Combat drones are much in the news these days. Such weapons constitute the major current focus of effort against organized jihadi terrorism, with nearly weekly strikes carried out in the unassimilated areas of northern Pakistan and the Taliban-occupied districts of Afghanistan, along with less frequent strikes elsewhere.
Drones have compiled an impressive record, taking out a number of high-ranking al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders, many of whom likely believed that they were perfectly safe until that persistent whining sound started getting louder. The MQ-1 Predator has achieved the status of legend, with the MQ-9 Reaper not far behind. New models, such as the so-called Beast of Kandahar, evidently a high-speed stealth model, are beginning to enter combat.
The armed drone is peculiarly suited to the purposes of the Obama administration. Liberals like military gimmicks (does anyone recall the McNamara Line?), particularly if they allow for a standoff form of fighting that can be presented as the lowest level of involvement. In this sense, the combat drone campaign is the millennial version of Rolling Thunder, the limited air campaign against North Vietnam during the mid-’60s. Though considerably more successful, the drone strikes (notice there’s no catchy name that can provide a hanger for criticism) fill the same purpose of acting as a replacement for more decisive action.
[More]
I don’t like “brain surgeons” putting this kind of stuff on the net but here you have it and so BECAUSE it is already in the public domain I show it.
Not happy but you work with what you have.
The next ‘enemies of the state’, hobby store owners. LOL