The landscape for how wars will be fought in the future has changed. Technological advancements have helped nations worldwide in empowering their militaries. However, the flip side is that it has also led to increasing desensitization amongst people controlling new weapons and technologies. A glaring example being the use of Cluster Bombs and Drone Strikes. Dropping Cluster bombs and controlling aerial drone strikes leads to a disconnect between the operator and the catastrophic damages resulting from these attacks, by creating physical distance between the two.

So far, the argument for continual use of these weapons have been the overestimation of the benefits they bring to the table whilst entirely negating the harm they cause to civilians living in conflict ridden areas both physically and mentally. Powerful militaries defend the use of these weapons by citing national security reasons, what they fail to factor in are, consequences suffered by children, senior citizens, men and women living in the areas designated for these attacks long after the war is over.

It is time we consider whether the cons actually outweigh the pros of using such advanced artillery which are evidentially causing more harm than good.

What are Cluster Bombs?

Cluster bomb or cluster munition, is a weapon containing multiple explosive submunitions. They are dropped from an aircraft or fired from the sea or ground with the intention to destroy the targeted vehicle or personnel.

They open up mid-air and release tens to hundreds of submunitions, which can cover a large area and create significant damage to anything within it.

Developed during World War 2, cluster bombs back then were considered to hold more promise than actual sophistication in the battlefield. The breakthrough in cluster munitions development happened after the Korean War ended.  The US Navy and Air force were successful in designing a bomb live unit with fragmentation characteristics that were of much higher caliber than anything that was previously used by the US military. In subsequent years, the military continued to work on improving cluster bombs to make them more efficient and cost effective.

Cluster Bombs have become increasingly ubiquitous since the Vietnam War. They have been utilized in nearly all conflicts across the world by both state and non-state actors. Places like Afghanistan, Eritrea, Lebanon, Sudan, all have witnessed the chaos that comes with the deployment of a cluster bomb.

Nation states have continued to defend the use of cluster bombs by citing reasons like national security and underplaying the damage they cause to target countries and the civilians living in them. They argue that cluster submunitions in-fact help in reducing damage that come with military actions as they are only meant for military targets and not the general citizens.

However, several reports monitoring the destruction caused by cluster bombs claim otherwise. For instance, a 1971 US information service refugee survey found that nearly 80% of the injuries caused by cluster bombs during the Vietnam War era were to civilians. Additionally, at least 11,000 people perished between 1973 and 1996 due to cluster submunitions.

On top of this nearly 30% of the time, these bombs don’t even go off mid-air and end up just lying on the ground waiting to be detonated by an unsuspecting victim who either came in close proximity or mistook the bomb for something else. For example – In November 1993, two children aged four and seven years old, were killed while they were playing with a cluster bomblet that was dropped in Laos during the Vietnam war era.

These incidents contradict what the government of several nations have argued over the years. Cluster bombs are an unnecessary evil that continue to cause harm years after they’ve been launched by the operators. They affect the civilians by not just killing them or causing serious injuries but also by destroying their homes, cities and countries.

The large-scale humanitarian violation caused by the utilization of these weapons prompted people from several countries to come forward and make efforts to ban the production and usage of cluster submunition. This movement started in early 1990s and finally in 2008 an international convention on cluster munitions was established. The convention prohibits the usage of these weapons and has been signed by 117 nations and ratified by 93 of them.

Additionally, Cluster Munition Monitor, set up by the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) a global coalition of NGOs and chaired by the Human Rights Watch, produces an annual report monitoring the usage of cluster bombs globally.

The latest Data provided by the CMM reports claims that of the 37 countries, who once possessed cluster munitions have destroyed their stocks, collectively destroying 1.5 million cluster munitions.  The report also states that a global total of 151.7 sq km has been cleared of unexploded submunitions as of 2021, a new annual record.

Unfortunately, this success has been marred by the Russia-Ukraine war wherein extensive cluster bombs have been utilized by both sides. The first half of 2022 has already recorded up to 689 causalities, but many have undoubtedly gone unrecorded. Both Russia and Ukraine are not parties of convention and therefore have been free to use stocks of old as well as newly developed cluster munitions.

Although there is still a long way to go, the progress made by different NGOs and leaders in making our world cluster munition free is noteworthy.

What are Drones?

Drones also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVS), are aircraft either controlled by pilots from the ground or autonomously following a pre-programmed mission. Used for both surveillance and combat purposes drones are extremely effective in achieving military goals.

Drones come with a lot of benefits, for instance unlike manned aircraft, drones can stay up in the air for several hours and still carry out military missions successfully. Governments advocate their use by saying they are meant for specific target killings and therefore do not harm and lead to a loss of life of either untargeted civilians nor the military personnel. Even though they need to provide clear evidence and justify the reason for the assassination of any targeted victim by a drone attack, the lack of harm to military personnel, especially back home in America, is a major reason drones are considered to be highly efficient and are slowly become indispensable. In theory drone strikes sound extremely precise and efficient, in fact to a certain extent they even sound virtuous as their only purpose is to destroy the perpetrator of any conflict with minimum damage caused to both infrastructure and human life.

However, reality doesn’t align with this and makes us seriously question the morality of using a drone attack during any conflict. There have been several instances wherein the Unites States has initiated a drone attack and several innocent victims have accidentally fallen prey to it instead of the targeted personnel. In certain situations, they have also breached another country’s sovereignty by initiating a drone attack on their territory without their prior approval or knowledge. For instance – The US has carried out drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, Libya and Somalia which were clearly outside designated war zones with respect to International and Humanitarian Law. In 2011, an NGO presented evidence that stated 390 civilians had been killed up to date due to drone attacks performed by the CIA.

United States or the CIA are not solely responsible for misusing drone technology; several state and non-state actors have also joined the list. As militaries all over the world advance and modernize their artillery, drone technology is a development that cannot be avoided.

Another ethical issue that arises with utilization of drone technology and carrying out drone attacks is the desensitization of the military personal carrying out these attacks. Although these UAVs are launched from airbases in Afghanistan and Iraq, most of their missions are controlled via Ku-band satellite link by operators in a Ground Control Station, this essentially creates a video game like environment for people virtually operating these drones as they don’t fear losing their lives and are mostly unable to decipher the damage they’ve caused on the ground. The drones, therefore, take out the human factor present in any war situation. Human emotions play a huge factor in navigating the flow of any conflict as they drive officials to negotiate the possible end of disputes.  With drones this becomes a little difficult as officials don’t realize the actual damage they are leaving behind as they attempt to achieve their goals.

Drones have been used time and again and their latest example is the war between Russia and Ukraine. Both Russia and Ukraine have been highly utilizing drones to carry out strikes or find vital information about each other.

Drones and Cluster Bombs have hugely impacted the way wars are conducted today. The world needs to seriously consider the violation of human rights that comes with the utilisation of these weapons and whether it is worth the cost or not.