In December 1998, in Kandahar, the CIA
received actionable information regarding the location of Osama bin
Laden. The source was only somewhat reliable, however, and the strike,
by cruise missiles, could result in the death of as many as 300
bystanders. The Pentagon and the CIA chief at the time, George Tenet,
decided to hold fire. The 9-11 Commission reported that, “After this
episode Pentagon planners intensified efforts to find a more precise
alternative.”
The result: the weapons-bearing unmanned aerial vehicle, or drone.
Today, drones are utilized by law enforcement to monitor borders and by environmentalists to track Japanese whaling boats. Meteorologists want to use them to penetrate into the eye of storms. Paparazzi
are trying to develop them to spy on celebrities. They can be
controlled by iphone. They can be bought over Amazon. They can weigh as
little as four ounces. Yet the military ones that buzz over the skies of
Syria, Pakistan, Yemen, Gaza and Israel are the bulk of the world’s
unmanned aerial vehicles and they are changing the face of war.
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