Good post. We have to give credit where credit is due -- the U.S. is far ahead of the Russians in terms of technology, but when it comes to doing "ordinary" tasks in space the Russians have been doing it for so long that they're much better at it than we are. This is precisely why the ISS is a joint U.S.-Russian effort -- The U.S. does what it does best, and the Russians do what they do best.
The real advantage of unmanned flight is that you don't have to factor human safety into major decisions.