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A comment on China’s Giant Spy Drone Just Tailed a U.S. Navy Cruiser. Parent comment

Re:China’s Giant Spy Drone Just Tailed a U.S. Navy Cruiser by crispyambulance on Monday July 29, 2019 @02:12PM (#20557560) 

    > ...these UAVs make the world a lot safer.
Except that there are other UAV's that launch missiles and kill people in response to incomplete intelligence. Missiles or not, taking people out of the line of fire through use of robotics also lowers the threshold for non-diplomatic responses and provocations and creates a "slippery-slope" effect for involving military.

There are consequences to this. Drone warfare during the Obama administration has been cited as an accelerant for radicalization. Drones promote the impression that the US isn't willing to "put skin in the game" by sending real pilots. Some have leveraged this into a message that the US is cowardly and all that is needed is to stand up to the drones because they're not going send soldiers when the time comes. Regardless of whether that's true or not, it creates a more dangerous situation for everyone involved.

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Re:China’s Giant Spy Drone Just Tailed a U.S. Navy Cruiser by igravious on Monday July 29, 2019 @02:18PM (#20557616)
Very good points. On balance I'm not so sure now.
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Re:China’s Giant Spy Drone Just Tailed a U.S. Navy Cruiser by nyolfen on Monday July 29, 2019 @05:00PM (#20559403)
there are just as many people involved in shooting missiles from drones as from manned craft
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Re:China’s Giant Spy Drone Just Tailed a U.S. Navy Cruiser by brokenmachine on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @12:53AM (#20562215)
"Skin in the game" was clearly meant to imply people who were in the line of fire, not 9-5ers in Washington manning their xbox controllers.
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Re:China’s Giant Spy Drone Just Tailed a U.S. Navy Cruiser by crispyambulance on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @06:29AM (#20563514)
You're right about that.

Ironically, however, drone operators seem to suffer disproportionately from PTSD. Firing missiles at people while sitting in a 9-5 cubicle, and probably tasked with keeping up "KPI's", I imagine, violates any sane person's sense of morality to the core.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/13/magazine/veterans-ptsd-dr...

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Re:China’s Giant Spy Drone Just Tailed a U.S. Navy Cruiser by brokenmachine on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @09:42PM (#20571013)
Maybe they should think about finding a job that aligns with their morals better.

It's hard for me to feel that sorry for people who later feel bad after being willing participants in killing people despite what must be their own morals against it.

Having said that I don't want anyone to suffer PTSD, but it's much worse for the families on the other end of the war machine.

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Re:China’s Giant Spy Drone Just Tailed a U.S. Navy Cruiser by nyolfen on Saturday August 03, 2019 @01:39PM (#20601619)
nobody but targets are in the line of fire when americans blow up villages in waziristan or whatever
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