Military robots have been used in war in some primitive form since the beginning of the 20th century. Only recently they have moved from a marginal role to the centre stage of contemporary military and intelligence operations.
In recent years, the legality and civilian casualties of the secretive American drone programme have increasingly been the subject of much discussion. But one question has gone largely unasked: What is the impact of drone warfare on humanitarian work?
The government has secretly ramped up a controversial programme that strips people of their British citizenship on national security grounds – two of whom have been subsequently killed by US drone attacks.
US drone strikes have killed an estimated total of 2,600 to 4,700 people over the last decade, but little is known about the “signature strikes” that targets not known militants but people showing patterns of suspicious behaviour
The US was with al-Qaeda is entering a new phase, with the President citing authorisation to target both terrorists and their associates from Congress’ Authorisation of Military Force joint resolution in 2001.