President Biden is weighing how extensively to use drones
More civilian casualties abroad seem the likeliest outcome
DRONES HAVE BEEN a common sight in the skies above Afghanistan, but rarely had one trained its gaze on the capital, Kabul. On August 29th, as America was hastily withdrawing its remaining soldiers and Afghan refugees through the city’s airport, a drone struck a white Toyota Corolla. After the strike, General Mark Milley, America’s top military official, called it a “righteous” strike, and the Pentagon claimed it had thwarted an imminent attack on American forces. In fact no terrorists had been killed and seven of the ten victims were children. President Joe Biden broke with his former boss, Barack Obama, in withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. Like Mr Obama, he now faces a choice on how extensively to use drones to replace soldiers and pilots.
This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Droning on”
United States October 9th 2021
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- President Biden is weighing how extensively to use drones
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