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I'm not a fan of targeted assassinations, but if the US is going to do them, at least with a weapon like this they can largely avoid the injury and death of inn
by whyenot 7y ago
I'm not a fan of targeted assassinations, but if the US is going to do them, at least with a weapon like this they can largely avoid the injury and death of innocent bystanders.
- TomMckenny 7y agoI know targeted assassination is frowned on but I don't know why. Surely leaders trying to assassinate each other is better than sending teenagers to die by the thousands while the leaders stay home and benefit.
- Infinitesimus 7y agoI think ideally people wouldn't be trying to kill each other so much.
- DubiousPusher 7y agoThat would be wonderful. In the interim, let the pencil pushers and power grubbers kill one another rather than the manipulable youngins.
- londons_explore 7y agoThroughout human history, ~10% of humans have been killed by other humans. You even see the same in many ape populations. I'm not even sure we have the power to change that. Having said that, the percentage has perhaps been the lowest ever in the past century (neither world war was that deadly), so maybe we're making progress towards your goal.
- dx87 7y agoIn theory, requiring full scale war disincentivizes war, so a peaceful solution is more likely. If targeted assassinations became the norm, you'd probably end up in a scenario where the country with the most advanced assassination techniques could exert much more influence since they wouldn't have to try and justify it to their own population. The most powerful country would basically be a vengeful god; completely untouchable and capable of smiting anyone that doesn't fall in line.
- DubiousPusher 7y agoAs opposed to the amazing world where the nation with the ability to field the biggest and best conventional force is the hegemon. I'm struggling to see the ethical difference.
- Smithalicious 7y agoThis strongly reminds me of the plot of Death Note
- avs733 7y agothe assumption that we are assassinating leaders is based entirely on the claim by the US government, shown to be false many times, that they are leaders.
- clSTophEjUdRanu 7y agoEveryone should stop killing each other. Since we can't- if you aren't willing to do this, people that are will do it to you or your friends.
- behringer 7y agoGood way to justify bad actions.
- clSTophEjUdRanu 7y agoIs violence ever ok to you? Hypothetical: would you would be OK to let ISIS conquer the globe by force because killing is bad?
- behringer 7y agoWe don't need to assassinate political leaders with robots to do it. One thing we could do is maybe stop creating these terrorist organizations in the first place.
- throw5543231 7y agoIt should be important to note how some of these signature strikes are decided, > In 2014, former CIA and NSA director Michael Hayden said in a public debate, “We kill people based on metadata.” > According to multiple reports and leaks, death-by-metadata could be triggered, without even knowing the target’s name, if too many derogatory checks appear on their profile. “Armed military aged males” exhibiting suspicious behavior in the wrong place can become targets, as can someone “seen to be giving out orders.” Such mathematics-based assassinations have come to be known as “signature strikes.” https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/how-to-survive-americas-kill-list-699334/ https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/how-...
- archontes 7y agoWhy would you not be a fan of targeted assassinations? It appears to me to be the perfect way to prosecute a war while minimizing human suffering.