News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Did Times Underplay Drone Program Leak? by InclinedPlane on Monday October 26, 2015 @08:23PM (#10455408)
Imagine for a moment that the death toll and civilian casualty toll were exactly the same as our drone program except that instead of carrying out such killings using drones we were using remote detonated car bombs. Would that affect your judgment of the morality of the campaign?
Re:Did Times Underplay Drone Program Leak? by rhino369 on Monday October 26, 2015 @08:45PM (#10455484)
No. IED's aren't terrorism unless they are directed at civilians (or used without regard to civilian casualties). For example, most IED attacks in Iraq were not terrorism because they were aimed at US troops.
Re:Did Times Underplay Drone Program Leak? by marcosdumay on Monday October 26, 2015 @09:03PM (#10455568)
Well, fist, US media does not seem to agree that "most IED attacks in Iraq were not terrorism because they were aimed at US troops".

Then, what's the difference? The fact that some people in an office at another country decided that a building has military relevance, instead of PR relevance?

Ok, some targets are clearly military. But lots of them aren't. And there's a huge amount of overlap between those "military, because we said so" targets and what most groups labeled as "terrorists" target.

Re:Did Times Underplay Drone Program Leak? by alttab on Monday October 26, 2015 @08:56PM (#10455529)
So what does that say about the people we are supposedly droning, relative to our own moral standard? Seemingly we are equals.
Re:Did Times Underplay Drone Program Leak? by aqme28 on Monday October 26, 2015 @09:21PM (#10455655)
This is begging the question.

These drone strikes seem to be used without regard for civilian casualties.

Are they state-sponsored terrorism?

Re:Did Times Underplay Drone Program Leak? by ionised on Wednesday October 28, 2015 @07:07AM (#10463734)
Yes.

They've been described that way numerous times.

Re:Did Times Underplay Drone Program Leak? by InclinedPlane on Monday October 26, 2015 @10:19PM (#10455863)
I did not ask whether it was terrorism, I asked if it changed the moral calculus. There is a lot of ground between terrorism and the justified use of force, where drone based assassination falls is still an open question.
Re:Did Times Underplay Drone Program Leak? by rhino369 on Tuesday October 27, 2015 @03:17PM (#10460396)
I said no. I don't see the difference between a missile dropped by a drone or a remote controlled roadside bomb.