A recent military tactic, implemented in counterterrorism, is the use of military drones in Pakistan to eliminate al Qaeda terrorists hiding in rugged tribal regions. The U.S. government and military hail this aerial tactic as highly successful and essential to defeating terrorists. Human rights advocates deplore the tactic as unnecessarily killing innocent civilians and committing human rights violations.

Refer to Morality in Modern Aerial Warfare and Ethical Issues in Counterterrorism Warfare to assess the morality of using drones in Pakistan’s Frontier provinces. Also, you must conduct outside research on the use of aerial drones to support your argument for the use as morally just or morally unjust. All resources must be properly cited. Address the following:

• Assess the moral justifications for using aerial bombing in warfare.
• Discuss policies and restrictions that can be applied to make the use of drones morally acceptable.
• Explain how terrorists acting within a nation-state affect the justification for using aerial bombing, and whether or not the killing of civilians during drone attacks is an international war crime.
• Provide your opinion on whether or not you support the use of drones to attack terrorists within sovereign countries.