Pentagon 'Turns Tables' on Iran, Ignores US Drone Legacy
Newsweek heralds the US turning the tables on Iran with new attack drones, portraying it as a clever counter-strategy. The piece, from 2018, positions America as reacting to drone proliferation. What it omits is that the US practically wrote the playbook on modern drone warfare, using predator and reaper drones extensively in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Iraq since the early 2000s,
often resulting in civilian casualties. The 'tables' were turned by the US a long time ago. This narrative reframes US military escalation as a defensive innovation, rather than an ongoing part of an established global drone program. One might wonder, given the US's extensive history of drone use, including alleged civilian collateral damage, if this is merely a market update for the
military-industrial complex rather than a strategic 'turn of tables.' The US drone program, documented by organizations like the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, has consistently been a proactive rather than reactive force in the region.