Robots of War (we are really getting there)

Robots have been a fascination for man-kind even before their invention because of the imaginative minds of science-fiction writers and producers. Many have hope for this amazing field of technology in that it will enhance our lives, allow us to explore where no human can go, provide for more efficient and precise labor, or become good companions. Science-fiction has reflected these optimistic views with movies like, Forbidden Planet, Star Wars, Star Trek, Lost in Space, Bicentennial Man and various stories by Issac Asimov among others. Many others however, have a grim view on the future of these things and often fear them. Their fears run from losing jobs to having too much control over out lives to becoming dangerous. There have been countless stories and movies that reflect this pessimistic view on this growing technology. IRobot, Terminator, The Matrix, Doctor Who, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Metropolis, et cetera. Well recently, the the constant, unstopable advancing of technology has led to further involvement of robots in warfare, particularily in America.

The U.S. military went into Iraq with just a handful of robotic drones in the air and zero unmanned systems on the ground, none of them armed. Today there are more than 5,300 drones in the U.S. inventory and about another 12,000 on the ground. These can spy on the enemy and if they get caught, they can't be persuaded to tell secrets. They have saved thousands of lives, defusing hundreds of bombs and IEDs in Iraq and taking out scores of terrorist leaders hiding in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including most recently two key Al Qaeda leaders. But they also have no pulse and have killed at least three people who the United States thought were Osama bin Laden, but who later turned out not to be.

Many call this the precedings to a revolution in warefare. Though far from buff androids that look like Arnold, this could still change both how and who fights in battles. It can also create confusion and numerious dillemas in diplomacy and strategy, many of which are probably unforseen.

One senior State Department official, believe that it all "plays to our strength. The thing that scares people is our technology." But a leading news editor in Lebanon described this as "just another sign of coldhearted, cruel Israelis and Americans, who are also cowards because they send out machines to fight us. ... They don't want to fight us like real men. ... So we just have to kill a few of their soldiers to defeat them." Or, as one American military analyst put it, "The optics of the situation could look really freaking bad. It makes us look like the "evil Empire" [from "Star Wars"] and the other guys like the "Rebel Alliance," defending themselves versus robot invaders."

Though, I repeat, we are nowhere close to robots replacing soldiers and controling the battlefield, we cannot deny the fact that science in growing at an exponential rate, and cannot be stopped. Once wars get increasingly desperate, and lives are lost, and technology become ever more tempting, someone WILL use this growing technology to attain their goal, whatever that may be. These robots have done their jobs well, while keeping Americans safe, but have created diplomatic situations and in some incidences have killed the wrong people.