I've always thought that they should have balloons tethered at 18,000 feet above Bagdhad with cameras looking at where these insurgents plant IEDs, where insurgents go to after they fire mortars, etc. They could monitor traffic 24 hours and find out who what where, but who am I.
Maybe they do...:)
I believe you are onto something, and I do believe that the military knows that as well. I am willing to bet you solid money that the US government is feverishly trying to develop lower-cost unmanned survellance vehicles that can loiter for 24-48 hours on station without human intervention, unseen at high in the stratosphere.
I also believe they are trying to develop small, bug-sized surveillance devices that can be flown short distances, are innocuous and will be able to transmit images.
I recently saw a real device, the size of a baseball, that looks like a rock. It can be thrown into an area. It rights itself and begins transmitting imagery with movable cameras.