An evolution of warfare

The atomic bomb, the hydrogen bomb, chemical warfare and drones: What do they have in common? They are thought to be some of the deadliest forms of warfare or weapons used in it. One of the main differences between them lies in the perception that some are worse than others due to who or what has control of these weapons. When some people think about the atomic bomb they imagine the Enola Gay dropping the atomic bombs over Japan or they picture the images of the bomb blasts that took place in its testing phases. Regarding chemical warfare, many picture the grim images of World War I and the people who had to fight through such things as Mustard Gas. Today, when people think of drones they often think of groups of soldiers playing “Call of Duty” as they hunt down terrorists with a videogame-like system. This type of thinking inspires thoughts of movies like “The Terminator” and “I, Robot” where technology seems to have a life of it’s own. It strikes fear of the unknown in the minds of people who listen to stories about how innocent civilians are being killed by robots in a foreign land. In his article, “Don’t fear the reaper: Four misconceptions about how we feel about drones,” Charli Carpenter mentions that the distinction between the way drones are controlled and the way they are thought to be controlled distracts “public attention from being directed to a more ground-breaking development in military technology: preparations to delegate targeting decisions to truly autonomous weapons platforms, many of which are not drones at all.” The media has a responsibility to inform individuals regarding the true issues regarding drone warfare and unless they stop misleading the public with dramatic stories of drones, the general population will ignore the important issues until it is too late to do anything about them.