Droning On

I am the eye in the sky
Looking at you
I can read your mind
--Eye in the Sky, Alan Parsons Project
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Fellow blogger Abu Muqawama recently wrote on the dishonesty of the new high-tech Air Force advertisements which imply conflicts can be fought neatly and tidily from above, going so far as to suggest drones would dispense with much of the dirty work ("Eyes in the Sky").

Well, that may be how it looks from up there, but as Abu M. suggests, nothing can replace HUMINT and boots on the ground, things which are decidedly not always neat and tidy.

Ranger takes it one step further. The drones are seen flying over a mud hut, backwater village in some generic Afghanistan / Iraq / Pakistan scenario. The suggestion that the USAF will be able to neutralize the terrorist threat simply be flying over and then peering into the evil souls inhabiting these areas is patently absurd. The take home is the dropping a few surgically placed bombs will bend them into submission (or smash the evildoers into smithereens.)

This is a lie and a misguided fantasy for two reasons. Eyes in the sky will never see the evil intent hiding in men's heads, nor will it be able distinguish those who simply think evil thoughts (that is, from our side of things), versus those who can or will be able to implement their dreams of destruction. Secondly, mud huts are not the origin of the terrorist threat.

It is the terrorists that originate in the palaces, boardrooms and bank offices of Saudi Arabia that need to be overflown by these drones. Let's put some realism into our advertising.