American drone strikes in the Middle East have done more harm than good

CRITERION: This round should be evaluated on net benefits, which is implicit in the resolution. If I can prove that the total harm that has been caused by drone strikes exceeds the good things that happened because of them, I will win the round. If I cannot, Con will win. CONTENTION 1 - CIVILIAN CASUALTIES: It is well-established that drone strikes have killed hundreds of innocent civilians who have committed no crime other than being physically near suspected terrorists. The New York Times estimated that 476 civilians have been killed by drone strikes. out of 3,852 total deaths (1), but that is a conservative estimate. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism estimates between 423 and 965 civilians were killed by drones in Pakistan alone (2). Drones inevitably kill innocent civilians. A leaked intelligence report mentioned separately by the Huffington Post and the Washington Times, which are on opposite sides of the political spectrum, mentioned that 90% of drone strikes kill innocent people (3)(4). Drone operators are so far removed from their targets that they feel like they are playing a video game and do not register the full moral impact of what they are doing. In Yemen, a 13-year-old boy lost his father and brother to drones, and lived with nightmares about drones until he was killed by a drone strike himself (5). This is an example of how drones not only harm those who are hit by them, but also harm those who are nearby, causing emotional traumas including PTSD. It has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that drone strikes kill thousands of people, and that at least hundreds of them are civilians. But how do we know how many of the reported kills are actually civilians? For all we know, the number of civilian deaths could be in the thousands. Since we know that 90% of drone victims are not the intended targets, the number of dead civilians could be much higher than what the New York Times reported. CONTENTION 2 - TERRORIST RECRUITMENT: Drone strikes are intended to prevent terrorism. They are not effective for that purpose because they are an effective recruiting tool, enabling terrorist groups to replace the people they lose to the drone strikes. Four former Air Force issued a report confirming that drone strikes create hatred of the United States and are used as a recruiting tool by ISIS and other terrorist groups. (6) Think of how we reacted when enemies from the Middle East bombed us. We started two wars and Middle-Easterners faced more prejudice in the US. Why wouldn't they react similarly when we bomb them? CONTENTION 3 - DRONE STRIKES ARE ILLEGAL: International law only allows the use of the weapons fired by drones in active conflict zones. The drone strikes happen in countries where we are not currently at war, and where the US has not been authorized to use military force (7). The ACLU has condemned the US drone strikes as illegal (8), and President Gerald Ford's Executive Order #11,905 made it illegal for the CIA to assassinate people (9). It is wrong for the US to unlawfully kill people, and sets the precedent that America can do whatever it wants regardless of the law. This is very dangerous and can lead to the US being more of an imperialist nation that engages in unjustified aggression. 1. http://www.nytimes.com... 2. https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com... 3. http://www.huffingtonpost.com... 4. http://www.washingtontimes.com... 5. http://www.theguardian.com... 6. http://www.theguardian.com... 7. http://www.nytimes.com... 8. https://www.aclu.org... 9. http://edition.cnn.com...