How successful has the US drone program been? Even without the use of statistics, one could argue that victories with the drones have been very limited. They did not do much to help the United States in their post-war agendas in Iraq and Afghanistan. Iraq is far from a pro-US democracy – it is in the grip of increasingly polarized conflict and the country, it seems, is leaning much closer to Iran than it is to the United States. Similarly, no stable democracy exists in Afghanistan, nor have the Taliban been exterminated. This just goes to prove, as Stephen Walt put it, technological wizardry does not always translate into strategic success.
Having said that, one can understand why the United States does tend to continue to defend its drone policy. For them, it seems to work. The American generals are happy, and the American citizens feel safe knowing they have a remote-controlled technology that can wipe out dozens of people who may be a threat to them or to their principles. Perfectly understandable.
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