Drones dominated the headlines over the Christmas and New Year period after sightings of one or more commercially available drones closed Gatwick airport to flights for 2½ days, disrupting thousands of passengers. The inability of the authorities to track down… Read More ›
Yemen
A snapshot of permanent war: drone strikes in the first six weeks of 2015
The use of armed drones to launch lethal strikes around the globe is rapidly becoming normalised. Despite widespread ethical, political and legal misgivings and the danger to global peace and security from the precedent that such strikes set, US, British… Read More ›
Proliferation and Resistance – Drone Summit 2013
It was a joy to meet many readers of this blog at Code Pink’s Drone Summit in Washington DC this weekend. Over 400 drone campaigners and researchers gathered together to learn, strategize and build the movement to challenge the growing use… Read More ›
As strikes continue opposition grows and broadens
US drones struck in Yemen and Pakistan this past week after something of a pause. On Weds (17 April) US drones hit a house in North Waziristan killing five people including an alleged commander of the Pakistan Taliban, On the… Read More ›
Drones news round-up
It wasn’t that long ago that an article about the use of drones in the mainstream press was a rare occurrence. Now so much is happening that it is difficult to keep up with all the news about drones. Over the… Read More ›
Review of the Year Part 3: Resisting the Drone
While the use of drones has rapidly expanded over the past few year, this growth has been matched by rising resistance, opposition and protests. In this final review of the year we take a brief look at some of the… Read More ›
New reports shed some light on drone warfare
Four important reports that touch on the issue of drone warfare have appeared in recent weeks. While space forbids a detailed review of the reports, each in turn is extremely useful and well worth reading. Cage Prisoners have released Unnecessary… Read More ›
Drone Protests Grow
Public opposition to the growing use of unmanned drones is being made much more visible this week in protests taking place around the world. The most high-profile event is taking place in Pakistan as Imran Khan leads thousands on a march… Read More ›
Drone strikes widening? Mystery airstrikes reported in Mali and the Philippines
This week we have seen a US drone strike in Pakistan which was reported to have killed six people (or ‘militants’ as those killed by drones are normally labelled) and a strike in Yemen which was reported to have killed… Read More ›
Drones: as military use expands, civil use being developed
Just a few days after a senior US counter-terrorism expert warned that US drone strikes were turning Yemen into the “Arabian equivalent of Waziristan”, US drone strikes yesterday aped the tactic of ‘follow up’ strikes used by the US in… Read More ›
Oppostion as CIA seeks expansion of drone strikes
The Washington Post reported this week that the CIA is seeking to expand its use of drone strikes in Yemen. According to the report, the CIA is currently “limited” within Yemen to using drone strikes against known individuals on a… Read More ›
The cost and consequences of exposing the drone wars
As secret and unaccountable US and British drone strikes continue in remote corners of the globe, closer to home (but firmly behind closed doors), the drone industry continues to research and develop a drone-filled future. Over the past couple of weeks, protesters in… Read More ›
Drones and the 'propensity to kinetic action'
The concern that drones make armed attacks and military intervention more likely is often rejected by the military and the drone industry, who argue that the drone pilots are able to stand above the ‘fog and friction’ of the battlefield and to… Read More ›
Legal action initiated in UK as drone strikes continue in Pakistan, Yemen and Gaza
It was announced yesterday that a legal proceedings will be initiated in the High Court in London to challenge British complicity in US drone strikes in Pakistan. Reprieve together with Leigh Day & Co, acting on behalf of the family… Read More ›