WASHINGTON — A day after the State Department loosened restrictions on the sale of armed drones to foreign allies, the risks posed by targeted killings again became apparent.
Lebanese television reported Wednesday that 15 civilians were killed after U.S. airstrikes targeting Islamic State militants in Iraq accidentally hit a mosque in Haditha. The Pentagon, which has admitted it doesn’t track civilian deaths in anti-Islamic State operations, hasn’t confirmed the report.
The new rules on drone exports, announced Tuesday after a long review by the White House and the Departments of State, Defense, and Commerce, come as the U.S. works to boost military capabilities of allies in the anti-Islamic State coalition. The United Kingdom is the only past recipient of armed drones from the U.S., although Italy and South Korea have purchased unarmed systems that potentially could be armed.
–
Previously, drone sales were regulated by the Missile Control Technology Regime and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations — both Cold War-era regulations designed to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The Missile Control Technology Regime calls for “greatest restraint” in the sale of weapons that can deliver a payload of at least 300 kilograms, which applies to the Predator, Reaper, and Global Hawk drones. In closed-door negotiations about drone export policy, the State Department warned that weakening the regulation could undermine the entire nonproliferation movement, Micah Zenko of the Council on Foreign Relations told Arms Control last year.
Drone manufacturers lobbied for looser export restrictions, saying that if the U.S. doesn’t provide drones to its allies, other countries will happily fill the void.
Last year, a RAND report found that 23 countries are developing weapons-capable drones, including China, Russia and Iran. China sold its Wing Loong Pterodactyl I system (similar to General Atomics’ Predator) to Saudi Arabia in May, and Iran has provided drones to Hezbollah, its proxy in Lebanon.
