The Rise of Drones

摘要

Thanks for the cover story on drones ["Drone Home," Feb. ii]. We have tolerated ii years of war primarily because so few of us have been obliged to make any kind of sacrifice. Never has a country ostensibly at war been so isolated from the sounds of battle and sight of devastation. The use of drones as weaponry augments this separation. Euphemisms like surgical strike and collateral damage practically sterilize the battlefield, and invasive military action becomes a video game, an inducement to expand our global influence. We might do well to realize that we will not long be the sole proprietors of this technology.