Tag: amused to death

And we wonder why the world hates US.

From: CNN

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Pilots direct remote-control aircraft from Nevada base in combat 7,500 miles away
• New drone, “the Reaper,” carries the same bomb load as an F-16 fighter plane
• Reapers have been flying round-the-clock patrols over Afghanistan since 2007
• Air Force sees unmanned aircraft as the future of aerial combat

CREECH AIR FORCE BASE, Nevada (CNN) — From a desert outpost [35 miles] northwest of Las Vegas, elite fighter pilots journey to a war zone in Afghanistan, some 7,500 miles away.

It might be the world’s longest commute, except that these armchair pilots at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada never leave the air-conditioned comfort of their command center.

Air Force pilots are employing remotely controlled fighter-bomber aircraft — known in military parlance as unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs — to fly combat missions over Afghanistan, hunting for insurgents bent on undermining Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s fragile government.

This is the future of aerial combat.

Sitting in a virtual cockpit is not as exciting as flying a fighter jet, but unmanned attack-plane pilots can enjoy a normal workday schedule — more or less. Watch the Reaper at work »

“Seeing bad guys on the screen and watching them possibly get dispatched, and then going down to the Taco Bell for lunch, it’s kind of surreal,” says Captain Matt Dean.

Read Entire Article

Roger Waters, 1991

The Bravery of Being Out of Range

… Hey bartender over here
Two more shots
And two more beers
Sir turn up the TV sound
The war has started on the ground
Just love those laser guided bombs
They’re really great
For righting wrongs
You hit the target
And win the game
From bars 3,000 miles away
3,000 miles away
We play the game
With the bravery of being out of range
We zap and maim
With the bravery of being out of range
We strafe the train
With the bravery of being out of range
We gain terrain
With the bravery of being out of range

Related:

Scott Ridder: Our Murderers in the Sky

Why they hate US: How would you like one of these flying over your head?

[‘why they hate US’ — Listen to his voice] Gen. Hamid Gul: We’ve slaughtered ~3,500 innocent men, women and children in Pakistan through remote control drones — “But this particular attack was the final nail in the coffin. Why did they do that?” Pakistan may now unite with China against US

We killed almost 700 Pakistan civilians in 44 REMOTE-CONTROL drone strikes in 2009. How would we like it if a country did this to US?

All of my Why They Hate US posts (It’s not “because we’re free”)