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Isn't that the moral equivalent of someone holding a hostage in front of them as a shield? If the only reason to send in human pilots is because the enemy is le

Isn't that the moral equivalent of someone holding a hostage in front of them as a shield? If the only reason to send in human pilots is because the enemy is less likely to shoot them (or because it justifies greater retaliatory response), that seems like it's turning the pilot into little more than a sacrificial lamb. Moreso if the retaliatory response means sending in the drones.

curiousllama 6y ago
This is a common tactic, actually. The idea is that you create a credible threat by putting yourself in a situation that, if your adversary challenges you, you have no choice but to respond. Burn the bridge behind you, as it were. The famous example is the US’ 10k troops in Berlin during the Cold War. If the USSR attacked, those troops were toast - and everyone knew it. But it meant that if the USSR took Berlin, it would be at the price of 10k American soldiers, and would inevitably lead to war. Even if that was the US’ calculation anyway, the Soviets wouldn’t know that for certain without the troops there.
ertian 6y ago
Reminds me of the old idea of putting US nuke launch codes inside a person who would be part of the president's entourage, so that if the president wanted to launch a nuclear attack he would have to start by literally murdering and cutting open a person he was close to. It was explicitly intended as a disincentive. When the guy who proposed the idea, Roger Fisher, was asked who the hell would ever volunteer to be the nuclear pinata, he volunteered to do it himself. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Fisher_(academic)#Preventing_nuclear_war https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Fisher_(academic)#Preven...
- grayfaced 6y ago
  I love it and I'm sure there would be plenty of willing people. What I think is misguided is the assumption that the president would do the deed personally. "SGT Thompson, bring me the codes, I'll be in the next room" Still chilling, but not personally traumatic.
- Johnny555 6y ago
  I'd never heard of that before and it's a genius idea -- too easy to dissociate yourself from a million deaths on the other side of the planet, but if the first step is killing a single person with your own hands, that puts it all in perspective.

curiousllama 6y ago

This is a common tactic, actually. The idea is that you create a credible threat by putting yourself in a situation that, if your adversary challenges you, you have no choice but to respond. Burn the bridge behind you, as it were. The famous example is the US’ 10k troops in Berlin during the Cold War. If the USSR attacked, those troops were toast - and everyone knew it. But it meant that if the USSR took Berlin, it would be at the price of 10k American soldiers, and would inevitably lead to war. Even if that was the US’ calculation anyway, the Soviets wouldn’t know that for certain without the troops there.

ertian 6y ago

Reminds me of the old idea of putting US nuke launch codes inside a person who would be part of the president's entourage, so that if the president wanted to launch a nuclear attack he would have to start by literally murdering and cutting open a person he was close to. It was explicitly intended as a disincentive. When the guy who proposed the idea, Roger Fisher, was asked who the hell would ever volunteer to be the nuclear pinata, he volunteered to do it himself. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Fisher_(academic)#Preventing_nuclear_war https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Fisher_(academic)#Preven...

grayfaced 6y ago
I love it and I'm sure there would be plenty of willing people. What I think is misguided is the assumption that the president would do the deed personally. "SGT Thompson, bring me the codes, I'll be in the next room" Still chilling, but not personally traumatic.
Johnny555 6y ago
I'd never heard of that before and it's a genius idea -- too easy to dissociate yourself from a million deaths on the other side of the planet, but if the first step is killing a single person with your own hands, that puts it all in perspective.