Drone Warfare gives me the blues

George Monbiot on drone warfare. John Robb has more on this topic. While the moral implications are surely scary, and the emergence of semi-autonomous drones is horrifying, it's not only the non-accountability but also the cheapness of the system that gives me pause. A drone as smart as a rat, able to make its own decisions whether to kill a target is bad enough. Lower the cost of a strike at about 1000 dollars, and that should put Seal Team Six out of business. Link this concept with total surveillance - now that is truly depressing.

One could counter that the low cost democratizes the system, but what will you do with your one little drone when the competition puts a few thousand of them into the sky? It's like voting with your wallet: You might just not be rich enough to win a war of attrition. And while everyone was hoping for a nice robocaust, it's just another wizard-level police state.