Slowly and quietly, a generation of killing machines is being born in the laboratories of the American Military Industrial Complex. These robotic killing systems began as remotely-controlled aircraft, but are steadily evolving and expanding their capabilites.
Have a look at one of these cute little critters:
SWORDS PLAY
This diary explains why the advent of robotic killing systems is very bad news.
Ever since the armed forces of the United States switched from conscription to voluntary service, the great unanswered question in neo-imperialist circles has been "How can America dominate the world with limited military manpower?" The answer is killing machines. Future Dick Cheney's are confidently expecting the emergence of fleets and armies of robotic soldiers that will do the dirty work of world domination.
The rise of killing machines in America may be considered the logical intersection of our fascination with high technology and our militaristic culture. As I write this, eager college engineering students are working with DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) funding to build better killing machines. These engineers may be dreaming about about space colonization, anti-terrorism defenses, or labor-saving devices, but the government knows exactly what it wants. It wants ruthless and obedient killers.
Only a tiny fraction of mankind is totally without compassion. Even the most hardened soldier will hesitate to kill an infant or a defenseless woman. A killing machine will simply kill on command, again, and again, and again. It has no soul and thus is a perfect instrument of conquest. Once killing machines are loosed on our enemies, there will be no need to observe such quaint customs as the Geneva Conventions or the laws of warfare. Machines ride free of moral strictures. "That's not in the software," or "that's not technically feasible" will be the universal reply of their masters when challenged on ethical grounds.
But far worse that the remorseless engineered brutality of the killing machines is the illusion of omnipotence that they will bring to their political masters. Who could withstand such a force? What possible check to American Imperial dominion? This is where nuclear weapons come in.
A nation faced with the threat of assault by a horde of American killing machines has only one practical option: hit the US force with a massive blow before it has time to arrive. Nuclear weapons are perfectly suited to this task. Thus the rise of the killing machines will spread nuclear weaponry until every threatened state has either direct or indirect access to a nuclear deterrent. Along the way, some miscalculations are likely.
Forget about President Hillary. Get ready for the curtain to rise on the next petroleum war, when Gingrich or some other pumped-up warrior President unleashes the killing machines on a desperate and unstable world. It will not be a pretty sight.