Germany considers buying armed drones

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/germany-considers-buying-armed-drones/2013/02/11/ebf44654-7215-11e2-8b8d-e0b59a1b8e2a_story.html

Germany considers buying armed drones
By Michael Birnbaum, Tuesday, February 12, 6:27 AM

BERLIN — The debate over the legality of drone warfare is stretching from Capitol Hill into the shadow of the Brandenburg Gate, as Germany mulls buying armed drones for the first time.

Ever since World War II, Germany has been skeptical about military deployments, mindful of its own history of inflicting violence on others. New plans to equip the military with armed drones have caused an uproar this month in this pacifist country, with many Germans worrying that possessing the weaponry could lead them more quickly into conflict. Defense officials, meanwhile, say soldiers and civilians would be safer with drones to back them up.

The debate is one that has only slowly taken shape in the United States, where drone technology has become essential to U.S. war and counterterrorism strategies in recent years while remaining deeply shrouded in secrecy. In Germany, by contrast, politicians, religious leaders and citizens have been preemptively dissecting the implications of weaponry that enables soldiers to make pinpoint strikes against terrorism suspects while sitting many thousands of miles away.

“Once such technical devices are purchased, it’ll be too late to discuss ethical questions,” said Rainer Arnold, the spokesman for defense issues of the opposition Social Democratic Party.