Attack of the Drones

Logs from the fallen oak that I've been chainsawing my way through 

Imagine a world where someone in another country, say China or Indonesia, can get up early on Monday morning, drive to work, get in front of a computer which provides them remote-control of a flying machine based in France, send it humming over to where you live in Sussex or Manchester where it is still late Sunday evening and you’re just thinking about retiring for the night, and fire a rocket straight into your living room.  It would not be conducive to a peaceful and happy existence. 

Change the names of the countries and there's no need to imagine it. A 13-year-old boy in Yemen was killed on 26 January by an American drone. He had been interviewed by the Guardian newspaper the previous September because his father and brother had been killed the same way in 2011.  “They tell us that these drones come from bases in Saudi Arabia and also from bases in the Yemeni seas and America sends them to kill terrorists, but they always kill innocent people. But we don’t know why they are killing us” he had said.

Seed potatoes on their way to be "chitted" - left to sprout a bit before planting

There is something I find abhorrent about war drones, more so even than fighter jets dropping bombs. At least the fighter pilots have to be in the same geography as their targets, and at least in theory be at risk of being brought down by opposition firepower. But the people who pilot these drones lead a very safe and comfortable existence. They can go home to their loved ones at the end of each working day, happy in the knowledge of having successfully carried out their killing orders.  

A derelict horse-drawn hay-turner we found on our walk to the coast

This is a new type of warfare where “combatants”, in the loosest sense of the word, are in completely different parts of the world.  A country (or in some dystopian future, corporation?) which owns such machines can define who they regard as enemies, specific individuals living in other countries, and decide to eliminate them with zero risk to themselves.  And tough luck if you happen to have popped round to their target’s house for tea when they do.  The war-zone is where the rockets land, not where they are controlled from, so one side in the “war” need never enter the danger territory at all.  

The military are even beginning to phase out the human element altogether, allowing the drones to fire on people according to pre-set criteria.  

Proud to have lost 21 pounds over her time at Pilsdon

The US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Russia, China, India, Iran and Israel all have Unmanned (but certainly Armed) Aerial Vehicles according to this 2012 report, and three of them (US, UK and Israel) have used them in combat. No doubt many other countries are looking to play catch up.  I expect many of these same nations who happen to have enough cash in their so-called Defence budgets are also building anti-drone technology in case anyone should have the temerity to use drones back against them.  Those without such means will just have to get used to the fact that their citizens may get blown up from time to time by other countries who feel they have the moral imperative to do so.

More info on UK drones here and various UK campaign events listed here.  There is a petition to stop the deployment of UK drones.

Next week, back to the more wholesome subject of rural community living!

Turf from our field cut out to form...

...a firepit for all the brambles we've been hacking down from around the field fencing