The Predator

1
The Predator

• Bill Banks
• October 2003

2
Themes raised by the Predator strike in Yemen

• Purposes of drones in the war against terrorism
• Host government cooperation
• Collateral damage
• Locus of decision making authority DOD/CIA
  relationship decision processes
• Legal authority
• Other applications for UAVs

3
Firsts for the AF MQ-1 Predator

• First to transition from ACTD to active military
  duty
• First UAV to fire offensive weapons against enemy
  combat forces

4
Operations History

• Bosnia 1995
• Operation Allied Force 1999, video feeds
  downloaded from the UAV to the command center at
  Aviano, Italy, then relayed to airborne forward
  air controllers, allowing the FACs to find
  targets otherwise difficult to locate
• Operation Southern Watch (Iraq)

5
Operations, continued

• Successful destruction of Iraqi mobile radar
  units using Hellfire missiles as many as three
  UAVs shot down by Iraq
• Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) Beyond
  aerial reconnaissance, to close air support and
  armed strike
• In OEF, one component of chain that allowed
  targets to be struck within five minutes of their
  identification. Aircrews could obtain Predator
  feeds directly in the airplane

6
Operations, continued

• War on terrorism, weapons replaced cameras on
  some UAVs. CIA Predators complete strikes in
  Afghanistan and Yemen. Testing of Stinger
  missiles for self-defense and JDAM.
• Operation Iraqi Freedom, strikes against Iraqi
  anti-aircraft vehicle, decoy missions in Baghdad,
  oversee rescue of POW
• Losses

7
UAV Roles and Applications

• Traditionally used as Intelligence, Surveillance
  and Reconnaissance/Target Acquisition (ISR/TA)
  assets
• Recently broadened into new missions such as
  armed reconnaissance
• Is the use of UAVs as attack planes a good policy
  option?

8
Implications of the Use of the Predator as a
Weapon

• The decision process and chain-of-command
  inter-agency relations
• Collateral damage
• Costs and benefits of pilotless targeting

9
Implications of the Yemen Strike

• For the government of Yemen
• For the Horn of Africa and elsewhere in the
  region
• For the war against terrorism
• For U.S. targets
• For U.S. policy on Israeli targeted killing

10
Other uses for the Predator?

• Original design of the Hellfire was to provide
  heavy anti-armor capability for attack
  helicopters
• In Bosnia and Kosovo
• Special ops support elsewhere
• Homeland security?
• Medical re-supply?
• Long-duration law enforcement surveillance?

11
DHS and UAVs

• Coast Guard and Border Patrol plan deployment of
  UAVs to watch coastal waters, patrol borders,
  protect oil and gas pipelines.
• Civilian vs. military use
• Civil liberties concerns?

12
Law Enforcement Roles?

• October 2002 D.C.-area snipers
• Following trucks with hazardous cargo
• Measure radiation in the atmosphere

13
Questions for discussion

• What are appropriate roles and missions for
  drones in the war against terrorism?
• How should issues of host government cooperation
  affect the use of drones?
• By what agency and through what process should
  decision making authority be exercised in
  deploying drones in combat roles? How should the
  DOD/CIA relationship be defined in this setting?
• To what extent does legal authority limit the use
  of drones in combat?
• What other applications for UAVs should be
  considered?

14
The September 11th Attacks

• The statutory authorization for military force
  against those responsible for the September 11
  attacks included this clause Whereas the
  President has authority under the Constitution to
  take action to deter and prevent acts of
  international terrorism against the United
  States. What is the scope of that authority?

15
The September 11th Attacks

• S.J. Res. 23, Joint Resolution of Congress,
  September 14 the President is authorized to use
  all necessary and appropriate force against those
  nations, organizations, or persons he determines
  planned, authorized, committed, or aided the
  terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11,
  2001, or harbored such organizations or persons,
  in order to prevent any future acts of
  international terrorism against the United States
  by such nations, organizations, or persons.

16
Scope of Authority in the War against Terrorism

• Does it include an attack on bin Laden and his
  network without prior congressional
  authorization?
• Would it matter whether he was in Afghanistan or
  Saudi Arabia or Pakistan?
• Is it prudent to extend the battlefield against
  Al Qaeda and against international terrorism
  outside Afghanistan?
• Do any of the above answers change if the
  Predator is the weapon of choice?

17
Targeted Killing of bin Laden or Saddam
Anticipatory Self-Defense or Assassination?

• Assassination generally is regarded as an act of
  murder for political reasons, usually through
  covert means.
• Peacetime killing by a U.S. government agent is
  unlawful, unless undertaken in self-defense or
  defense of others, with or without an executive
  order proscribing it.
• In wartime, the law of armed conflict applies.
  The military may kill the enemy, whether lawful
  combatants or unprivileged belligerents,
  including civilians who take part in hostilities.

18
U.S. Army rules

• U.S. Army Field Manual 27-10, paragraph 31
  prohibits assassination, proscription, or
  outlawry of an enemy, or putting a price upon an
  enemys head, as well as offering a reward for an
  enemy dead or alive. . .

19
Applying the Wartime/Peacetime Distinction to
Terrorism

• A sort of legal twilight zone, targeted killing
  vs. assassination
• Solved for Saddam during the Gulf War by the 1991
  Use of Force Against Iraq Resolution.
• Solved for bin Laden by the September 2001
  resolution (all necessary and appropriate
  force).

20
Other Pertinent Authorities

• Commander in Chiefs defensive war powers,
  including anticipatory self-defense
• For the CIA and contract agents covert ops
  authority to perform other functions and duties.
  . . National Security Act of 1947

21
Executive Order 12,333 (1981)

• 2.11 No person employed by or acting on behalf
  of the United States Government shall engage in,
  or conspire to engage in, assassination.
• What is forbidden? What is the legal effect of
  this provision?

22

• International law (the UN Charter) and U.S. law
  recognize the inherent right of self-defense,
  including the unilateral action against an
  imminent threat.
• Self-defense may permit targeting a terrorist
  leader where their actions pose a continuing
  threat to U.S. citizens or or the national
  security of the United States.

23

• After September 11, President Bush called for the
  capture of bin Laden dead or alive. Could he
  legally order the killing of bin Laden?
• H.R. 19, introduced by Rep. Barr Section 2.11 of
  Exec. Order 12,333 shall have no further force
  or effect. Is such a law necessary to permit
  strikes at a terrorist leader?