Podcast: Bureau reporters discuss difficulty of using drones in Iraq
Drone strikes in Iraq would be more complicated than in Afghanistan or in the tribal areas of Pakistan and Yemen, as much of the insurgent action is taking place in built-up, urban areas, says Bureau reporter Alice K Ross in the Bureau’s latest podcast, Drone News.
Discussing the situation in Iraq, Ross says that it would be difficult to use drones in Iraq without causing serious damage to major infrastructure, and potentially causing heavy civilian casualties. Data released to the Bureau by the US Air Force in 2012 shows that drone strikes were used rarely by the US during its occupation of Iraq, compared to Afghanistan – fewer than 50 strikes took place in the country.
Yesterday, General Martin E Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Senate committee that identifying targets for air strikes in Iraq would be extremely complicated. ‘It’s not as easy as looking at an iPhone video of a convoy and then immediately striking,’ he said, according to the Washington Post.
Also in the podcast, Bureau reporters discuss the return of drone strikes in Pakistan after pause lasting almost six months. With at least three strikes in the past 10 days, Ross and Owen Bennett-Jones discuss the impact and implications of the return of the drones.
This week also marked the 10-year anniversary of the first CIA drone strike in Pakistan. It targeted and killed local militant leader Nek Mohammed. Two children also perished in the attack.
Also in this episode of Drone News, Keith Hayward of the Royal Aeronautical Society tells the Bureau’s Bennett-Jones how civil and military drone technology will advance in the next 15 years.
Follow Alice Ross and Jack Serle on Twitter – or to see what the team is reading, follow Drone Reads. Sign up for monthly updates from the Bureau’s Covert War project and subscribe to our podcast, Drone News from the Bureau.
