Labasan, Cedric C.

Special Issues on International Law March 2, 2019

Eye in the Sky Reaction Paper

The film “Eye in the Sky” dives into the discovery of the top secret drone operation and
the dispute between the British Colonel Katherine Powell and US drone pilot American pilot
Steve Watts on a suicide bombing attempt on a house in Kenya, which was complicated by the
presence of a nine-year old girl in the target area and therefore starting a moral and political
dispute between the two commands. The movie concentrates on the decision-making of the
British Lieutenant General Frank Benson and the British Foreign Minister Brian Woodale MP on
whether to engage the target or not. The British Colonel wants to engage the target even if the
nine-year old girl is still on the danger zone for she considers her as a minimal collateral damage
to prevent the suicide bombing but the American drone pilot insists to wait for her to sell all her
bread and leave the target area before he engages. The suicide bombing will kill an estimated 80
people in the market beside the house used as a hideout. The scenes circle around the issue on
what is an acceptable collateral damage and on how these top secret missions handle the moral
and political turmoil that will decide the fate of lives of people that is seen on the “Eye in the
Sky”. The movie does a great job in showing the tensions between the two countries and on how
the military can sometimes be cruel and compassionate at the same time. It also shows the power
struggle between the military and the British MPs, particularly the foreign minister on who is
going to decide whether to engage the target area with the girl on the danger zone or wait for her
to leave before engaging.

It is quite amusing that Steve Watts and his assistant exudes emotion throughout the film
and the compassion they feel for the little girl is quite immense considering that they were
trained to be fearless and emotionless in the military. Colonel Powell on the other hand exudes a
more strong stance and that she is willing to take a risk in killing the little girl to prevent a bigger
collateral damage and lost of lives. The fact that they have also shown hoe the government
officials assessed the possible public backlash when they proceed with the attack and that the
news of a nine year old girl killed by a military drone or its possible video uploaded in Youtube
showing the airstrike is the cause of the death of an innocent nine year old. I think that this movie
exemplary showed a small glimpse of what is happening in the Middle East and how these
powerful states, particularly the NATO, in handling these kinds of situations. In reality though,
these situations rarely happen because most of the airstrikes conducted by these nations,
particularly the US have affected and displaced or even killed many civilians for targeting just
one group, ISIS. But, the only thing I wish that this movie could have shown is that no US
military will object to the command of their generals and that I do not know of any military
official with such compassion and moral ascendency in saving a stranger.

Having said that, “Eye in the Sky” effectively shown the complexities of a military
operation. We could see how things such as moral, political and even emotional aspects of a
soldier were greatly shown. The movie made Steve Watts human. Also, the movie showed us
that a military attack is usually a two man show, between the executive and the military but here
since there are two governments involved, a three man show. Overall, it was a great film to show
how International Humanitarian Law plays a role in these operations.