Dear Yabby,

No, if the world was serious about stopping terrorism it would be invading Saudi Arabia from whence the Wahhabist poison gushes, the money to fund the propagation of that poison in far more moderate Islamic counties who make up the vast bulk of the Muslims of this world, and from where the vast majority of the 9/11 attackers came.

If you feel some great justification for beating the hell out of some terribly blighted country that has been the play pen for the machinations of the most powerful nations on earth in recent history then don't ask me to share it. Each one of those 7,000 Taliban fighters that we helped 'eliminate' last year had families, mothers, fathers, brother, sisters and often wives and children. The vast majority were Afghan citizens who are opposing the corruption and despotism of the warlords and the invading foreign forces.

Zawahiri and Bin Laden are now supposedly hiding in Pakistan. Perhaps this is where efforts should be concentrated or should we just invade it?

What will probably happen instead is another 7,000 Afghani dead this year, mostly from unmanned aircraft flown by people 12,000 miles away.

Deary me csteele, do you even know what life was like in Afghanistan
when the Taliban ruled? Frankly, they made the Wahabis look like
schoolgirls, although of course there were no schoolgirls, as
education, sport, and employment for women was banned. So was tv,
music, hanging pictures in your home, dancing and a host other things.
Men who dared shave, were beaten.

Now you think I should feel sorry for people who want to impose
this kind of draconian lifestyle on others? Perhaps the people
of Afghanistan should be allowed to vote on this one, rather then
have it forced down their throats by a gun, be it from a warlord
of from the Taliban.

The Qutb school of Islam is far more draconian and violent then any
other. Its also the one that was followed by Mullah Omar, along with
Al Queda. Afghanistan was to be the first "perfect" Islamic State,
according to bin Laden.

*Zawahiri and Bin Laden are now supposedly hiding in Pakistan.*

Exactly. They are hiding in the mountain areas between Afghanistan
and Pakistan, making use of both countries. So the drones are
a perfect way of dealing with them.

Meantime its time that the people of Afghanistan decide who they
support and they should have the chance to do that. That is why
we are there.

You're quite right csteele- which is why I actually have a hard time picturing a heroic attack.

Say, a dangerous attempt by brave soldiers to head into a dangerous area to take or sabotage a military installation would qualify- although it does so because the soldiers are putting their lives in danger, and the enemy soldiers got singled out to take the damage from the attack.
Although commendable and VERY heroic for both sides (one braving danger to attack a military outpost and the military outpost for putting up a defense) it is still too horrible to actually label with a nice tag, and I for one would never demand any service personel do such a thing for my approval.

But you're right about the purpose of being in a war if there is a need for drones- food for thought to say the least.

Csteele,

When the term "cowardly attack" is used, it is generally directed at those that deliberately attack soft or civilian targets such as markets, schools etc, where the purpose is to cause terror through the massive loss of civilian life.

The purpose of the drones is to attack military targets. As the taliban hid within the civilian population, the lengths they go to not to kill civilians is often not enough.

The purpose of war is not to get your own troops killed.

The drones have effectively destroyed the Taliban's ability to fight anything but a small guerilla conflict, which has significantly reduced the casualities on the allied side.

It certainly gives pause for thought.

One question to ponder is whether the information sent back via drones is more accurate or useful than the old fashioned scouting mission using a human on the ground assessing a situation; as opposed to a group sitting back at HQ using only footage in their decision making process.

Would this process dehumanise those decision makers or would it acutally reduce the risk of collateral damage. I guess it might be similar to making decisions based on satellite information. It is not something I know much about.

The British weren't very ethical about using foot soldiers as cannon fodder at Fromelle or at Gallipoli with many more casualities.

It will always come back to the ethical make-up of those in command and this will vary regardless of technologies.

I feel on such an important issue we need to be cognisant of what we are discussing even if it might be harrowing for some.

However it appears in doing a little research we may well add to the new phenomena of “Drone Porn”. This clip addresses the issue of the huge popularity of the drone footage on youtube. It asks why the US military is so keen to release this footage and is it turning war into entertainment?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdbV5J20mpw

An example is this footage. Simple with no sound and titled 'UAV Kills 6 Heavily Armed Criminals', note the word criminals not insurgents, and has received over 1,300,000 hits.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNNJJrcIa7A&feature=related

The viability of using drones as an effective weapon really relies on the enemy as being very weak militarily. It is difficult to envisage their use against Russia, China or even far smaller nations who would have the capacity to shoot them down either from the air or for the ground with Stingers or their equivalent.

It does add to the notion that they are a cowards weapon, used by a bully on a victim who is defenceless against them. If I were a Taliban fighter that would be my take.

This is a report on Al Jazzerra about a miss directed strike by an Israeli drone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K43kRH5Q6wc&feature=related

These are just difficult to watch even though they are from a distance and in night vision.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7dg74jfxl8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLxAnNmxYa0&feature=related

The last is a long clip and not from a drone but rather a gunship. It shows 8 to 10 missiles being used to kill one individual and probably the one that distressed me the most. Note the orders to protect the Mosque. Very sickening.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-gMMQTt5-c&feature=related

If there are any of our troops assisting this sort of 'Turkey Shoot' then they are not doing it in my name.