According to Morality in Modern Aerial Warfare, the war can not be conducted without harming innocent people (Gingras, 2005). There is such a conception as the “just war”, which has its moral and legal traditions. Aerial bombing in warfare can be justified, because of some considerations, presented in Ethical Issues in Counterterrorism Warfare. Not only terrorists can be considered to be legitimate targets for killing. Those people, who help terrorists to carry out their plans of mass destruction of people, give shelters, weapons and funds to them, are also legitimate targets. There is the civil law standard for criminal conspiracy and people who possess some information about terrorist activities, are considered to be a part of the conspiracy in spite of the fact that maybe they do not know everything about terrorists’ plans. Consequently, they become targets (Cook, 2001).
Terrorists can not be considered “soldiers” in any sense, and that is why they have not any right to be protected under the war convention (Cook, 2001). They are also “not entitled to the benevolent quarantine of the POW convention or of domestic criminal law” (Cook). When individuals act against U.S. military as organized units (wear distinctive clothes and bear arms openly), they are considered to be combatants, and are treated according to provisions of Geneva Convention (Cook). Drone attacks are the response to the events of September 9, 2001 (Gamage, 2012). Everyone knows that these events were a national tragedy for the USA. Such a terrorist acting affects the justification of using aerial bombing. When aerial bombardment is conducted, it can prevent future terrorist attacks and save thousands of lives.
The killing of civilians during drone attacks can be considered to be an international war crime. According to the BBC News, U.S. military forces have conducted eight drone attacks in May and June, 2012. The aim of these attacks was to kill Abu Yahya al-Libi, al-Qaeda’s second-in-command. The attempt to kill Libi was made twice. The first try was made in 2009, but it was unsuccessful. In 2012 drone attacks killed 15 people and there is no certainty that Libi was among them (Pakistan Summons US Envoy over Drone Strikes, 2012). Christof Heyns, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, brought out an opinion that drone attacks in Pakistan will be an example how to violate human rights for other states. He says that U.S. military actions nowadays can not be justified as in response to terrorist attacks in 2001. Heyns makes his point clear by stressing the fact that the government should ensure that drone attacks are in compliance with human rights and international humanitarian law (Gamage, 2012).
The usage of drones gives the opportunity to intervene in non-war zones. Phillip Mudd, an ex-CIA official says that drone weapon is “the most surgical killing machine the world has ever seen” (Reflecting on the Recent Rash of Writing on Morality and Drones, 2012). People can await a terrible future, which will be the result of the usage of drone weapon, because nobody knows …