Drones

They were initially received for surveillance; they are now being acquired for combat. The illusion stands so long as we allow ourselves to believe that the war can be won. But at what cost do we impose this chimera?

Drones – unmanned aircraft – fly in Colombian airspace today. In March 2009, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia announced that they had brought down a drone. Then, Hugo Chavez protested that a drone had crossed over into Venezuelan airspace from Colombia.

Gabriel Silva, who was the Defense Minister at that time, made light of the situation by saying that it was probably “Santa’s sleigh.” “Colombia,” he added, “does not possess that type of technology.” Nothing could be further from the truth. The public then learned that drones had been utilized to patrol the Cano Limon-Covenas oil pipeline. Not much more surfaced.

Last March, a cable from Ambassador William Wood, leaked by WikiLeaks, confirmed that in 2006 the U.S. government provided Colombia with ScanEagle drones to rescue American hostages. Since then, the drones have been used to gather real-time information on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and drug traffickers. The use of surveillance drones for civilian and military operations is common. In the U.S., municipal police departments, as well as universities, are thinking of utilizing drones.

How is the military utilizing drones? Even the U.N. plans to integrate them into peacekeeping missions.

The shift from surveillance drones to combat drones is no small thing. That’s what Colombia intends to do.

The topic is circulating through the U.S. political landscape. A Republican Senator from Florida, Marco Rubio, asked the White House to send combat drones to Colombia. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is unsure about sharing that kind of technology. Congress has also imposed restrictions on the matter.

Colombia has not idly waited on the sidelines; it turned its gaze to Israel. The Israeli company Elbint confirmed the sale of an armed Hermes 900 for $50 million to a Latin American country. Even though Bogotá doesn’t confirm the transaction, international defense circles take it as a given that it is Colombia. Or has the strengthening of military ties with Israel bypassed trade?

Shouldn’t we demand transparency before they flood us with killer aircraft? According to an investigation by the Brookings Institute, for every militant killed with a drone in Pakistan, around 10 civilians were also killed. In spite of this, on Monday, the White House defended the use of drones.

The Obama administration refuses to respond to questions posed by Philip Alston, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary execution. It goes without saying that the use of combat drones should be governed by the same laws of war imposed by international humanitarian laws.

Who will operate the combat drones? The Colombian armed forces? Foreign advisers? Who will they be? Where will they be located? Will they operate from Colombia, or from a foreign refuge, such as the CIA offices in Langley, Virginia? Who will they answer to for any violations? Colombian authorities have not even confirmed if the surveillance drones are operated by Colombian personnel.

The defense company Vanguard advertises on its web page for the following job opening: “Position Number VTG-12016, UAS Operator — Colombia.” There are plenty of reasons to worry.