[p1esk]

Interesting. I have absolutely zero ethical concerns with Google building a drone which can more accurately target someone. I'm also perfectly fine with US government using those drones to kill bad guys.

Now if they use it to kill good guys, then it's a problem that needs to be solved.

[sametmax]

Yeah but your good guys and their good guys will not be the same for ever.

[p1esk]

If that ever happens, I will protest them killing good guys, rather than protest them having advanced weapons.

[soVeryTired]

How does one determine who's a good guy and who's a bad guy?

I would have thought most people are somewhere in between.

[p1esk]

So far, the people they kill are very much in line with my definition of "bad guys" (e.g. bin Laden).

[mmjaa]

Are you paying attention to how many "good guys" are being killed by 'your side' daily? Because thats more important than your other stat.

[soVeryTired]

I don't think you're really engaging with my point.

[p1esk]

Yes, most people are somewhere in between. What's your point?

[soVeryTired]

My point is that it's not at all easy to determine who's 'good' and who's 'bad'. In fact I think those are extremely simplistic labels to tag people with, expecially when discussing what could amount to summary execution.

Is an enemy combatant with a weapon a bad guy? How about an unarmed enemy combatant? How about an enemy combatant with just a knife, or a rudimentary club? How about an armed civilian who might be an enemy combatant?

Is a bank robber a bad guy? If so, do they deserve to die? How about a white-collar fraudster? How about someone running from the police? How about a mentally ill person running from the police?

This stuff is never clear cut. It's why we have courts and military tribunals. If you can't think beyond 'good guys' and 'bad guys', I don't respect your opinion.

[p1esk]

I'm still not sure what your point is. Are you saying that people in US government/military/etc who decide who to kill make bad decisions? If so, give some examples, and suggest how we can improve the situation.

[dorgo]

Is Snowden a good guy?

My government did enough stupid things for me to not want them to have sophisticated military toys.

[p1esk]

Is Snowden a good guy?

Debatable, but regardless - do you think the reason US government have not killed Snowden is the lack of "sophisticated military toys"?

Also, my government did enough stupid things (like killing innocent people in war zones by mistake) for me to want them to have more intelligent weapons.