The New Digital Age

CHAPTER 6

THE FUTURE OF CONFLICT, COMBAT AND INTERVENTION

“orient [us] away from violence and toward cooperation and altruism”: Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (New York: Viking, 2011), xxv.

“The world begins to look different”: Ibid., xxvi.

deliberately excludes some 2.2 million ethnic Roma: Amnesty International (AI), “Romania Must End Forced Evictions of Roma Families,” press release, January 26, 2010, http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/romania-must-end-forced-evictions-roma-families-20100126.

The Roma are persecuted in similar fashion across Eastern Europe and, increasingly, Western Europe. In July 2010, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France led a campaign to forcibly repatriate his country’s foreign Roma population to Bulgaria and Romania. Within a month, more than fifty illegal Romany camps had been closed, and by September over a thousand Roma had been deported. See “France Sends Roma Gypsies Back to Romania,” BBC, August 20, 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11020429; “France: Renewed Crackdown on Roma: End Discriminatory Roma Camp Evictions and Removals,” Human Rights Watch (HRW), News, August 10, 2010, http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/08/10/france-renewed-crackdown-roma; “French Ministers Fume After Reding Rebuke Over Roma,” BBC, September 15, 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11310560.

“Online intimidation by hate groups”: Christian Picciolini in discussion with the authors, April 2012.

Julius Caesar: Julius Caesar, The Gallic Wars, translation by John Warrington with a preface by John Mason Brown and an introduction by the translator (Norwalk, Conn.: Easton Press, 1983); see also Dr. Neil Faulkner, “The Official Truth: Propaganda in the Roman Empire,” BBC, History, last updated February 17, 2011, http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/romanpropaganda_article_01.shtml.

“Video: IDF pilots wait for area to be clear”: @IDFspokesperson tweet, November 19, 2012.

Neda Agha-Soltan: Nazila Fathi, “In a Death Seen Around the World, a Symbol of Iranian Protests,” New York Times, June 22, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/world/middleeast/23neda.html.

The videos were passed: Thomas Erdbrink, “In Iran, a Woman Named Neda Becomes Opposition Icon in Death,” Washington Post, June 23, 2009, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/22/AR2009062203041.html.

raided their offices: Information obtained in Jared Cohen’s research for his book One Hundred Days of Silence: America and the Rwanda Genocide (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2007); see also Alison Liebhafsky Des Forges, Leave None to Tell the Story: Genocide in Rwanda (New York: Human Rights Watch, 1999).

Hutu radio stations announced names and addresses: Allan Thompson, ed., with a statement by Kofi Annan, The Media and the Rwanda Genocide (London: Pluto Press, 2007), 49, http://www.internews.org/sites/default/files/resources/TheMedia&TheRwandaGenocide.pdf.

“virtually inoperable”: Dan Verton, “Serbs Launch Cyberattack on NATO,” Federal Computer Week, April 4, 1999, http://fcw.com/articles/1999/04/04/serbs-launch-cyberattack-on-nato.aspx.

Tom Downey’s revealing March 2010 article: Tom Downey, “China’s Cyberposse,” New York Times Magazine, March 3, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/magazine/07Human-t.html.

gruesome video: Ibid.

perpetrator was soon tracked: Ibid.

took just six days: Ibid.

a bill (struck down one month later by the French Constitutional Council): Scott Sayare, “French Council Strikes Down Bill on Armenian Genocide Denial,” New York Times, February 28, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/29/world/europe/french-bill-on-armenian-genocide-is-struck-down.html.

“racist and discriminatory”: “Turkey PM Says French Bill on Genocide Denial ‘Racist,’ ” BBC, January 24, 2012, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16695133.

“singularity”: P. W. Singer, Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century (New York: Penguin Press, 2009), 102.

DARPA’s mission: DARPA, “About,” accessed October 9, 2012, http://www.darpa.mil/About.aspx; DARPA, “Our Work,” accessed October 9, 2012, http://www.darpa.mil/our_work/.

three Ds: Singer, Wired for War, 63.

iRobot, the company that invented: Ibid., 21–23.

Two PackBots were deployed during the Fukushima nuclear crisis: Amar Toor, “iRobot Packbots Enter Fukushima Nuclear Plant to Gather Data, Take Photos, Save Lives,” Engadget, April 18, 2011, http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/18/irobot-packbots-enter-fukushima-nuclear-plant-to-gather-data-ta/.

Foster-Miller, makes a PackBot competitor: Singer, Wired for War, 26.

And then there are the aerial drones: For descriptions of the Predator, Raven and Reaper drones, see Singer, Wired for War, 32–35, 37, 116.

31 percent of all military aircraft: Spencer Ackerman and Noah Shachtman, “Almost 1 in 3 U.S. Warplanes Is a Robot,” Danger Room (blog), Wired, January 9, 2012, http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/01/drone-report/.

“lethal kinetics”—operations involving fire—“will be handed over to bots”: Harry Wingo, in discussion with the authors, April 2012.

SWORDS robots: Singer, Wired for War, 29–32; Noah Shachtman, “First Armed Robots on Patrol in Iraq (Updated),” Danger Room (blog), Wired, August 2, 2007, http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2007/08/httpwwwnational/.

combat units in the future: Navy SEAL in discussion with the authors, February 2012.

“It’s a big strategic question for them”: Peter Warren Singer in discussion with the authors, April 2012.

Joint Tactical Radio System: Bob Brewin, “Pentagon Shutters Joint Tactical Radio System Program Office,” Nextgov, August 1, 2012, http://www.nextgov.com/mobile/2012/08/pentagon-shutters-joint-tactical-radio-system-program-office/57173/; Matthew Potter, Defense Procurement News, “Joint Program Executive Office Joint Tactical Radio System (JPEO JTRS) Stands Down and Joint Tactical Networking Center (JTNC) Opens,” press release, October 1, 2012, http://www.defenseprocurementnews.com/2012/10/01/joint-program-executive-office-joint-tactical-radio-system-jpeo-jtrs-stands-down-and-joint-tactical-networking-center-jtnc-opens-press-release/.

“They just can’t afford that kind of process anymore”: Peter Warren Singer in discussion with the authors, April 2012.

“The military was, in some ways”: Ibid.

Even Venezuela has joined the club: Brian Ellsworth, “Venezuela Says Building Drones with Iran’s Help,” Reuters, June 14, 2012, http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/14/us-venezuela-iran-drone-idUSBRE85D14N20120614.

“Of course we’re doing it”: Robert Beckhusen, “Iranian Missile Engineer Oversees Chavez’s Drones,” Danger Room (blog), Wired, June 18, 2012, http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/06/mystery-cargo/.

“Most advances in technology, particularly big ones, tend to make people nervous”: Regina Dugan, in discussion with the authors, July 2012.

“non-state actors that range”: Peter Warren Singer in discussion with the authors, April 2012.

unmanned drones, available to rent for surveillance: Singer, Wired for War, 265.

In 2009, it was contracted to load bombs: James Risen and Mark Mazzetti, “C.I.A. Said to Use Outsiders to Put Bombs on Drones,” New York Times, August 20, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/21/us/21intel.html.

For example, some real-estate firms are now using private drones: Somini Sengupta, “Who Is Flying Drones over America?,” Bits (blog), New York Times, July 14, 2012, http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/14/who-is-flying-drones-over-america/.

Kansas State University has established a degree: Jefferson Morley, “Drones Invade Campus,” Salon, May 1, 2012, http://www.salon.com/2012/05/01/drones_on_campus/.

“battle of persuasion”: Peter Warren Singer, quoted by Noah Shachtman, “Insurgents Intercept Drone Video in King-Size Security,” Danger Room (blog), Wired, December 17, 2009, http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/12/insurgents-intercept-drone-video-in-king-sized-security-breach/.

RQ-170 Sentinel: Scott Peterson, “Downed U.S. Drone: How Iran Caught the ‘Beast,’ ” Christian Science Monitor, December 9, 2011, http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/1209/Downed-US-drone-How-Iran-caught-the-beast.

“land on its own where we wanted it to”: Scott Peterson and Payam Faramarzi, “Exclusive: Iran Hijacked U.S. Drone, Says Iranian Engineer,” Christian Science Monitor, December 15, 2011, http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/1215/Exclusive-Iran-hijacked-US-drone-says-Iranian-engineer-Video.

known as spoofing: Adam Rawnsley, “Iran’s Alleged Drone Hack: Tough, but Possible,” Danger Room (blog), Wired, December 16, 2011, http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/12/iran-drone-hack-gps/.

$6 million: Dan Murphy, “Obama Taking Heat for Asking for U.S. Drone Back? Pay Little Heed,” Christian Science Monitor, December 15, 2011, http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Backchannels/2011/1215/Obama-taking-heat-for-asking-for-US-drone-back-Pay-little-heed.

leaks resulted in detailed articles: Daniel Klaidman, “Drones: How Obama Learned to Kill,” May 28, 2012, Newsweek and Daily Beast, http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/05/27/drones-the-silent-killers.html; Jo Becker and Scott Shane, “Secret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of Obama’s Principles and Will,” New York Times, May 29, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/world/obamas-leadership-in-war-on-al-qaeda.html; David E. Sanger, “Obama Order Sped Up Wave of Cyberattacks Against Iran,” New York Times, June 1, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/world/middleeast/obama-ordered-wave-of-cyberattacks-against-iran.html; Charlie Savage, “Holder Directs U.S. Attorneys to Track Down Paths of Leaks,” New York Times, June 8, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/09/us/politics/holder-directs-us-attorneys-to-investigate-leaks.html?pagewanted=all.

the Bosnian campaign of the 1990s: Siobhan Gorman, Yochi J. Dreazen and August Cole, “Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones,” Wall Street Journal, December 17, 2009, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126102247889095011.html.

U.S. military troops first discovered laptops: Ibid.

As Peter Singer pointed out, during World War I, when the tank first appeared: Peter Warren Singer in discussion with the authors, April 2012.

targeted Soviet tanks: Abdul Rahim Wardak in discussion with the authors, June 2012.

“The ground robots our soldiers use”: Peter Warren Singer in discussion with the authors, April 2012.

Faced with this decision: Ibid.

Responsibility to Protect (RtoP): Jayshree Bajoria, “Libya and the Responsibility to Protect,” Counsel on Foreign Relations, analysis brief, March 24, 2011, http://www.cfr.org/libya/libya-responsibility-protect/p24480.

a brave American soul called Fred: Libyan ministers in discussion with the authors, June 2012.

Bangladesh is among the most frequent contributors of troops: “Ranking of Military and Police Contributions to U.N. Operations,” United Nations Peacekeeping, Resources, August 31, 2012, http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/contributors/2012/august12_2.pdf.