drones
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Thinking war is bloodless is a mistake.” Talking drones and remote war with Air Marshall Bagwell By Chris Cole
Air Marshall Greg Bagwell is a recently retired senior Royal Air Force officer who served as Deputy Commander Operations at RAF Air Command. While being a vocal supporter of the use of armed drones, in his role of President of the Air Power Association he has also argued for greater openness and engagement with the… Continue reading
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Anglo Saxon alliance helps its ally to kill another 54 civilians – running amok?
Widely reported: on 26 December, airstrikes on a crowded popular market in Al Hayma sub-district in Attazziah district, Taizz Governorate led to at least 54 civilians being killed, including eight children, and 32 others injured including six children. More than 350 high-profile figures including six Nobel peace prize laureates, former military generals, politicians, diplomats and… Continue reading
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2018: British armed drone operations reach a crossroads By Chris Cole
In December 2017 the RAF announced that British Reaper drones had reached the significant milestone of flying 100,000 hours of combat operations. The hyper-asymmetric nature of drone strikes, enabling so-called ‘risk-free’ war, has long raised concerns that the technology would tempt politicians into engaging in permanent war. As we enter 2018, it seems that UK… Continue reading
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UK & US continue to honour and supply Saudi Arabia despite slaughter at weddings, funerals & in everyday life
As decision-makers and most voters in America and Britain enjoy comfortable lives, the Times and Yemen’s al-Masirah TV report that Saudi warplanes near Yemen’s rebel-held capital struck and killed several people on Wednesday, according to medical officials. These included a group of ten women attending the funeral in Arhab, 25 miles from Sanaa, according to… Continue reading
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The Uncounted: debunking Pentagon claims that few civilians have died in airstrikes
The Pentagon claims that its air war against ISIS is one of the most accurate in history and that the 14,000 US airstrikes in Iraq have killed only 89 civilians – those not listed are here called ‘The Uncounted’. Continue reading
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Watching, Killing: The Evolution of RAF Drone Warfare in the 21st Century’ – Dr Peter Lee By Peter Burt
The lecture, provocatively titled ‘Watching, Killing: The Evolution of RAF Drone Warfare in the 21st Century’ marked the tenth anniversary of the commencement of British Reaper drone operations and took place shortly before the Ministry of Defence announced that RAF Reaper drones are to remain deployed in the Middle East after other UK aircraft return… Continue reading
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Britain, Saudi Arabia and America spend millions on execution without trial
The RAF has dropped about 3,500 bombs and missiles, which the BBC estimates has already cost £150m in munitions. Each Brimstone missile costs more than £100,000 and the RAF has already fired more than 350, according to the BBC estimate, defence correspondent Jonathan Beale said. Continue reading
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Perpetual war: UK’s armed drones to stay deployed beyond campaign against ISIS By Chris Cole
The ongoing drone deployment by the UK will no doubt not be viewed as pragmatic or sensible by the majority in the Middle East, but as provocative and threatening. It will be seen that the UK is continuing to partner with the US in an endless drone war in the Middle East and beyond. Continue reading
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The lawfulness of the drone strike against Sally Jones
As a researcher whose work for the last three and a bit years has been on the lawfulness of drone strikes, the question of whether this strike was lawful or not immediately came to mind. Jones was viewed as a member of ISIS and generally the media has uncritically reported her death, implying an assumption… Continue reading
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Can Donald Trump really believe this slaughter will “make America great again”?
The emphasis on air power by the Trump administration has led to an unprecedented 20,650 bombs being dropped on seven countries (Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia and Syria) during his first six months in office and a large increase in the numbers of civilians being killed. Continue reading
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After ten years, time to ground Britain’s drones By Chris Cole
This month (October 2017) marks ten years of British Reaper drone operations. Acquired on a temporary basis as an ‘Urgent Operational Capability’, the UK began operating armed drones in Afghanistan in October 2007 after having three delivered directly to Kandahar airport. A decade later the Reapers have been in continuous use and are now deemed… Continue reading
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Lest we forget: yesterday alone, 44 airstrikes were conducted by US-led coalition military forces
29 September 2017 — Drone Wars Airwars is a collaborative, not-for-personal-profit project tracking and archiving the international air war against so-called Islamic State and other groups in Iraq, Syria and Libya. As nine Coalition nations are bombing in Syria alone – along with the air forces of Russia, Iran, Israel and the Assad regime –… Continue reading
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Video: Real Media: New Warfare & Transparency
Chris Cole of Drone Wars UK talks about the current state of the technology, the march to lethal autonomous warfare, and the absolute secrecy and lack of democratic scrutiny around the developing drone program Continue reading
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New MoD document on use of drones, same old spin By Chris Cole
After a long delay the UK MoD has produced its new doctrine publication on the use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (commonly known as drones). Its predecessor, ‘The UK Approach to Unmanned Aircraft Systems’ (JDN 2/11), caused a stir in 2011 as it acknowledged real ethical and legal issues with the growing use of these systems.… Continue reading
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Joint civil society statement on US-led armed drones control process By Chris Cole
Work is now being undertaken by a group of states led by the US to draft more detailed politically binding international standards, building on the declaration. In this context, a group of civil society organisations have set out in an open statement, reproduced below, a range of concerns about the limitations of this initiative –… Continue reading
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Despite international condemnation, our ‘special friend’ continues to bomb civilians in fearful, hungry and cholera-ridden Yemen
On 6th August the Real Progressive Front reported that Saudi Arabia and its allies, neglecting all reports and admonitions, have killed 9 family members, including 4 children, at home by ‘haphazard’ coalition airstrikes. Reports indicate that the strikes targeted a residential zone and videos taken at the scene show people dragging out the corpses from… Continue reading
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New FoI figures on UK air and drone strikes in Iraq and Syria By Chris Cole
New figures released to Drone Wars UK in response to Freedom of Information requests shows a dramatic increase in the number of RAF operations in Syria in the first six months of 2017. According to the figures, UK armed air missions in Syria rose by 480% in the first half of 2017 compared with the… Continue reading
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Information tribunal dismisses Drone Wars appeal over British drone secrecy By Chris Cole
An information tribunal has upheld the MoD’s decision to refuse to release the number of British armed drones deployed against ISIS and their location, despite such information being released by the UK about its ‘manned’ aircraft. Continue reading
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War crimes: Mosul families count their dead as US airstrikes kill thousands of civilians
Award-winning journalist Patrick Cockburn, Middle East correspondent of The Independent, writes from Mosul, recording accusations by local people who assert the US-led coalition has ‘massively’ overused force. They allege that the intensity of the bombardment from the air was out of all proportion to the number of Isis fighters on the ground Continue reading
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UK armed drone deployment: brief report from Information Tribunal By Chris Cole
Despite such details being regularly released for ‘manned’ aircraft engaged in such operations – and as we demonstrated in court – many other operations including Operation Herrick (Afghanistan), Operation Ellamy (Libya) and even Operation Desert Fox (Iraq), the MoD insisted in court there were “appropriate reasons”, which could not be revealed in open court, why… Continue reading
The New Dark Age 