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The Hubris Of War Technology

Jun 22, 2015
by Caroline Miller
Big Data, cost of technology in war, drones, loitering capability, Loitering With Intent, predators, William M. Arkin
2 Comments

“What makes aerial drones so different from manned aircraft is not their efficiency as hunters or killers but their ability to linger.”  So writes William M. Arkin, a former army intelligence analyst.  (“Loitering With Intent,” by William M. Arkin, Harper’s, June 2015 pg. 12)  The remark took me by surprise as I tend to think of drones as an unimpassioned means of killing people who are thousands of miles away and whose faces we never see.  A sanitary war, to be sure, and a far cry from hand to hand combat which Winston Churchill ennobled in his memoirs.

But Arkin’s essay isn’t about  honor and morality in combat.  He admits Predators are an efficient way of doing damage to our enemies with little risk to ourselves.  What he wants us to comprehend is the burden of this new technology.  First, we must understand that only 5% of our drone arsenal is comprised of Predators.  The remaining 90% “are small, short-range, and unarmed.” (Ibid, pg. 11.)  Their value lies in their ability to  “loiter” over a location for hours, providing the military with ground information formerly gathered by manpower — spies and special forces incursions.  This new, safer method of securing data is expensive and becoming more so.  In 2004, the military allocated $700 million for drone operations, which included an army of technicians to support it.  By 2014 that number had risen to $4 billion. (Ibid pg. 12.) 

 As Arkin admits, drone technology with its   “…hunter-killer special operation requires far more exhaustive preparation and much more detailed intelligence than industrial armies ever needed.” (Ibid pg. 13).  The areas under surveillance have expanded to include anywhere around the globe.  More data requires Big Data to provide the precise degree of information needed to enhance our security.  Unfortunately, using and maintaining this technology requires vast sums of money and a bureaucracy to support it. In Arkin’s estimation, “The ratio of people actually fighting to those processing the information and operating the machines has reached a historical extreme.” (Ibid pg. 16)

 If anyone marvels at the imbalance of money and personal required to sustain our efforts against a finite number of perpetrators, I think they would be right to do so.  But that’s not Arkin’s point.  He worries about where drone warfare is taking us.  Now that we have the potential to fight wars with a minimum risk to ourselves, will there be those with a mindset that will want to “root out evil” everywhere?  Will we, as a nation, be tempted to intervene in conflicts around the globe?  If we follow that course, we should be aware of the cost.  The morality of drone warfare aside, the distortion to our budget if we undertake these  pursuits would degrade our way of life, leave us impoverished and, possibly, in greater danger than before.

 I admit, Arkin’s article opened my eyes to an aspect of 21st century warfare I hadn’t considered.  When I did, I was struck with a perverse thought.  Perhaps there’s an upside to the cost of all this technology, despite Arkin’s warning.  As a species, we’ve never been dissuaded from war by blood spilling, including that of the innocent, or by wiping a culture from the face of the earth.  But if it becomes too expensive, there’s a chance, having spent ourselves down to our last dollar, war might come to an end.  

drones

Courtesy of www.themulsimtimes.org

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2 Comments
  1. Christine Webb June 22, 2015 at 9:47 am Reply
    Caroline, the more I hear of drones and their capacity to do so much harm, and in such large numbers, I can’t help but be reminded of the locusts in the book of Revelations I learned about many years ago as a child during Sunday School. At that time, I remember thinking how awful it would be too have so many bugs flying all around that would sting so painfully. Of course, I thought at the time that the locusts would be in reality, insects, but who knows? If there is any truth at all to this premonition in Revelations, the “locusts” sound a lot to me like the drones look… Either way, the prospect, and now reality, of flying things hovering all around ready to kill is quite nauseating… Such an informative and thought provoking blog this morning. Hopefully you’re correct and we’ll stop spending when the money is gone. However, thinking I may have a little more faith in the prophetic arrival of “locusts” than in the ability of our government not to spend money if there isn’t any to spend. But then, anything is possible, right?  Chris Fifth Trumpet: The Locusts from the Bottomless Pit 9 “Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. 3 Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them. 7 The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. 8 They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. 10 They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. 11 And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon. 12 One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.”
    • Caroline Miller June 22, 2015 at 11:40 am Reply
      You may be right, Chris. The situation may deserve Biblical status.

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Contact Caroline at

carolinemiller11@yahoo.com

Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate.

Her play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, was performed at the Post5 Theatre, Portland, OR, January/February 2015

Caroline published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens.  She also published the story Gustav Pavel,  a parable about ordinary lives, choice and alternate potential, on the website Fixional.co.

Caroline has published four novels

  • Ballet Noir
  • Trompe l’Oeil
  • Gothic Spring
  • Heart Land

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