Posted on 01/01/2014 2:29:20 PM PST by Foundahardheadedwoman
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I worked on the US drone program. The public should know what really goes on Few of the politicians who so brazenly proclaim the benefits of drones have a real clue how it actually works (and doesn't)
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Anonymous woman on grey Heather Linebaugh theguardian.com, Sunday 29 December 2013 07.30 EST Jump to comments (2811)
Hermes 450 drone An Elbit Systems Hermes 450 drone. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
Whenever I read comments by politicians defending the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Predator and Reaper program – aka drones – I wish I could ask them a few questions. I'd start with: "How many women and children have you seen incinerated by a Hellfire missile?" And: "How many men have you seen crawl across a field, trying to make it to the nearest compound for help while bleeding out from severed legs?" Or even more pointedly: "How many soldiers have you seen die on the side of a road in Afghanistan because our ever-so-accurate UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] were unable to detect an IED [improvised explosive device] that awaited their convoy?"
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Those mad skillz apply to 0care too.
I’m sorry what I said came over all wrong. Tweak my conscience all you want, if you have a loved one in harms way. As I do (He’s in a sub somewhere, I’ve heard). It’s fair to do so. Meanwhile, Obastard is free from any tweaking as his goes merrily on his way, killing whomever. It’s a time-honored tradition for Presidents, especially Democrats.
Go preen on him, K? Meanwhile, war goes on being an ugly thing, so that perhaps we may do less of it. Call me wrong, I don’t care.
Dittos. We’re square on the deal. I lied about the check. I’m already coloring you surprised.
Great cartoon, IM.
They're already in Russian, Chinese, Iranian and Israeli arsenals. The Chinese are using surveillance drones in the disputed air space in the South China Sea and are close to fielding armed drones similar to ours (if not direct copies.)
According to Bill Gertz (Washington Times military guru) the Chinese are about to produce drones armed with very powerful miniaturized weaponry. Meanwhile IIRC, Israel is selling drones to a number of countries. The genie is out of the bottle and it's inevitable we're going to be hit.
LOL.
Too easy? Are you nuts? Using that same logic, I guess cruise missiles, rockets, artillery, etc. make waging war too easy.
The idea is to kill the enemy and protect your own people. Drones are just instruments or vehicles to destroy the enemy. So far, they give us a technological advantage over the terrorists.
“The reality is that it is probably just a matter of time before drones wind up being used against us - on US soil.”
Really? Are you sure? You target my family with drones and you’ll get the 3rdMAW (3rd Marine Aircraft Wing) shoved up your hinny. It won’t feel good.
Peace & love, dude.
Git some! Git some! Git some, yeah, yeah, yeah! Anyone who runs, is a VC. Anyone who stands still, is a well-disciplined VC!
Look, doing this in a war zone where people are shooting at our soldiers is one thing, but the Boy King is unleashing this in places where people have no expectation of death from the sky. “Sneak Attack.”
Girls aren't gamers
well He’s real tardy, so where’s the beef
Just like Somali pirates.
And Janjaweed, them too.
You seem to think we can wage war with a scalpel and we should do so even at the risk of injury to our own personnel.
Over the top? Would you have supported the fire bombings of Dresden, Hamburg, Tokyo, etc. or dropping the atomic bomb twice on Japanese cities? Every war has collateral damage and when you are fighting a guerrilla war with the populace proving aid and assistance to the enemy, you go after "suspicious" people. By doing so, you protect your own people and deter others from helping the enemy.
I am more concerned that more of our people will be lost by ROE that limit the application of force. We are putting our own people at risk for fear of causing collateral damage. I suspect that we didn't use drones or fighter jets against those surrounding our mission in Benghazi because of the fear of collateral damage and hurting our bilateral relations with Libya.
We need to go back to the awesome days of trench warfare. /s
You are right, to win a combatant must be more resolute than the enemy.
Afghanistan is a war zone as are those countries that harbor terrorists. We should strike at AQ in Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia, and wherever the vermin have taken refuge. Specifically, what places are you referring to where people "have no expectation of death from the sky?"
AQ is a non-state actor. They are in many countries around the globe. There should be no safe place or refuge.
I agree. Anything that can consistently saves our kids lives while killing the enemy I’m for, easy or hard.
We ARE in a war. Innocent people always get harmed, or killed, in warfare.
Remember 911 !!!! Lots and lots of innocents killed that day!
If innocents are in fact being killed, I’m sorry for that, but I think of watching those two buildings collapsing and in that process grinding thousands of innocent Americans to shreds, and I just think TOUGH, you bastards are getting what you richly deserve!
Or back to the days of the British square. It was those terrible revolutionaries who didn’t fight according to the rules of war.
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