How American drone pilots talk (1 Viewer)

[mjcouvi]

For the past eight years millions of people have expended billions of words speculating about exactly how the United States kills people with missiles from drones (and missiles from other sources, such as manned aircraft, targeting people identified with drones). There is good reason to believe that for each such attack there exists a video and audio record of what the drone pilots saw and what they and their colleagues said to each other as they decided to launch a missile and as they observed its results.

...

With drones, however, we do have one (incomplete) transcript of what was said during the hours leading up and the minutes following one particular attack. This was an attack in Afghanistan in February 2010 that killed zero fighters but numerous innocent civilians. According to survivors, 23 men, women, and children were killed. According to the U.S. military 15 or 16 were killed and 12 wounded. The U.S. military apologized and paid some $4000 to the family of each acknowledged victim.

How Drone Pilots Talk | Let's Try Democracy

 

[MLU]

Meh.

People have all sorts of vernacular that's considered acceptable at work, but perhaps not so away from work. Murdering people for a living is a job I wouldn't want, but I imagine it's not exactly a job with that exception. This was conversation not intended for public consumption, just like discussions in NFL locker rooms, behind closed doors in Congress, etc. I'm sure there are c=varying levels of disturbing.

I am more concerned with the act of firing weapons without first confirming they're 100% hostiles.

 

[xaeniac]

the problem with drones not being up close and personal removes human emotions and makes killing more like a video game.

 

[mt15]

I imagine if you could hear the talk in the trauma room of an ED or in an operating room, it wouldn't be pretty either. When you have to do pretty extreme tasks there are coping mechanisms that may not translate well to people not in those situations.

As for the distance, pilots never could see their bombing targets, unless you count the WWI dogfights.

 

[billinms]

I imagine if you could hear the talk in the trauma room of an ED or in an operating room, it wouldn't be pretty either. When you have to do pretty extreme tasks there are coping mechanisms that may not translate well to people not in those situations.

As for the distance, pilots never could see their bombing targets, unless you count the WWI dogfights.

I don't think pilots used bombs much in dogfights.

 

[mt15]

Okay, whatever.