What Happens In Vegas Happens In Afghanistan

theodp writes "After the morning commute from his Las Vegas apartment, Air Force captain Sam Nelson sits in a padded chair inside a low, tan building in Nevada, controlling a heavily armed drone aircraft soaring over Afghanistan, prepared to kill another human being 7,500 miles away if necessary. Welcome to the surreal world of drone pilots, who have a front-row seat on war from half a world away. 'On the drive out here, you get yourself ready to enter the compartment of your life that is flying combat,' explained retired Col. Chris Chambliss. 'And on the drive home, you get ready for that part of your life that's going to be the soccer game.' No wonder why the Air Force is interested in the Xbox LIVE crowd and the Army's opened a new arcade recruitment center!"

Comments

Re:Fly-by-wireless-link for the win!

[BhaKi]

but I really don't like this idea that they are somehow as bad as the Taliban in their regard for human life.

Actually, the US government's worse. The Taliban are just fighting the troops that invaded their country. The US government, OTOH, are a corporatocracy whose foreign policy is dictated entirely by the interests of powerful corporations, especially the oil companies and the arms manufacturers. War is a profitable business for arms manufacturers, which is why new ruses for war are constantly being invented. Have a look at this - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arms_industry#World.27s_largest_arms_exporters

Re:MURDER BY REMOTE CONTROL

[CAIMLAS]

You're forgetting (or never knew) the many times that Westerners have been slaughtered by Muslim extremists in the last century. Hint: it didn't start with 9/11 and has been going on for a very, very long time (with Islamic adherents as the antagonists).

The US has been fighting Muslim barbarians since shortly after its founding. Hell, the very first action by the USMC was against Muslim pirate-lords who were doing much the same thing as current Muslim extremists are doing today. (Look up the Barbary Wars, in the event you haven't heard of them. I doubt you'll find reference to American Imperialism like you're surely hoping for, as there wasn't any. I should note: if we were to handle things now the way we did then, there would be no further issues with these cultural primitives.)

The bulk of Islam may be peaceful, but the people in their lands who control the power are not, and never have been. They have been a nuisance for the West for at least 200 years. It is only recently, since Western technologies such as air planes, telecommunications, modern weaponry, and cheap commercial transit have made it possible for them to strike us at home, have they become a threat.

If you want to blame someone for it, British Imperialism would be the most logical target. After that, Mohammed himself or the very nature of Arab tribal culture and politics which has become so infused with Islam as to be inseparable.