The United Nations Convention on Torture explicitly forbids “cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment,” so their use must be denied. Also, assassination by drones inevitably leads to the killing of innocent civilians – the very crime that defines terrorism.
争取民心显然较轰炸和射杀本地居民而言是一大进步。但进行“不对称战争”的新方法却引起了令人不安的伦理和法律问题。联合国酷刑问题公约（The United Nations Convention on Torture）明文禁止“残忍、非人道和有失体面的对待和惩罚”，因此这是必须否认的。用无人飞机进行暗杀免不了会导致无辜平民死亡，而这正是恐怖主义的定义。