[keepvotin]

Unfortunately, it turns out that this Predator Drone tends to be messy. Last year in Afghanistan it killed the last three remaining men in an afghani village, all of whom turned out to be non-al Qaeda.

Now this article http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/08/international/middleeast/08YEME.html
says one of the guys in that car was an American.

If there was an American in that car, al Qaeda or no, he should have gotten a fair trial. These robots are definitely the future, but they still have a few problems to work out.

From what I hear a big part of the $375 billion defense budget will go towards new drones that are designed as military drones, as opposed to the Predator which was originally just for spying.

That should be an improvement.

[Dialup Llama]

>If there was an American in that car, al Qaeda or no, he should have gotten a fair trial.

Of course not. There were Americans in the Japanese and German armies in WWII. Should we have stopped attacking and sent in US Marshalls, and arrested them to ensure a fair trial? He was an enemy soldier and subject to attack without notice.

[ccmay]

If there was an American in that car, al Qaeda or no, he should have gotten a fair trial.

Fourteen months ago I would have agreed with you. And I would certainly not want to see this device used within our borders. But in this case? Great shoot!

-ccm

[ccmay]

Last year in Afghanistan it killed the last three remaining men in an afghani village, all of whom turned out to be non-al Qaeda.

Regrettable, but a trivial footnote in the history of civilian collateral damage during times of war.

-ccm

[demosthenes the elder]

whatever happened to the extended-range high-bypass jet propelled stealth drone called the "DarkStar"?
That thing looked terrifying... when it was visible at all.

[fooman]

Your kidding, right? Look at your passport. If join a forein military as an enemy combatant, you are NOT a citizen.

YOU ARE TOAST!

[Valin]

From what I hear a big part of the $375 billion defense budget will go towards new drones that are designed as military drones, as opposed to the Predator which was originally just for spying.

Three words
Recon
Recon
Recon.
A very good argument could be made that this is the most important part of any military operation. If you don't know where the bad guys are, you can't kill them.

[Tijeras_Slim]

If there was an American in that car, al Qaeda or no, he should have gotten a fair trial.

He did, was tried in absentia for a plot to blow up the Amman, Jordan Ramada Hotel during the millenium. The evidence was overwhelming. We just delivered the sentance.

[Guillermo]

Yeah, maybe this traitor would have turned himself in, if we asked nicely.

Putz.

[Mad Dawgg]

"From what I hear a big part of the $375 billion defense budget will go towards new drones that are designed as military drones, as opposed to the Predator which was originally just for spying."

I have a friend in the military who does sat/photo/recon (He looks at pictures and does analysis.)

He did a stint with the Predator (got to sit next to the guy controling the drone and look at stuff realtime) and told me it is scary what you can do with it.

He told me that the bit about the technology in Clancy's Bear and the Dragon was just the exposed surface of the Iceberg.

[Hugin]

If there was an American in that car, al Qaeda or no, he should have gotten a fair trial.

Absurd. If he was with Al Qaeda then he was an enemy combatant, and he died in combat.

[Taliesan]

If there was an American in that car, al Qaeda or no, he should have gotten a fair trial.

The car was a legitimate military target. Unlike the secretaries and janitors in the World Trade Center, who were the primary targets of hijacked airliners.

That makes us morally superior, and him "collateral damage". War is hell.