Drones piloting drones

        A few years back I lived on a submarine that was able to be outfitted with enough nuclear ordinance to qualify the submarine as fourth largest nuclear power in the world, just between France and China. So I have spent a lot of time pondering over the ethical aspects of indirectly killing people. At the same time I have been 'lucky' enough to also be forward deployed and have to face the risk of close range combat. This is why the question, "Do you think robotics changes the ethical nature of war? Why or why not?" hit kind of close to home.

        A couple of months ago I met a pair of UAV pilots on a training mission and their attitudes towards operating drones and going hot seemed eerily similar to the ones of my friends who would work targeting on the missile systems. I wouldn't say that there is a disconnect from the chance of killing people, but there is a distance. I think the best way I've seen this distance illustrated is in this game. 

        So what causes this distance, and is it allowable? There's a quote from the movie Jarhead that helps explain this, "We can shoot 1,000 yards. To go that far in Vietnam, that would take a week. In World War I, a year. Here, it's gonna take about 10 seconds." Technology has sped up battle, progressing from cavalry and the like to trench-fighting to the UAVs and cruise missiles of today. This advance of technology in warfare has made it necessary to remove some of the fighters from the front lines, and remove their targets from their line of sight.

        My brother spends a lot of time playing video games, killing millions upon millions of digital 'bad guys' and doesn't bat an eyelid over it. On the other side of the coin a very good friend of mine has killed three 'bad guys' in close range combat while in Afghanistan a few years ago and tells me he still has dreams about it occasionally and has weekly appointments with a therapist. This, in my mind, shows two extremes in relation to the distance from combat that people can have. And while I would hardly compare those piloting UAVs and the like to kids playing video games, I don't look at them in the same light as I do marines on the ground.

        Now I also won't make the argument that we should go back to war without UAVs. They serve a purpose, they allow combat missions to be completed with no chance of death for the operating force and still allow for a controllable amount of collateral damage. They also significantly change the mentality of those waging the war when their actual life is not on the line.