The Drone’s Citizenship

Beep beep. The notification of a new text message on my phone draws my attention.

“Two more missiles. Three people killed. Sixth CIA drone strike since Sunday- Pakistan.” 9 October 2014.

Beep beep. “Multiple missiles killed four people in Khyber- Pakistan.” 11 October 2014. Later in the day, I hear it a second time: “2 people killed in a car- Pakistan.” I now know that this ominous sound is different than my usual text message alert.

I hear it again: “Four people were killed when U.S. drone missiles struck a Toyota Hilux- Yemen.” 15 October 2014.

First things first: I am not a member of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), nor the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). I gather this data from the app “Metadata+,” which is free to download from the iTunes app store. Through a very simple interface the creators of Metadata+ help keep America accountable by cataloguing and mapping US drone strikes. The app brings war and bombing not only into nations (like the US, like Canada) where war is not directly affecting and effecting the operations of day-to-day life (like access to running water, like access to electricity), but also — and arguably more importantly — into the hands of average civilians in these states. Myself included.

Every time I hear that particular alert, my heart stops for a moment. This sudden impulse of fear is of course nothing compared to those who live in such targeted regions; to those whose families, friends, and cities are impacted by the strikes; and to those who are actually killed by them. But these instances of emotion aren’t insignificant either. By having my day “interrupted” by a small notification, I am reminded of the disruption and destruction that is happening “elsewhere” and “out there.”

I want to digress slightly by contemplating a couple of situations that exemplify the tension between distance and proximity in times of conflict. The first concerns director Rick Rowley’s important documentary film “Dirty Wars” (2013), which accompanies Jeremy Scahill’s equally significant book “Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield” (2013). One of the most thoughtful critiques I heard of the documentary surrounds the ability of citizenship to mark a person’s worth. After watching “Dirty Wars” for the second time with my father, Dr. Derek Gregory (a professor of Human Geography and a Peter Wall Distinguished Professor at UBC), we embarked upon a debate about the merits and shortcomings of the representation of US drones. What struck my father was the fact that it took the killing of an American citizen, Anwar al-Anwaki, to generate criticism of the drone program — emphasis on American. While the public criticism was valid, a person was murdered through an unmanned aerial vehicle (otherwise known as “a targeted killing”), numerous other deaths had previously occurred (and continue to occur for that matter) that amounted to the same crime/act. But what was different this time? Citizenship. Suddenly it was clear that Obama had unchecked power dictating who may live and who must die. But this power only became heavily scrutinized when the American drone targeted an American citizen. The drone’s citizenship thus dictated who and what was an appropriate target: “them” not “us.” It was citizenship that made the death of al-Anwaki notable. It was citizenship that made Obama’s drone campaign appear dangerous. It was citizenship that woke the American public up.

A similar episode, and my second example, occurred a couple of weeks ago when I sparked a discussion about ISIS/ISOL with a friend’s roommate. The roommate expressed that he was fearful of the jihadist group bombing Canada and that he didn’t want to see Canadians die. As a byproduct, he supported the recent bombing of Iraq. I challenged him by asking, “why do Canadian lives matter more than Iraqi lives?” And his answer: “because I know more Canadians.” And while I can follow, perhaps even concede to this logic, I can do so only partially. He may know more Canadians, but the Iraqi people who are being bombed know more Iraqi citizens. Why do we draw a line? I believe Iraqi lives matter just as much as Canadian lives. Canadian lives matter just as much as Iraqi lives. Palestinian lives matter just as much as Canadian lives. Israeli lives matter just as much as Palestinian lives. Palestinain lives matter just as much as Iraqi lives. Now I’m just being redundant and getting carried away. But the point I’m trying to make is simple: human life matters. Period. Religion, class, race, gender, and citizenship should not make a difference. Yet it does. Especially the latter.

I’m left wondering why citizenship generates such powerful loyalties? Most of us do not actually choose our citizenship: we are born to a place based on chance. However, the process of altering our citizenship, or of being granted new citizenship, is no easy feat. Scrupulous record keeping, knowledge tests, and valid documentation/ identification are required to gain a new passport — and even then there is no guarantee. There is an obvious discrepancy between choosing a place and belonging to a place, but when it comes to war and conflict, governments draw sharp and entrenched divides: “us” and “them.” As a result, public sentiment often bolsters these lines as well (as evident from the above discussion with the roommate).

The issue I keep coming back to is that in the interconnected global world we live in today, “here” and “there” are at times the same place. Through our screens, we are inches away from each other’s thoughts, and yet potentially 1000s of kilometers away from each other’s bodies. Which matters more: our mental capacities, or our corporeal being? This is why, to come full circle, I think that Metadata+ is an important app. It keeps us aware. It keeps us alert. It keeps us critical. We may not be under the sky where the bombs are falling, but we are connected. All this to reiterate Save the Children’s 2014 spring ad campaign: “just because it isn’t happening here, doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.”

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Follow ‘The Dirty Wars’ on twitter @DirtyWars.

Check out Dr. Derek Gregory’s blog: http://geographicalimaginations.com/