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International law, in fact, demands accountability. "When complete secrecy prevails, it is negated. Secrecy also provides incentives to push the margins in problematic ways....Equally discomforting is the 'PlayStation mentality' that surrounds drone killings. Young military (recruits, CIA operatives, and private civilian contractor) personnel raised on a diet of video games now kill real people remotely using joysticks."
Lawless abuses always follow secrecy without accountability, killer drones a perfect example. On July 12, 2009, Greg Grant's Infowars.com article headlined, "Drones Hardly Even Kill Bad Guys," saying:
Counterinsurgency advisor David Kilcullen "told lawmakers last week that drone strikes" successfully hit militants 2% of the time. All others are noncombatant civilians. These casualties then "become an extension of war by other means. Tactics that physically defeat elements of the enemy and lose the population lose the war," besides issues of legality.
In his book "Wired for War," Peter Singer called drone technology disturbingly "seductive" because it makes combat look "costless."
Britain's former Iraq air chief marshal said it was "virtueless war," requiring no heroics or getting one's hands dirty.
According to Law Professor Mary Dudziak, "Drones are a technological step that further isolates the American people from military action, undermining political checks on....endless war," as well as its fallout, including the human cost, and America's illegal targeted assassination program.
Ramping Up Drone Warfare
In FY 2012, the Air Force plans to double its advanced killer drone fleet, including the RQ-4 Global Hawk class, MQ-9 Reaper, and MQ-1 Predator.
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