> They can't be made prisoners of war and tortured, and they can't really be hostages, either captured or because of proximity to the combat theater. That soun

> They can't be made prisoners of war and tortured, and they can't really be hostages, either captured or because of proximity to the combat theater. That sounds like a feature, but it has a very important downside. One of the biggest reasons that politicians hesitate to send in the troops is for the very reason you mention. Killing from afar with no accountability or political downside is a recipe for permanent warfare. In fact, there is a significant upside to them from the defense contractors. You could argue (and many have) that we have already seen the start of this with the US drone program.