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Eyes in the Sky
May 15, 2008 | Posted by Kip - 6:23am | 18 Comments
"How do you fight an enemy who hides among the innocent?" asks a new Air Force Commercial.
"Never let him out of your sight."
The screen shot is of a Predator drone.
Whether the Air Force as a whole is willing to accept the Predator as the be all of air power, Kip is doubtful. Even if it were willing (and no one in Afghanistan would complain for a second about having more surveillance, not to mention airlift, assets), it is easy to overestimate the usefulness of such technology.
Londonstani and AbuMuqawama in their every day travels through London, are monitored by literally thousands of closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) around the city (Great Britain has one CCTV for every 14 or so people). These cameras, which were initially introduced as a measure to disrupt Irish Republican Army attacks in Britain, are now meant to serve as a deterrent to prevent crimes and allow crimes to be solved. So how well does this constant, ubiquitous surveillance result in the maintenance of law and order? According to a recent article in the Scotsman:
The solution to crime and disorder?
Another technological panacea turns out to be no substitute for boots on the ground. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles such as the Predator, essentially a super CCTV (occasionally with a missile), are incredibly useful when employed wisely and, most importantly, when employed in conjunction with well developed human intelligence and in conjunction with boots on the ground. They can help us make some order out of the chaos of a gun battle or provide surveillance of known insurgent infiltration routes.
That said, saturation of an area of operations with drone surveillance without a concomitant commitment of troops and local development of human intelligence will never be sufficient to maintain order and win in a war among the people. Developing sufficient boots on the ground, most importantly from the populace among which we are fighting, must be the first order priority if we are to succeed in maintaining order in order to develop governance and economic development. Unfortunately, we are still unwilling or unable to make developing local security forces the number one priority that we know it needs to be.
"Never let him out of your sight."
The screen shot is of a Predator drone.
Whether the Air Force as a whole is willing to accept the Predator as the be all of air power, Kip is doubtful. Even if it were willing (and no one in Afghanistan would complain for a second about having more surveillance, not to mention airlift, assets), it is easy to overestimate the usefulness of such technology.
Londonstani and AbuMuqawama in their every day travels through London, are monitored by literally thousands of closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) around the city (Great Britain has one CCTV for every 14 or so people). These cameras, which were initially introduced as a measure to disrupt Irish Republican Army attacks in Britain, are now meant to serve as a deterrent to prevent crimes and allow crimes to be solved. So how well does this constant, ubiquitous surveillance result in the maintenance of law and order? According to a recent article in the Scotsman:
Detective Chief Inspector Mick Neville, who is in charge of closed-circuit television for the Metropolitan Police Force, claimed only 3 per cent of the capital's street robberies are solved using security camera footage and criminals are not afraid of being caught on film...
"It's been an utter fiasco."
The solution to crime and disorder?
The spokeswoman added that the government was working to put more than 1,000 additional police officers on the streets to tackle the drink, drugs and deprivation which are the underlying causes of crime.
Another technological panacea turns out to be no substitute for boots on the ground. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles such as the Predator, essentially a super CCTV (occasionally with a missile), are incredibly useful when employed wisely and, most importantly, when employed in conjunction with well developed human intelligence and in conjunction with boots on the ground. They can help us make some order out of the chaos of a gun battle or provide surveillance of known insurgent infiltration routes.
That said, saturation of an area of operations with drone surveillance without a concomitant commitment of troops and local development of human intelligence will never be sufficient to maintain order and win in a war among the people. Developing sufficient boots on the ground, most importantly from the populace among which we are fighting, must be the first order priority if we are to succeed in maintaining order in order to develop governance and economic development. Unfortunately, we are still unwilling or unable to make developing local security forces the number one priority that we know it needs to be.
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