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Change My Mind: Is Drone Warfare Ethical And Effective?

Change My Mind: Is Drone Warfare Ethical And Effective?
The Huffington Post UK
SIERRA VISTA, AZ - MARCH 07: Maintenence personel check a Predator drone operated by U.S. Office of Air and Marine (OAM), before its surveillance flight near the Mexican border on March 7, 2013 from Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista, Arizona. The OAM, which is part of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, flies the unmanned - and unarmed - MQ-9 Predator B aircraft an average of 12 hours per day at around 19,000 feet over southern Arizona. The drones, piloted from the ground, search for drug smugglers and immigrants crossing illegally from Mexico into the United States. Due to federal sequestration cuts, Customs and Border Protection is expected to lose $500 million from its budget, and OAM staff at Ft. Huachuca are now taking unpaid furlough days once every two weeks. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
SIERRA VISTA, AZ - MARCH 07: Maintenence personel check a Predator drone operated by U.S. Office of Air and Marine (OAM), before its surveillance flight near the Mexican border on March 7, 2013 from Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista, Arizona. The OAM, which is part of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, flies the unmanned - and unarmed - MQ-9 Predator B aircraft an average of 12 hours per day at around 19,000 feet over southern Arizona. The drones, piloted from the ground, search for drug smugglers and immigrants crossing illegally from Mexico into the United States. Due to federal sequestration cuts, Customs and Border Protection is expected to lose $500 million from its budget, and OAM staff at Ft. Huachuca are now taking unpaid furlough days once every two weeks. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
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As the Ministry of Defence confirmed that the RAF carried out its first drone strike operated from the UK this week, the question of whether the use of unmanned drones to target enemies is an ethical, or even effective, form of warfare is set to rise up the political agenda.

The MoD claims that drones play a vital role supporting military operations in Afghanistan and helps to save the lives of British forces, allies and those of Afghan civilians, while critics, including Reprieve's Hilary Stauffer, say that drones put civilians at unnecessary risk and allow politicians to make it easier to launch military interventions.

Conveniently, last week the Oxford Union debated the motion: 'This House Believes Drone Warfare is Ethical and Effective'. Here, two Oxford students, Konstantinos Chryssanthopoulos and Hasan Dindjer, bring the debate to the Huffington Post UK and argue whether the use of drones is acceptable.

Can they change your mind?

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