News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by fossuser on Sunday March 14, 2021 @02:18PM (#26457431)
Reminds me in a weird way of this episode: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708414/

A culture has computer simulated war and “casualties” must report to euthanasia chambers.

This was the end result agreed to to stop actual bombings.

Of course, the officers disrupt it in the end. But it’d be interesting if they returned and nothing was left but craters.

More on topic, iron dome is an automated missile interception system and works well to protect Israelis from missile attacks. Just because a system is automated doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad idea, but obviously there’s high risk.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Dome

Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by phkahler on Sunday March 14, 2021 @06:34PM (#26460121)
Reminded me directly of that episode. First drones kill people. Then drones kill drones. Then they destroy things. Then it goes completely virtual to save real-world costs.
Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by kumarvvr on Sunday March 14, 2021 @11:06PM (#26462198)
I think it will lead to the shift from military power to ideological power. Weaken and fight nations by interfering in their politics and leadership.
Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by shostack on Monday March 15, 2021 @10:22PM (#26472136)
Will lead or has led?
[dead]
Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by dang on Tuesday March 16, 2021 @03:46PM (#26481897)
Flamebait like this is totally unacceptable on HN, regardless of how you feel about the underlying topic. We ban accounts that damage the site this way. No more of this please.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by siculars on Sunday March 14, 2021 @05:13PM (#26459259)
I've been here a long time. This may actually win the award for most ridiculous comment ever written on HN. To argue that a main should willingly sacrifice their people for... what exactly? Why do you think these systems were built? To keep their people from "actually dying." Another route could be to indiscriminately return 10x fire for every indiscriminately fired inbound rocket. Would that be an appropriate response? I mean, it could "push for a peaceful resolution faster."
Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by dang on Tuesday March 16, 2021 @03:44PM (#26481866)
> This may actually win the award for most ridiculous comment ever written on HN.

In that case you broke the site guidelines by replying, and so perpetuating the flamewar, leading to hellish places like https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26460291. Please note:

"Don't feed egregious comments by replying; flag them instead."

That's our version of "Please don't feed the trolls". The GP comment was egregious and deservedly flagged. Discussion can and should stop there. It's the reasonable and/or semi-reasonable replies to egregious comments that actually turn these threads into conflagrations.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by BobbyJo on Sunday March 14, 2021 @06:04PM (#26459793)
It wasn't an argument that one side should allow people to die, it was an argument that high mutual cost deters conflict and encourages diplomatic engagement. Which is true, see: nukes.
Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by bsaul on Sunday March 14, 2021 @06:40PM (#26460184)
It always amazes me how some people are unable to accept the fact that there are extremists ideologies in this world. The fact that you think that it’s possible to solve a conflict with diplomatic talks, no matter if the ideology in front of you is capable of sacrificing its own children in suicide bombings to kill other civilians ( which not even the nazis or the japanese kamikaze did), in a pure act of hate, should let you think twice about the best tactic.

Sometimes, it is really impossible to talk some sense to some people. It’s just very hard to accept for us, but it just is, and history has proved that sometimes force is , unfortunately, the wisest choice.

Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by vimacs2 on Monday March 15, 2021 @07:19AM (#26464566)
It's easy to dismantle this argument by realising that you're making a fake comparison. Nobody (not even ISIS) is going to be stupid enough to give access to nukes to the kinds of people that they value little enough to send on suicide bomb attacks. This was also true for the Axis forces. Nobody was entrusting low level SS and Kamikaze grunts with nuclear codes and the same would be true for even a "rogue" state like North Korea or Iran.

You also clearly don't understand what path would lead someone to resort to suicide bombing if you think you can reduce it to "a pure act of hate". These are desperate people who have been brainwashed to the point that they think they would bring more net worth to the world by blowing themselves and their surroundings up than living on. What would help "talk sense" to people is to stop engaging in illegal invasive wars that (intentionally or unintentionally) destabilise their region.

Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by BobbyJo on Sunday March 14, 2021 @09:14PM (#26461475)
That's a bit of an unrelated tangent no? I don't think anyone in this thread was suggesting that force is never warranted.
Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by mantap on Sunday March 14, 2021 @10:09PM (#26461858)
I'm sure that if the Palestinians were granted either citizenship in a Palestinian state or equal citizenship in Israel, there would be many fewer ideologues in the region.
Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by Papirola on Monday March 15, 2021 @01:53AM (#26462985)
that shows how little you know of and understand the problem.
Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by bigfudge on Monday March 15, 2021 @05:10AM (#26463885)
Let's be clear Israel itself was born from "extreme views" implemented by violence. There are no examples of this kind of civil conflict that have been solved by simply overwhelming the other side. Dialogue needs to happen, and reining in extremists (settlers, Hamas) on both sides would be a good start.
Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by mantap on Monday March 15, 2021 @06:50AM (#26464413)
That is just an ad hominem. If you have an argument, state it.
Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by wilsonfiifi on Sunday March 14, 2021 @11:52PM (#26462461)
If you have accepted this narrative then surely you can understand that there are also extremist ideologues who believe the other side cannot be reasoned with and war is the only solution. The pendulum swings both ways but eventually rests in the middle. Whether that middle ground is peace or a detente history will tell.
Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by birksherty on Monday March 15, 2021 @07:31AM (#26464663)
You also don't understand that one side may poor, can't fight with a rich nation. So they are forced to go that way.

Enemy may call you terrorist, but if it is your country you are freedom fighter.

Not continue to take other people's land and not making their live worse in cunning way is also wise.

Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by bsaul on Tuesday March 16, 2021 @06:54PM (#26484285)
Nope... being poor never justified suiciding your own children. For that you need an ideology that’s strong enough to brainwash the most basic natural instincts of the parent.
Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by birksherty on Wednesday March 17, 2021 @12:24PM (#26493339)
How many does that, that you your argument about the whole section of people have to be based upon that?
[dead]
Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by sgregnt on Sunday March 14, 2021 @10:50PM (#26462111)
Because the extremists sort-of hold the civil population as their hostages.
Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by hpcjoe on Sunday March 14, 2021 @06:27PM (#26460041)
Deterrence presumes rational actors. One side in this conflict is rational. The other side, decidedly irrational, acting not in their best interests, harming themselves and many others specifically to attack the rational actor.

Aside from that, the real issue is that the irrational side has not yet conceded that they lost their war, 70+ years ago, against the rational actor, who had established a state. They instigated that war, as they did not wish the rational actor to have that state. They are aided in their irrationality by various NGOs, and have managed to perpetuate and sustain their presumed victimhood, by attacking, with literal impunity, the rational actor.

Now, here, you are suggesting that maybe, the rational actor should be restricted in their response to the irrational actor as it may bring the rational actor to the negotiating table. Which of course, completely neglects all the times the rational actor sat at the negotiating table with the irrational actor, hammered things most of the way out, and watched the irrational actor breach every single agreement.

So ...

What we have here has nothing to do with rational actor deciding enough is enough, and developing tech to reasonably neutralize the threat the irrational actor poses. Arguing against this de minimus effort, as it might bring the rational actor back to the table (in your mind) if they had to rely on sticks and stones ... is pretty much the definition of ludicrous.

The rational actor has tried, for 70+ years, to get the irrational actor to work with it. And has been met with bloodshed, the irrational actor targeting civilians, which, is a real war crime, as compared to the BS alleged by the irrational actor, in their attempt to get the world to ostracize the rational actor.

Exactly how, would this time be different? What would the irrational actor offer to jump start discussions? Because it is obvious from the last 70+ years that the underlying thesis of "land for peace" has not worked.

A different approach was, and is needed. As much as I hate giving Trump credit, what he did was to change the parameters, which allowed other nations to get off the ledge with the irrational actor. This is, in turn, putting pressure on the irrational actor to begin acting rationally. Those actions need to continue.

This all said, implying you wish to disarm a people who have armed themselves specifically to prevent mass slaughter at the hands of a losing side irrational non-nation state actor ... yeah ... not really a sound argument in any context.

Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by BobbyJo on Sunday March 14, 2021 @09:46PM (#26461708)
I wasn't suggesting anything other than what I said. When the cost of conflict is high, people are less likely to want it. I personally don't have any strong opinions on the conflict in Palestine, especially not anything prescriptive.

The one response I'll give your perspective is: I think a better way of framing it is organized vs fragmented as opposed to rational vs irrational. Israel has a stable, empowered, central authority, while Palestine does not. To call the latter simply 'irrational' ignores the fact that it isn't a single entity, and may be composed of many rational actors with differing incentives. Even a single person can act rationally at all points in time and still appear irrational over some window. The more chaotic an environment, the less rational it's constituents will appear over a given window of time or geography.

Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by dfadsadsf on Monday March 15, 2021 @02:25AM (#26463089)
I understand your point of view but I am not sure current state is sustainable and that Israel is rational actor long term.

Israel depends on several things to be true and any one or two of them being false probably means end of state

1. Israel has much stronger economy than neighboring states. Hi tech army is expensive 2. Strong internal cohesion with no widespread protests/division or civil war. 3. Modern weapons systems are exclusively available to Israel 4. Strong US support with both money and political cover 5. Arabs not becoming majority in Israel thru demographics 6. Arab states continue to be in shitty state

Specifically

3 may not be true for long with China investing in military capabilities 4 is not assured with woke anti-colonialism ideology and AOC/Tlaib/Ilhan increasing influence on Dem party.

All Palestinians need to do is not to give up. Israel need to win every single time as there is no recovery from loss.

There is argument that strategically Israel is at the strongest moment and it can get most concessions from Palestinians now. In future it may end up in much worse bargaining position.

Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by mcguire on Sunday March 14, 2021 @06:50PM (#26460280)
This came up way back in the 1980s with the "Star Wars" project. What is the purpose of an anti-ballistic missile defense system? Is it intended to protect our citizens from enemy aggression, or to protect our citizens from the results of our aggression?

Why would the Israeli government want to do anything to resolve the Palestinian situation when they gain so much from allowing it to continue at a low level?

Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by fossuser on Sunday March 14, 2021 @03:29PM (#26458124)
On the subject of ethics - proportionate response, narrow targeting, and trying not to kill civilians are good things.

This topic is too political to have a nuanced internet discussion and quickly dissolved into weird anti-semitism most of the time.

https://samharris.org/podcasts/why-dont-i-criticize-israel/

Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by tomjen3 on Sunday March 14, 2021 @04:09PM (#26458542)
>proportionate response, narrow targeting, and trying not to kill civilians are good things.

How is it better to only respond with proportionate responses? If you were known as generally a good country, but could go mad at the drop of a hat, other countries would take even more steps to avoid harming you, wouldn't they?

At the same time, if you were known of flattening neighborhods or even entire cities, your enemies wouldn't be able to hide among civilians.

In either case you trade of more deaths now, for fewer dead in the future.

Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by hpcjoe on Sunday March 14, 2021 @06:38PM (#26460161)
Unfortunately, 70+ years ago, one side was prevented from winning their war of independence. Then 50ish years ago, when they were attacked, same thing. Then 40ish years ago.

As horrible as it sounds, either the losing side needs to accept reality and concede (disbanding UNRWA would be a giant step in the right direction to force that issue), or the war should resume, and the gloves and restraints need to come off, until one or the other side sues for peace.

This is the only way to end this conflict. Otherwise it is going to simmer forever. Without the cost for continuing the conflict being made very high, it will continue. The cost for Israel to protect its citizens is very high. The cost for launching attacks against Israelis needs to be disproportionately high for a change in political approach to be considered.

Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by JumpCrisscross on Sunday March 14, 2021 @04:30PM (#26458812)
Mistakes happen. Escalating a misfire at the border into a levelled capital city block pretty much guarantees the aggressor won’t survive long.
Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by gpderetta on Sunday March 14, 2021 @04:44PM (#26458963)
Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by philwelch on Sunday March 14, 2021 @02:46PM (#26457705)
A faster resolution, yes, but not a peaceful one.
Re:Israel's autonomous 'robo-snipers' and suicide drones rai... by Papirola on Monday March 15, 2021 @01:51AM (#26462976)
What you just wrote is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response, were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this thread is now dumber for having read it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.