The American love affair with drones (officially called unmanned aerial vehicles) extends to both military and law enforcement uses. The U.S. isn't the only country that uses drones, but it is the most regular user in the world.
Which Countries Have Drones?The biggest owners of military drones in the world:
U.S. 670
France 23
Germany 9
Italy 5
Turkey 32
U.K. 7
Russia 3
China 11
India 39
Iran 1
Israel 29
Note: Numbers are minimums, as many countries' levels are unknown.Business is BoomingGlobal spending on unmanned aerial vehicles will surge in the next 10 years, rising by a predicted 128 percent.
Projected global spending on drones
2014 $5,200,000,000
2023 $11,900,000,000
Ranked drone spending over the next decade by region
1st U.S.
2nd Asia-Pacific
3rd Europe
Terror From Above?The U.S. has been widely criticized for its use of drones to fight terrorism. In Pakistan alone, the U.S. has launched thousands of drone strikes since 2004.
Fatalities in Pakistan from U.S. drone attacks (since 2004)
Children 175
Civilians 535
Other 2,390*
High-profile targets 49
* The U.S. classifies all adult men in Pakistan as potential terrorist targets in casualty calculations
Targeting Americans?Many Americans assume these devices are used only to launch offensives in foreign countries. That's a false assumption. Over the years, dozens of agencies across the U.S. have used drones for a variety of purposes, many of them classified.
Sourcesthebureauinvestigates.com
counterterrorism.newamerica.ne
livingunderdrones.org
motherjones.com
avionics-intelligence.com
theguardian.com
What the info graphics show are simply the Big Metal versions of Drones.
What we don't see are the miniatures, which could easily be mass-produced like insects.
Miniatures that could be made by anyone, and deployed almost invisibly, and carry deadly payloads under 5 lbs. The picture then becomes truly monstrous.
Resistance is futile, as the genie will not go quietly back into the bottle.
Another fine example of failing to ask the question "Should we be doing this?".
Instead, it's "Let's do this, then we'll ignore the unforeseen consequences".