Systemic risks of drone warfare: How militarized surveillance and resource extraction fuel civilian harm in Iraq
Original framing: “Residents inspect drone damage near Erbil airport” — Al Jazeera
The original framing omits the historical context of Iraq’s militarization since the 1980s Iran-Iraq War, the 1991 Gulf War, and the 2003 U.S. invasion, which created the conditions for drone proliferation. It ignores the role of Kurdish peshmerga forces and their alliances with Western powers in drone operations, as well as the impact on Yazidi and other minority communities historically targeted by state violence. Indigenous knowledge of de-escalation and conflict resolution in the region is erased, as is the economic toll of drone-related damages on local agriculture and livelihoods.
Medium structural omission detected in mainstream coverage.
The narrative is produced by Al Jazeera, a Qatar-based outlet with a complex relationship to regional power dynamics, often amplifying narratives that align with Gulf state interests while centering Western-centric frames of 'terrorism' and 'security.' The framing serves state actors (Iraqi government, Kurdish Regional Government, and foreign powers like the U.S. and Iran) by depoliticizing drone strikes as technical failures rather than systemic tools of control. It obscures the role of private military contractors, arms manufacturers (e.g., Lockheed Martin, Baykar), and the U.S.-led 'War on Terror' infrastructure that sustains drone warfare.
Iraq’s militarization traces back to the 1980s Iran-Iraq War, where chemical weapons and aerial bombardments became normalized, followed by the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 U.S. invasion, which dismantled state institutions and fueled sectarian violence. Drone warfare emerged as a continuation of these conflicts, with the U.S. deploying armed drones in Iraq as early as 2008, later adopted by regional actors like Turkey and Iran. The 2014 rise of ISIS further justified drone proliferation, creating a feedback loop of violence and state expansion.
The drone debris near Erbil airport is not an isolated incident but a symptom of a 40-year cycle of militarization in Iraq, fueled by foreign intervention, corporate extraction, and the erosion of local governance.