Drones fly - monsters die

kw: book reviews, nonfiction, memoirs, soldiers, drones

Brett Velicovich passed by a protest a few years ago. People were wearing or waving mockups of the Predator drone and chanting, "Drones fly, babies die." The colossal ignorance they displayed got through his post-traumatic apathy like nothing had since he returned from five combat tours over more than a decade, in the elite Delta unit, the one that flies the Predator, Reaper and other military drones in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places where the most vicious terrorists operate. He knew what really happens, who really dies, and more importantly, who really doesn't die (that would be most of us! Babies included). He got help from Christopher S. Stewart to write a book about the reality of drone warfare, Drone Warrior: An Elite Soldier's Inside Account of the Hunt for America's Most Dangerous Enemies.

Brett V. was the intelligence specialist on a drone team. He led the work of gathering information and deciding how and when to arrest, of if needed, kill an enemy. After President Obama was elected, the autonomy of the drone teams was reduced, and the President mandated that he must personally authorize each kill, whether by drone or by a raid. I saw a video from late in the Obama presidency in which he was discussing the more than 3,000 killed at his say-so. He said, "It turns out I am really good at killing. I never thought that would be an item on my résumé."

There were, and are, several drone teams. It doesn't become clear in the book how many kills and arrests occurred under the author's purview. But certain numbers stand out, and this one is primary: for every kill there were twenty arrests, and most of them led to useful intelligence. So the 3,000 terrorist leaders whose death was authorized by President Obama are accompanied by the arrest and interrogation of about 60,000 others. That is the key to a war against ISIS and similar enemy groups.

No matter what you think about the use of military drones, you have to read this book. Furthermore, the author portrays unblinkingly what was happening to him. This kind of work leads to estrangement from everyone, from all of us who can never know what it is really like. Every returned warrior is changed. This is still early days of drone war, which changes someone even more than traditional warfare. I hope that can be improved upon.

Mr. Velicovich nearly lost his way after returning to civilian life. He has found something productive to do with his skills. The book ends at the beginning of this new beginning for him. I wish him success in using drone-intel skills for positive things in the civilian sector.