The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)

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The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) has changed in many ways over the course of the last decade. It has changed in terms of design, functionality, and use during that time. An advancement that the public and foreign nationals debate is the legality of using such aircraft when the weapons systems they carry are used to target suspected threat forces across international borders. Specifically in Pakistan, this has been a particularly challenging problem to overcome. It is hard to debate that given the opportunity to place a machine or a man in harms way, we would choose a machine. This argument can only work so long as the potential for collateral damage remains in at a tolerable level. A tolerable level looks very different if you are an official in Washington DC compared to a mother of four who has seen the devastating fallout that can occur because a Taliban leader was sleeping in the house next door.
Many leaders and suspected members of terrorist organizations such as the Taliban, Hezbollah, and Al Qaeda seek asylum and refuge within the borders of Pakistan. It was not too long ago that the number one on our wanted list, Osama bin Laden, was killed in a raid just over the Pakistan border at a compound. The targeted attack lead by Seal team six members, garnered harsh criticism from Pakistan officials simply because they were not informed of the attack before it occurred, nor asked for the permission to carry out such an assault. The potential danger to soldiers and the risk of igniting additional ire and criticism from the Pakistan government, lead to the widespread use of drones across this particular international border. It is particularly challenging to limit collateral damage in dense urban areas. These lea...

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...Works Cited

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Department of the Army. Army Unmanned Aircraft System Operations FM 3-04. 155. April 2008. https://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fmi3-04-155.pdf
Usman Ansari. UAV Strike may put NATO’s Pakistan supply lines in Jeopardy. November 5th, 2013. http://www.defensenews.com/article/20131105/DEFREG03/311050020/
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Department of the Army, Army Use of the Electromagnetic Spectrum. March 15, 2013. https://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/ar5-12.pdf

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