"Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?"

"Why not launch the drone strike? There are no real consequences." ~ "How US Drone Strikes Killed Civilians in Secret" - Critical Dispatch

Why did you have to act so mean?
Don't you know you're human being?
Born of a mother with the love of a father
Reflections come and reflections go
I know sometimes you wanna let go
I know sometimes you want to let go

Bad boys, bad boys whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?
Bad boys, bad boys whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

“Bad Boys” - Theme from “Cops”

Ever been in a drone strike? Like the drones that shoot missiles? Here’s what it’s like in four minutes.

Think drones can’t be used in countries like the U.S.A. becuz…uhh…we’re civilized? We’re an advanced country? Eric Snowden realistic comprehension supports a different contention. Truthout:

«Everyone needs to see this. Note that these images leave no room for "it was a mistake", we see repeated and specifically targeted strikes on unarmed people and even the wounded. The kind of behavior that the ICJ explicitly prohibited in the ruling on the genocide against Israel. Yes, it is a scandalous crime. You must understand that the technical ability behind such killings is becoming easier and easier to carry out and more and more automated. Soon, an official will swipe their finger across a map, and anyone judged by a rudimentary algorithm to have crossed that line will die».

He was referring to this video posted on X by Al Jezeera. I was able to find the footage also posted on YouTube. The video shows a number of Palestinians walking in a newly Israeli-bulldozed area. It begins with four young men returning to look for their homes after Israel appears finished with bombing and bulldozers swept over the area. More individuals follow them. Bulldozing clears the land for IDF units to drive freely but also buries bodies.

Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.

Friedrich Nietzsche

The abyss gazes back.

My last article on Matt Livelsberger and his confession about war crimes committed in the Nimruz province, Afghanistan (if he did…I realize much controversy ensues now over the email and various notes left by Livelsberger…with some questioning if he was murdered), caused me to further reflect on the rapidly changing face of war. What began with vague references years ago to drones “targeting terrorists” has become vividly revealed in the last year within both the Ukraine War and Gaza’s execution as an anonymous, anomalous blank stare of pitilessness.

The most notable characteristic of asymmetric warfare, begun as the “War on Terror” in 2001, is that the individual person is devalued with assumptions made about them based upon thinking within socio-political paradigms held by either/or governments; governmental policies; drone operators’ training; operators’ capacity for evaluation; and/or a desire to place no citizen from their own country in the line of fire. The idea that each culture and people should be given respect and space in which to live in this world has been summarily extinguished.

With the aim of asymmetric war now enforcing the removal of people from their land so that groups with vastly superior power engage in combat—principally defined by technological achievement and acquisition—we see citizens within a nation, rather than a protected set of people, becoming defined and categorized as combatants simply because they resist encroachment on their land and way of life. The world citizen has been demoted to an inconsequential object.

Particularly, the Middle East has shown the result of a group who believes they’re entitled to land based upon their religious teachings and a vague illogic according them status because of abuse in the last world war replacing people who have lived on the desired land for centuries.

Wikipedia defines asymmetric war as “a type of war between belligerents whose relative military power, strategy or tactics differ significantly. This type of warfare often, but not necessarily, involves insurgents, terrorist groups, or resistance militias operating within territory mostly controlled by the superior force.”

Our new technology invalidates the need for large standing armies. The nations from yore needed large armies to fight physical combat. Today, technology, like drones, invalidate this need. Additionally, drones can kill many or just one. The video above from Al Jezeera illustrates this point. With this capacity of infinite choice, the human involved in such warfare today falls into a spiritual abyss where no human holds value. The soldier who commits war today may cry when he reunites with his family or witnesses a friend killed in battle, but the individual whom his drone targets has no such value.

A heart which feels only for itself is based on a supremely egoistic basis.

The hard physical labor of those long-ago wars encompassed a stream of time which enabled individuals and leaders self-reflection and space to reformulate judgement and value. Today’s war occurs swiftly, in the blink of an eye, with humans who think they have a well-developed moral sense of justice but, in truth, have little to recommend them. For this reason, the quickness of the blood toward destruction, the bloodlust which arises as a natural by-product of war, dominates the course of asymmetric warfare today.

The genocide in Gaza springs from this impulse. Israel began their assault with vastly superior forces backed by the one nation in the world with the most wealth; vigorous war weapons/munitions industries; and ability to print the world currency which drives the world financially. The U.S. has sold weapons and transferred wealth to Israel in such obscene amounts that the violence impulse within the Zionist Jew has had no space or time in which to cool and re-evaluate.

For such a philosophy, which constructs their identity as the true owners of the land, resources, and assets they covet, this impulse has become a wanton bloodlust: “a desire for extreme violence and carnage, often aroused in the heat of battle and leading to uncontrolled slaughter and torture.” (Wicktionary) Whereas the Ukraine War has been fought with one army against another and barbarism has occurred on both sides amplified by more sophisticated technology, Gaza has become driven by the Israeli thirst for bloodlust which is characterized by ferocity; savagery; and barbarism.

They have no philosophy or spiritual force which can cause the self-reflection needed for a revision in their world view nor an opening of compassion to understand another’s point of view. An individual can reflect the best military mind and values while still holding compassion, but compromise no longer exists. Dogmatism rules the world. The victor demands you accept only their conditions or go elsewhere whereas, often in our recent past, nations retained their borders and lands; accepted defeat; and re-established themselves on a world stage. Germans, Japanese, and Italians weren’t forcibly dispersed throughout the world after the last world war as the Palestinians currently are in Gaza.

Some examples of drone usage in war:

Drones can be constructed cheaply and quickly.

Classic video of asymmetric war usage:

The Economist:

Drones are becoming an ever more important tool of war. In Ukraine, where they act as scouts and kamikaze bombers, cheap expendable models have become essential for infantry operations by both sides. The challenges in Gaza are different: most of the fighting in Ukraine has been in open terrain, not urban areas. But Israel has long been at the forefront of military-drone use, says Zachary Kallenborn, of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a think-tank in Washington. In 1982, during the first Lebanon war, Israel Defence Forces (IDF) drones drew anti-aircraft-missile fire and located missile sites. By 1989 Israel had developed its first attack drone. In 2017 the Centre for a New American Security, another Washington-based think-tank, estimated that 60% of international exports of military drones over the previous three decades had come from the country. Like Ukraine it has a nimble tech industry, which has helped it to stay at the cutting edge.

“In 2017 the Centre for a New American Security, another Washington-based think-tank, estimated that 60% of international exports of military drones over the previous three decades had come from the country [Israel].”

Short videos of Israeli drone strikes in Gaza. I always look for short videos so not too much time is spent by you, the reader. I also think that many times simply a minute or two gives a good reading.

Unfortunately, perhaps because I’m unsubscribed, I cannot embed X within my articles. This video on X, embedded within this Middle East Monitor article shows a lone bicycle rider’s life ending on a bridge by drone.

I show these two quite disparate videos so that we can see drones are incredibly versatile which provides substantial advantage to the user. Drones can effect results similar to bombing missions with no risk to the perpetrator and can kill very specifically in an isolated capacity such as the lone bicyclist.

As drones become tied and embedded within AI-driven asymmetric warfare, the metadata required for effective drone usage derives from the competency of those programming the machinery. If those inputing the algorithms devalue human life, those algorithms will reflect this value. If a religion supports unlimited extermination of life, those religious viewpoints will be incorporated within the AI-driven drones.

The famous Kabul drone strike which killed all civilians provides a brilliant example of “mistaken identity” caused by such values and understanding reflected in U.S. drone warfare policy.

The metadata was driven by assumptions and “combat-hardened intelligence” (read “viewpoint”) which were proven false. How current or fresh is Israeli input into their AI systems? Are they correctly tested and refreshed?

For now, the Biden administration has paused the Drone War, and they’re conducting a total review of U.S. drone policy. You can imagine why Biden might be wary of using drones as a counterterrorism tool after the strike in Kabul, and yet, I would be wary to think of this as progress. After all, President Biden was part of the most prolific drone-striking administration in the nation’s history. Regardless, Biden’s decision won’t matter much in the long run. In just two short years, a new administration could flip the switch on the drone program because the U.S. government hasn’t learned the lesson of the failed drone war just yet. “How US Drone Strikes Killed Civilians in Secret” - Critical Dispatch

If you have the time and desire to view (16 minutes):

Returning to my opening theme, “Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?”, why would any government be interested in developing drone warfare specifically for urban areas (4 minutes)? The video below is from DARPA experiments with drone swarms in 2017.

One answer certainly entails governments’ unstated position to continue asymmetric war (when they deem necessary) within populated areas where civilians live. Another answer would be to constrain and control their own citizens. The recent slide of Western governments worldwide into hegemonic censorship and control over citizens’ thoughts and speech belies the description of “democracies” as their representative government along side their hegemonic response to the “Covid Pandemic” which equally supports this idea.

When a government no longer respects citizens’ freedoms, as we have starkly seen under the Biden regime and now so terribly within Western Europe, the step is exceedingly short to use drones in citizenry control and elimination. Note the video references DARPA as the initiator. As those with clear-thinking minds know, the instigated “Covid Pandemic” was initiated under U.S. military control and involved the use of a DARPA-driven countermeasure to inject citizens. Sasha Latypova’s Substack “Due Diligence and Art” has delved extensively into this topic as has “Bailiwick News” by Katherine Watt.

A sage conclusion we can draw is that drones have been weaponized under military development and usage in war theaters, and their usage in the future can easily be extrapolated to use within any country for control of populations.

First "AI War": Israel Used World's First AI-Guided Swarm Of Combat Drones In Gaza Attacks:

The use of AI in drone strikes has seen a surge in warzones, with a recent UN report revealing Libya launched an autonomous weaponized drone attack on Haftar Affiliated Forces last year, [my emphasis] the first time an AI-guided drone identified and possibly attacked human targets without human input. Now, the technology appears to have found significant use in the Israel-Gaza conflict, which reportedly saw over 4,400 rockets fired into Israel and 1,500 strikes into Gaza in the 11 days of intense fighting in May.

Depravity has been used on both sides of the Ukraine War as Ukrainian drones have reached Moscow and hit apartment buildings. However, a very clear example has been provided in Kherson, Ukraine, as Russian drones target Ukrainian citizens.

'Human Safari' - Kherson civilians hunted down by Russian drones:

On a warm September evening, Olha Chernyshova’s day took a grim turn when she was returning home from work in downtown Kherson. Stepping out of her car, she heard a loud buzz and immediately knew it was not a bumblebee.

She rushed towards her home’s entrance door. A deafening blast shook the yard. A drone had dropped an explosive on her car. Time froze.

Back in the yard, Chernyshova saw shattered glass, plastic, and a small metallic cylinder. Her heart racing, she called the police. A team of sappers soon retrieved an undetonated part of a fragmentation grenade. That same day, other drones targeted nearby cars, injuring three of Chernyshova’s neighbors.

A week after the terrifying incident, she spoke to the Kyiv Independent near her home, hiding from another drone under a large chestnut tree.

“Where will we hide once the leaves are gone?” she asked. “It will be an open season on people. I need to work on more drone safety measures.”

The first video is a short BBC introduction (5 minutes). A few minutes can give an excellent idea of the situation. The second is “science fiction meets Mad Max.” The second is long but certainly worth a minute or two of view.

Your country would never instigate such actions against you? Corporate Watch:

With alarming increases in Israeli use of drones being reported by human rights organisations Al Mezan and Palestinian Center for Human Rights, and with drone technology developed by Israeli companies such as Elbit and IAI being sold as ‘battle tested’ in Gaza to almost 50 countries….

One ideal course of action for humanity at this point would be obviously to halt drone usage in asymmetric war with a complete re-evaluation of our purpose, intent, and direction forward. I might add that, in my opinion, someone who operates or interacts with such war equipment should have to pass a spiritual test in which their command of clarity within their own life has been demonstrated by visible change in their external life as well as the development of constraint and emotionally developed maturity and responsibility.