“The Forty-Year Drone War”

An MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle from the 42nd Attack Squadron taxis into Creech Air Force Base. The Air National Guard unit at Hancock Field will be switching from F-16s to Reapers starting in 2010. Courtesy of the Defense Department

The March Of Technology Brings “The Forty-Year Drone War” -- Fabius Maximus

n Technology of War Martin van Creveld, the greatest historian of our time, describes how new technology affects both the nature of war — and the societies that use them. Today we have taken a large step into the future by deploying unmanned aerial vehicles as flying assassins. We can make only two guesses as to the consequences.

• There will be unexpected consequences.
• Our opponents will respond, probably themselves using this technology.

This is an extension of our bombing in Iraq. Not having been bombed, like so many other nations, we are insensitive to feelings death from the sky invokes in so many other people. Or, judging from the news blackout of our Iraq bombing, we just prefer not to know. For more about this see the articles at the end of this post.

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My Comment: Another excellent post from FM. The comments at the end of FM's post are also a must read.