North Africa Video Feature: Here Come the US Drones (Al Jazeera English)

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Al Jazeera English's Inside Story reviews the expansion of US bases, supporting drone operations, across North Africa.

Panelists are Robert Densmore, a former US naval flight officer and editor of Defence Report; David Shinn, Professor of International Affairs at George Washington University and former US ambassador to Burkina Faso and Ethiopia; and Noel Sharkey, aProfessor of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics at the University of Sheffield.

US Opinion: Are We Suffering from "Drone Hysteria"? (Osboune)

US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta justifies the killing by drone in Yemen of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen

See also: US Opinion: Do Drones Undermine Democracy? (Singer)

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Anyone who decries a “new surge” of military interest in drones is just admitting they never paid attention before, that they don’t know what they’re talking about, and that they are riding on the word “drone” because it’s trendy and scary. Such opinions should carry exactly as much weight as a paper airplane, because they aren’t really about drones at all but war in general. There is nothing a drone can do that could not be done up close and personal, though at greater risk. A drone merely removes risk from the attacker — which is what warriors have been doing since the invention of the bow and arrow.

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