Drone Strike Program & Effects on International Homeland Security & United States Homeland Security

Drone Strike Program & Effects on International Homeland Security & United States Homeland Security

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Trump Gives CIA Authority for Drone Strikes

A drone strike is a form of military attack that entails using UAVs (Unmanned Ariel Vehicles), to launch missiles towards a target. Security officials often prefer using drones to kill or destroy a target in situations where the engagement of human soldiers is considered too risky. As such, the drones are an alternative that minimizes the loss of soldiers’ lives during combat. The use of drone strikes has drawn both criticism and support from individuals. The main reason why governments use drone strikes is to neutralize or rather kill people whose activities are believed to be a threat to national security. Following the recently increased war in the Islamic States, President Donald Trump gave the Center for Intelligence Agency (CIA) the authority to use drone strikes to neutralize national threats. His decision was preceded by certain events as outlined below.

To begin with, the security of the United States has been under a constant threat owing to the increasing terrorist activities orchestrated particularly by the Islamic State. Secretary Kelly noted in his speech that the country is under a threat of attack by the organizations and State-sponsored terrorist groups (Department of Homeland Security, 2017). He further adds that such terrorist groups carry out attacks using sophisticated weapons. As such, authorizing the CIA to use drone strikes was probably meant to mitigate the threat of terrorism while minimizing the number of American soldiers killed in combat. That is, given the hostility involved fighting against the terrorist groups.

Also, Shinkman (2017) reports that the CIA used a drone strike to kill an Al-Qaida’s leader- Nasir al-Wahishi in Yemen, in June 2015. This operation arguably confirmed the effectiveness and reliability of drone strikes in fighting terrorism. Therefore, President Trump felt that giving the CIA the authority to carry out drone strikes enhances the fight against terrorism and that it would be more efficient if the operations are conducted promptly. Moreover, the U.S government considered using drone strikes after the extrajudicial killing of an American citizen who was living in Yemen (2017). This event may also have attributed to the president’s decision to authorize the CIA to use drone strikes.

    Both the international homeland security and the United States homeland security are bound to be enhanced as a result of the authority by the CIA to operate drone strikes. This argument is based on the fact that, the process of mitigating terrorist attack will be more prompt given that it will not involve a prolonged bureaucracy. The CIA will be swift and efficient in alleviating the threats within a short period thus ensuring a reduction of security threats both within and outside its borders.