rand Paul staged an old-fashioned, talking filibuster to draw attention to the issue. Senator Paul took the floor for 13 hours out of concern that drones may be used to kill American citizens on American soil without convicting them of a crime - a dangerous violation of constitutional rights. While an answer confirming the unconstitutionality of killing Americans in America with drones was finally given by the Attorney General, drone strikes are still a reality in other parts of the world.

I also came across some interesting counter-drone technologies, such as drone-proof city and drone-proof clothing. Every threatening advancement in technology is accompanied by countermeasures which exploit weaknesses in the technology's foundations - for example, you can use make-up and funny haircuts to avoid facial recognition software - and such battles are testaments to human ingenuity on both sides of the equation. Unlike the now decades-old struggles between hackers and security experts or cryptographers versus code breakers, the subject of a drone-proofing is a matter of life and death for many in the middle east.

Rise of the Drones

Drones are unmanned aircraft which have become an integral part of America's military operations. They have a much lower profile than manned aircraft - they can be faster, more maneuverable, and more difficult to detect. They were first used for espionage endeavors, but have in recent years become the preferred method of "surgical strikes" to assassinate top leaders of terrorist organizations. The term "surgical strike" is used to convey that these types of attacks reduce civilian casualties. While they certainly do result in fewer civilian casualties than other methods, they do not eliminate them completely. Furthermore, the lower rate of civilian casualties per strike and reduced risk to American military personel has become a justification for performing drone attacks that would not have been attempted by traditional methods. The result is that more lives are potentially put at risk - even though fewer people are at risk with each attack, the number of attacks is increased because each individual attack carries a lower risk.

Drone-proofing

The strategies for defense against drones are quite ingenious. Rather than trying to shoot the stealthy, nimble crafts down, emerging technologies seek to confuse drones' sensors to avoid detection. In fact, the drone-proof city doesn't call for any kind of anti-aircraft artillery at all. Instead, it casts shadows in specific patterns that make it difficult to clearly identify targets visually and temperature control to avoid identifying targets by heat detection. Furthermore, it includes "cooling towers" that disrupt the airflow over the city to interfere with the drone's flight path. Similarly, drone-proof clothing is a shiny, silvery colored sheet that reflects heat that makes thermal detection difficult.

These technologies are not being developed by terrorists, but by those concerned for either their own safety or the safety of the innocent people who become collateral damage in drone strikes. If this theoretical city were ever to come into popular use or if drone-proof clothing becomes the next middle eastern fashion craze, it will no doubt be abused by terrorists as a safe-haven. As a result, more advanced drone technology would be developed to compensate, and so the technology would go back-and-forth just as so many others have done. One side builds a missile defense system, and the other makes more sophisticated missiles to evade it. One side devises a stealth plane to avoid radar, the other creates more sensitive detection methods. It continues in a seemingly endless cycle.

Should we be using drones for targeted killing at all?

The drone issue began to boil over last month due to a Justice Department memo released by NBC which states that it is lawful for the government to assassinate American citizens abroad who are suspected of being high-level Al Qaida operatives. While the intentions of all of those involved may be pure, this is an example of "ends-justify-the-means" thinking that is incongruent with the American ideal of justice. American citizens can now be killed without ever being informed of their alleged crimes or being brought to trial for them - for a society that has so contentiously labored over both the death penalty and miranda rights, this is shocking!

Even the folks at Mother Jones, a liberal think-tank, aren't sure whether they can support the President on this, and they make a salient point by the end of the article:

If we're at war, and if targeted killings of enemy combatants are legal, then U.S. citizenship is irrelevant... Either the entire program is justified, or none of it is.

The phrase "targeted killing" is a delicate euphemism for "assassination" - which is ironic because, while the phrase "targeted killing" sounds AWFUL, it doesn't carry the same specific political implication that "assassination" does.

 A Sad Reality

The sad reality is that this is only going to get worse in our time.

Matthew 24:6-8
And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

In fact, the state of modern warfare is going to come to a terrifying head that threatens the extinction of mankind.

Matthew 24:21-22
For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.

Fortunately, God is going to put an end to all of this foolishness when Jesus Christ returns to rule over the earth. Regardless of anyone's opinion of what measures are necessary to ensure our safety today, history will one day look back on targeted killings with disdain and an understanding of just how foolish it all is.

Isaiah 2:4
[God] shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.