>>> as you can see, imogen lloyd webber is here and she's got a little daily rant for us, although i'm not sure how little it actually is.
>> it's quite a big rant. we need to have a proper international debate and make a collective decision about the rules of engagement of armed drones right now. or we are in danger of our world looking like a james cameron"terminator" movie. armed drones are remote-controlled pilotless aerial vehicles that are able to hit targets of interest, including killing individuals. so far only the uk, israel, and america are known to have deployed them, although the u.s. leads the way by far. the first strike by an armed drone took place in pakistan in 2004 under then president george w. bush. under obama, they have become america's go-to tool of choice in both its conventional and shadow wars, being used by both the military and the cia. now, on first look, you cannot blame the obama administration for being so enamored with drones. they allow u.s. forces to attack targets without risking american lives and are relatively cheap. however, the obama administration is being incredibly shortsighted. it's not just that drones do inevitably sometimes kill the wrong targets and can thus radicalize local populations and lead to more terrorism, or that they are known to have security flaws, witnessed by the computer virus that hit a base in nevada where the u.s. military fly their drones. it's also that where drone attacks stand in law is murky at best. is it okay to assassinate people, even americans? who pulled the trigger? civilians cannot engage in war, but cia members are civilians. america has seemed to unilaterally decided that they can send drones overseas to kill its enemies in countries they have not declare ward on. unsurprisingly, the world is now involved in gna new arms race. over 14 nations are developing armed drones. what happens when everyone else starts using drones the way the u.s. has done in yemen, pakistan, somalia, and elsewhere? if america protests, the u.s. will be looking mighty hypocritical. a science fiction scenario is becoming real. experts believe that unmanned aircraft will eventually take over most tasks currently undertaken by manned systems. and that drones will one day be the size of insects and birds and that swarms may be used to overwhelm modern defense systems. the international norm that is being created by america is incredibly dangerous to america. unless america, the leader of the free world, voluntarily submits to sorting out the international law on the use of armed drones right now, it is putting the free world in jeopardy. dylan?
