Drone strikes make the United States safer by decimating terrorist networks across the world. Drone attacks in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Somalia have killed upwards of 3,500 militants, including dozens of high-level commanders implicated in organizing plots against the United States.[6] [7] [8] [9] According to President Obama, "dozens of highly skilled al Qaeda commanders, trainers, bomb makers and operatives have been taken off the battlefield. Plots have been disrupted that would have targeted international aviation, US transit systems, European cities, and our troops in Afghanistan. Simply put, these strikes have saved lives."[10] David Rohde, a former New York Times reporter held hostage by the Taliban in Pakistan for several months in 2009, called the drones a "terrifying presence" for militants.[11] On Nov. 1, 2013 drone strikes killed Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud.[12]
— Mehreen Zahra-Malik and Jibran Ahmed
"Pakistani Taliban Chief Killed in Drone Strike," reuters.com, Nov. 1, 2013
Drone strikes create more terrorists than they kill. People who see their loved ones injured or killed in drone attacks become motivated to join actions against the United States. According to author Jeremy Scahill, the vast majority of militants operating in Yemen today are "people who are aggrieved by attacks on their homes that forced them to go out and fight." [49] Support for al Qaeda in Yemen is "indigenously spreading and merging with the mounting rage of powerful tribes at US counterterrorism policy" as the drone strikes have "recruited thousands."[49] The number of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) core members grew from 300 in 2009 (when US drone strikes resumed after a seven-year hiatus) to 700 in 2012, resulting in an exponential increase in the number of terrorist attacks in the region. [50] Both the "Underwear Bomber," who tried to blow up an American airliner in 2009, [51] and the "Times Square Bomber," who tried to set off a car bomb in New York City in 2010, [52] cited drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia as motivators for the plots.
— Lorraine Adams and Ayesha Nasir
"Inside the Mind of the Times Square Bomber," theguardian.com, Sep. 18, 2010
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