LAHORE – The growing use of unmanned aircraft in combat situations raises huge moral and legal issues, and threatens to make war more likely as armed robots take over from human beings, The Guardian quotes an internal study by the UK’s Ministry of Defence.
The report warns of the dangers of an “incremental and involuntary journey towards a Terminator-like reality”, referring to James Cameron’s 1984 movie, in which humans are hunted by robotic killing machines. David Cameron in December said that British drones had killed 124 insurgents in Afghanistan since June 2008, hailing them as “a classic example of a modern weapon which is necessary for today’s war”.
The drones, known as Reapers, have to date fired 167 missiles and bombs in Afghanistan. The report says, “It is essential that before unmanned systems become ubiquitous (if it is not already too late) … we ensure that, by removing some of the horror, or at least keeping it at a distance, we do not risk losing our controlling humanity and make war more likely,” warns the report, titled The UK Approach to Unmanned Aircraft Systems.
It was drawn up last month by the ministry’s internal think-tank, the Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre (DCDC), based in Shrivenham, Wiltshire, which is part of MoD central staff. It states, “The recent extensive use of unmanned aircraft over Pakistan and Yemen may already herald a new era.” Referring to descriptions of “killer drones” in Afghanistan, it notes that “feelings are likely to run high as armed systems acquire more autonomy.”
The report, which raises various ethical questions on the use of drones-like machines, admits that the MoD, like the Pentagon, is keen to develop more and more sophisticated automated weapons, it admits. It also identifies advantages of an unmanned weapons system, like preventing the potential loss of aircrew lives, adding, “Robots cannot be emotive, cannot hate.
A robot cannot be driven by anger to carry out illegal actions such as those at My Lai [the massacre by US troops of hundreds of unarmed civilians in South Vietnam in March 1968].
