NYTIMES on the Downside of the Drone War

The New York Times is expanding its coverage on the negative effects of the use of drones in the fight against Al Queda and the Taliban. In a March 22nd article, "The Downside of Letting Robots Do the Bombing", Mark Mazzetti writes that, "in Pakistan, some C.I.A. veterans of the tribal battles worry that instead of separating the citizenry from the militants the drone strikes may be uniting them. These experts say they fear that killing militants from the sky won’t undermine, and may promote, the psychology of anti-American militancy that is metastasizing in the country." Muslim insurgents question whether the reliance on robots to fight a war reveals a lack of bravery and a fear of losing lives on the part of the American military. A "song of protest taunts the world’s most powerful country for sending robots to do a man’s job:

America’s heartless terrorism
Killing people like insects
But honor doesn’t fear power.