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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Drone Warfare
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mdijon
Shipmate
# 8520
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Posted
Well in that sense most human acts are comparable but not in a very useful way.
I doubt a diplomatic solution with the leadership of ISIS is possible, but I think there are political solutions that would undermine a lot of the Sunni support for ISIS.
For instance the invasion into Iraq has led to a lot of antipathy and disaffection among Sunni Muslims in the area that leads them toward sympathy with ISIS. I suspect many could take or leave the religious fundamentalism, it is the political power games that are more important.
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mdijon nojidm uoɿıqɯ ɯqıɿou
ɯqıɿou uoɿıqɯ nojidm mdijon
Posts: 12277 | From: UK | Registered: Sep 2004
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quetzalcoatl
Shipmate
# 16740
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Posted
I think that's right. It can work, witness the turnaround among Sunni sheikhs and tribes, who began to fight against Al Qaeda in Iraq, and in fact, defeated them. Of course, much water has gone under the bridge since - considerable suspicion of the Iraqui govt, who are seen to have reneged on a deal, and in Syria, who is ever going to trust Assad again?
It means you have to be very careful about who you assassinate, as you risk stirring up fresh opposition to the West. I guess the Russians don't care about that, or may even be glad of it.
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I can't talk to you today; I talked to two people yesterday.
Posts: 9878 | From: UK | Registered: Oct 2011
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Crœsos
Shipmate
# 238
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Posted
Bumping this thread because of the events in Dallas. From the Atlantic:
quote:
“We saw no other option but to use our bomb robot and place a device on its extension for it to detonate where the suspect was,” Chief David Brown said in a press conference Friday morning. “Other options would have exposed our officers to grave danger. The suspect is deceased … He’s been deceased because of a detonation of the bomb.”
This would seem to bear all the necessary characteristics of a "drone" and "drone warfare"; a remotely-controlled robot used to deliver a lethal payload.
In a certain sense this was inevitable. Counter-insurgency techniques used in foreign conflicts have a long history of being adopted for domestic law enforcement use. One historical example is the way techniques used to extract intelligence from Filipino and Moro insurgents in the early twentieth century were adopted by American police (many of whom were veterans who served in the Philippines) to force confessions out of criminal suspects.
So do the same caveats, precautions, and provisos apply to domestically-used killer drones, or should a government use a different (higher? lower?) standard when using such technology against its own citizens?
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Humani nil a me alienum puto
Posts: 10706 | From: Sardis, Lydia | Registered: May 2001
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GCabot
Shipmate
# 18074
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Merchant Trader:
I think "Eye in the Sky" really brings home all the dilemnas:
quote:
EYE IN THE SKY stars Helen Mirren as Colonel Katherine Powell, a UK-based military officer in command of a top secret drone operation to capture terrorists in Kenya. Through remote surveillance and on-the-ground intel, Powell discovers the targets are planning a suicide bombing and the mission escalates from “capture” to “kill.” But as American pilot Steve Watts (Aaron Paul) is about to engage, a nine-year old girl enters the kill zone, triggering an international dispute reaching the highest levels of US and British government over the moral, political, and personal implications of modern warfare.
Having just watched this film, I second this. Eye in the Sky gives an extremely accurate depiction of the process behind a drone strike from start to finish, including from the view of the drone operators. It takes no political stance, and would help clear up some of the misconceptions many appear to have regarding what a drone pilot actually sees vis-à-vis the pilot of a traditional, manned aircraft.
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The child that is born unto us is more than a prophet; for this is he of whom the Savior saith: "Among them that are born of woman, there hath not risen one greater than John the Baptist."
Posts: 285 | From: The Heav'n Rescued Land | Registered: Apr 2014
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
Yeah, perhaps Not accurate enough.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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GCabot
Shipmate
# 18074
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
Yeah, perhaps Not accurate enough.
As the article you cite freely admits, some license was taken for the purpose of making it a movie. No one would pay to go watch a film where the target was only ever visible in grainy footage, and doing so would have been counterproductive to the director's goal of ensuring that the audience saw the victims of the drone strike in question as people, rather than just statistical collateral damage.
And in any case, to the point I was making, it remains extremely accurate in depicting the process from the drone pilot's point of view, in illustrating what sort of information to which he or she will be exposed in any strike, regardless of the liberties the film takes in terms of depicting the accuracy of intelligence used by the higher-up decision makers, which is a completely separate issue.
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The child that is born unto us is more than a prophet; for this is he of whom the Savior saith: "Among them that are born of woman, there hath not risen one greater than John the Baptist."
Posts: 285 | From: The Heav'n Rescued Land | Registered: Apr 2014
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by GCabot:
No one would pay to go watch a film where the target was only ever visible in grainy footage, and doing so would have been counterproductive to the director's goal of ensuring that the audience saw the victims of the drone strike in question as people, rather than just statistical collateral damage.
And in any case, to the point I was making, it remains extremely accurate in depicting the process from the drone pilot's point of view, in illustrating what sort of information to which he or she will be exposed in any strike, regardless of the liberties the film takes in terms of depicting the accuracy of intelligence used by the higher-up decision makers, which is a completely separate issue.
I haven't seen the film so I will not comment as to the accuracy of the drone pilot's POV. However, since it is only one part of the process, the rest is relevant. Especially in a discussion of the ethics of using drones, which this is.
If your point was only to separate out the pilot's experience, then conditionally based on your comment's accuracy, fair enough.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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