Dropping a bomb from a plane or a UAV is basically the same thing in these wars. The enemies have no weapons capable of shooting down our fighters. Have we lost a single plane to enemy SAMs in either Iraq or Afghanistan? We've certainly lost some helicopters, but there really is no difference between an F/18 and a Predator.
If anything the UAV allows for more accuracy and a better view of the aftermath, the pilot of a manned plane is trying to get in and get out, the pilots of a UAV are watching before, during, and after the strike. The pilot of a manned fighter sees less of the actual attack and is even further removed.
The same can be said for ships at sea firing Tomahawks, and before that artillery. Once you get beyond the face to face fighting of infantry it just becomes more and more abstract until we are here today where the guys pulling the trigger are 3,000 miles away.
I don't disagree with what you said, but the real abstraction is the ability to shoot and not be shot at.
Even with "beyond the horizon" battles, two ships at sea are hitting each other. The difference between dying from a shell fired 20 miles away or one fired 1/2 mile away is nonexistent.
Dropping a bomb from a plane or a UAV is basically the same thing in these wars. The enemies have no weapons capable of shooting down our fighters. Have we lost a single plane to enemy SAMs in either Iraq or Afghanistan? We've certainly lost some helicopters, but there really is no difference between an F/18 and a Predator.
If anything the UAV allows for more accuracy and a better view of the aftermath, the pilot of a manned plane is trying to get in and get out, the pilots of a UAV are watching before, during, and after the strike. The pilot of a manned fighter sees less of the actual attack and is even further removed.
The same can be said for ships at sea firing Tomahawks, and before that artillery. Once you get beyond the face to face fighting of infantry it just becomes more and more abstract until we are here today where the guys pulling the trigger are 3,000 miles away.