I've made my opinion on The Middle East quite apparent. For those derailing this thread, you might want to go check that out for my thoughts since that seems to be more along the kind of discussion your looking for.
As far as the actual subject goes, the problem with Nerds as soldiers, even controlling remote combat units, is that the first thing a Soldier needs above and beyond anything is disapline and to be able to follow orders unquestioningly. Nerds generally don't have that kind of mentality, and if it was drilled into your uber-gamer via Boot Camp I think they would lose a lot of the talent that would have made them useful to begin with.
There has been a lot of criticism over the years about the military and how it compartmentalizes information. The current "hip" thing is to present it, and the entire military mentality as being a bad thing (from the left wing mostly), sadly that isn't the case. A lot of people today read a lot of stuff criticizing the military system but not much in the way of writings by guys like Robert Heinlan that do a good job of explaining it. The BOOK "Starship Troopers" (which is nothing like the movie) can change your entire perception on how the military operates.
At any rate, I think operating drones won't be done by nerds, but probably by guys selected on a similar criteria to pilots and the like (good reaction time, reflexs, and hand-eye coordination).
The entire discussion about The Middle East is kind of pointless. In the end a war comes down to us against them. Whether the enemy is Muslims, an African Warlord, Russians, Chinese, South and Central American factions, Russia, Eastern European, or some kind of whacked American seperatist movement (The South shall rise again!!!!), the idea is to make the other guys die. Part of being a soldier is being able to make those guys die without asking why, or playing 20 questions. A chilling as "I was just following orders" sounds due to liberal connotations, there can also be positive spins placed on that entire attitude as well (again, read some Heinlan).
The problem I see with drone fighting though is that our morality is likely to get in the way. No machine is going to operate perfectly all the time, a few drones crash into buildings, misfire, or whatever else and cause some collateral damage even in a war zone and at least in the US the whining is likely to be unreal. One of our biggest problems is that we have the most advanced fighting force to ever exist, but we won't use our technology for moral reasons and go in to fight people rifle to rifle. Drones are liable to be just another toy we develop but then won't use because of baaawing. Neat idea, and I'd like to see it developed and used, but unless our goverment ever declares Martial Law and invokes war powers again I doubt it will see much deployment... a few basic runs, some accidents (especially seeing as it will be new) and then we'll leave it gathering dust somewhere.
As far as the actual subject goes, the problem with Nerds as soldiers, even controlling remote combat units, is that the first thing a Soldier needs above and beyond anything is disapline and to be able to follow orders unquestioningly. Nerds generally don't have that kind of mentality, and if it was drilled into your uber-gamer via Boot Camp I think they would lose a lot of the talent that would have made them useful to begin with.
There has been a lot of criticism over the years about the military and how it compartmentalizes information. The current "hip" thing is to present it, and the entire military mentality as being a bad thing (from the left wing mostly), sadly that isn't the case. A lot of people today read a lot of stuff criticizing the military system but not much in the way of writings by guys like Robert Heinlan that do a good job of explaining it. The BOOK "Starship Troopers" (which is nothing like the movie) can change your entire perception on how the military operates.
At any rate, I think operating drones won't be done by nerds, but probably by guys selected on a similar criteria to pilots and the like (good reaction time, reflexs, and hand-eye coordination).
The entire discussion about The Middle East is kind of pointless. In the end a war comes down to us against them. Whether the enemy is Muslims, an African Warlord, Russians, Chinese, South and Central American factions, Russia, Eastern European, or some kind of whacked American seperatist movement (The South shall rise again!!!!), the idea is to make the other guys die. Part of being a soldier is being able to make those guys die without asking why, or playing 20 questions. A chilling as "I was just following orders" sounds due to liberal connotations, there can also be positive spins placed on that entire attitude as well (again, read some Heinlan).
The problem I see with drone fighting though is that our morality is likely to get in the way. No machine is going to operate perfectly all the time, a few drones crash into buildings, misfire, or whatever else and cause some collateral damage even in a war zone and at least in the US the whining is likely to be unreal. One of our biggest problems is that we have the most advanced fighting force to ever exist, but we won't use our technology for moral reasons and go in to fight people rifle to rifle. Drones are liable to be just another toy we develop but then won't use because of baaawing. Neat idea, and I'd like to see it developed and used, but unless our goverment ever declares Martial Law and invokes war powers again I doubt it will see much deployment... a few basic runs, some accidents (especially seeing as it will be new) and then we'll leave it gathering dust somewhere.
