Sunday, January 25, 2009

P.W. Singer (Wired for War) on Fresh Air

Listen to P.W. Singer on Fresh Air discuss the increasing role of robots and robotics in the U.S. military. Among many fascinating findings, Singer relates that the drone pilots "fighting" "in" Iraq--and yet located in such places at Las Vegas Nevada--have higher rates of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) than other soldiers "in country." Singer confronts us with the increasingly complex ethical issues of employing predator drones and robotic technology to conduct war for us, and imagines a time when robotic technology may not only change the military, but change war itself. Listen in particular to Mark Garlasco's testimony to what changed him from a warrior to a Human Rights Watch activist, around minute seven.

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