# National Drone Weapon Protocol **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 7, 2013, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-drone-weapon-protocol/660383 "2013-06-07T14:19:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-drone-weapon-protocol/660383/21 "2013-06-08T19:12:02Z")
> [@David\_H\_Singanas](#): > > (1) Right now there are two types: reconnaissance and/or attack. An attack > protocol is needed only for those carrying weapons. > > (2) Drone brain chip intelligence is increasing exponentially. They can take > turns following a ground target. They can record and download terabytes of > graphic data. They can keep a mobile ground target highlighted for days. > They can use infrared imaging at night. They can analyze an individual’s actions > and movements and classify them as terrorist or nonterrorist. > > (3) In the near future, drones will be able to exchange information and they will > be capable of operating independently of a ground controller. In perhaps 5 years > drones will have decision-making abilities. > > The above are some of the reasons we need a debate and a protocol for letting > drones kill humans… whether American citizens, Mexican cartel operatives, or > foreign terrorists. Oh, so I didn’t actually know what you were getting at. I don’t think the protocol for using drones to kill American citizens, Mexican cartel operatives, or foreign terrorists needs to be any different from our protocols for doing so with manned aircraft or rifles. The means by which death is achieved is trivia, who is killed, where, and why is what matters. ---
**Author:** ![David\_H\_Singanas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@David\_H\_Singanas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_H_Singanas)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-drone-weapon-protocol/660383/22 "2013-06-08T20:36:30Z")
Human Action, Here is a verbatim from the Peter Baker report in the Times: Mr. Obama said the seeming precision and remote nature of modern warfare can 'lead a president and his team to view drone strikes as a cure-all for terrorism," and it is not hard to imagine which president he had in mind. “We must define the nature and scope of this struggle,” Mr. Obama said, “or else it will define us.” …The killing he authorized in September 2011 of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen tied to terrorist attacks, brought home the disparity between how he had envisioned his presidency and what it had become…The Awlaki strike also killed another American, Samir Khan, who officals say was not intentionally targeted. A subsequent attack killed Mr. Awlaki’s 16 year old American son…A furor over the American deaths convinced Mr. Obama that it was time to lay out clearer standards and practices for drone warfare… IMHO, it’s a debate about “who’s in charge”. How many agencies… Federal, State or Local… do we want in control of drone killings ? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-drone-weapon-protocol/660383/23 "2013-06-08T22:00:12Z")
Not speaking about anyone in particular, but it is nuts to believe that police are on the verge of starting to kill people with drones. Nuts, I say. It is on the same level of nonsense as people thinking a few decades ago that bar codes were soon going to be tattooed on everyone, “mark of the beast” style. Nuts, I tell you. ---
**Author:** ![David\_H\_Singanas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@David\_H\_Singanas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_H_Singanas)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-drone-weapon-protocol/660383/24 "2013-06-09T20:49:32Z")
Raven I think that idea is nutty too. But it is not far fetched to visualize a drone, 5 years from now, taking off on an assignment already programmed into its memory, searching for the target, finding the target, waiting for the target to comply with protocol (no noncombatants or unidentifiable persons within 10 meters) liquidating the terrorist, returning to base, and landing successfully without human assistance or supervision. Singanas ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-drone-weapon-protocol/660383/25 "2013-06-09T20:55:18Z")
Yes, it is. That’s sci/fi fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-drone-weapon-protocol/660383/26 "2013-06-10T14:25:11Z")
> [@David\_H\_Singanas](#): > > IMHO, it’s a debate about “who’s in charge”. How many agencies… Federal, State or Local… > do we want in control of drone killings ? Well, that’s an easy answer. Since they are being used in a war effort, they are under federal control, as only the federal government can wage war. The way it works are present is that multiple intelligence agencies can submit targets, the attacks are then carried out by the military. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-drone-weapon-protocol/660383/27 "2013-06-10T16:41:23Z")
> [@David\_H\_Singanas](#): > > Raven > > I think that idea is nutty too. But it is not far fetched to visualize a drone, 5 years from now, > taking off on an assignment already programmed into its memory, searching for the target, > finding the target, waiting for the target to comply with protocol (no noncombatants or > unidentifiable persons within 10 meters) liquidating the terrorist, returning to base, and > landing successfully without human assistance or supervision. > > Singanas Even if the technology were there to do that, why would you? Drones are very expensive pieces of equipment, and are preforming actions that may have far ranging diplomatic consequences. Only a complete idiot would just send it off on its own without someone back home keeping an eye on it. ---
**Author:** ![David\_H\_Singanas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@David\_H\_Singanas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_H_Singanas)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-drone-weapon-protocol/660383/28 "2013-06-10T20:18:55Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Even if the technology were there to do that, why would you? Drones are very expensive pieces of equipment, and are preforming actions that may have far ranging diplomatic consequences. Only a complete idiot would just send it off on its own without someone back home keeping an eye on it. If a drone could execute a mission without a human controller or operator, it might save money. I think the Tomahawks used against Qaddafi in Libya were a million dollars each, and we launched probably 100. A controller may not be worth $1 million but his portable command post might cost that much. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-drone-weapon-protocol/660383/29 "2013-06-10T20:36:30Z")
Again, though, an autonomous drone would be subject to the same rules of engagement as a remotely-piloted one. We already have protocols in place; if and when our weapons are fully autonomous, we can just program those protocols into them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-drone-weapon-protocol/660383.md?page=1)