New York Times (October 14)
“Israel finds itself at war because of the depravity of Hamas. Further bloodshed now appears unavoidable, but the way Israel fights will begin to determine what happens next: Defeating Hamas will make Israel safer; showing disregard for the killing of civilians will not.”
Tags: Bloodshed, Civilians, Defeating, Depravity, Hamas, Israel, Killing, Safer. Disregard, Unavoidable, War
New York Times (May 31)
“Drone warfare is pushing human pilots to the side. Some next-generation military drones rely on artificial intelligence to circle over an area, pick out enemy units and destroy them.” As drone technology advances and cost decline, “the frightening truth is that troops and civilians in future conflicts will find fewer and fewer places to hide from the gaze of both man and machine.”
Tags: AI, Civilians, Cost, Destroy, Enemy units, Frightening, Future, Human pilots, Military drones, Next-generation, Troops, Warfare
Newsweek (June 4)
Thirty years ago, “the brutal scenes of troops from the People’s Liberation Army firing live ammunition on civilians peaceably calling for political reforms at Tiananmen Square shocked the world.” The outside world’s response was largely based on the prevailing wisdom that economic development supports human rights. Today, “you’d be hard pressed to find any serious analysts who still believe economic prosperity has led to a more liberated China. Instead, China has been emboldened to infringe on the rights of its own people at home and abroad, cracking down on burgeoning civil society and activists, and undermining international human rights institutions as a means of subjecting its people under its control.”
Tags: Activists, Brutal, China, Civilians, Economic development, Emboldened, Human rights, Infringe, PLA, Political reforms, Tiananmen Square, Troops
USA Today (May 25)
President Obama is right to visit Hiroshima and also not to apologize. “The bombings, as horrific as they were, saved the lives of millions of civilians and soldiers who surely would have died had the United States gone ahead with an invasion of Japan. Many of those lives were Japanese.” Instead Obama “should present an America that, while not apologetic, is empathetic. There is something appealing about the world’s only true superpower…showing a bit of humanity.”
Tags: Bombings, Civilians, Empathetic, Hiroshima, Horrific, Humanity, Invasion, Japan, Obama, Soldiers, Superpower, U.S.
Washington Post (September 26)
“Before too long, district police officers on patrol are likely to have miniature, body-worn video cameras as part of their standard gear, in addition to badge, gun, handcuffs and nightstick. That welcome and timely measure… should go a long way to promoting better interactions between uniformed officers and civilians — and providing critical video evidence when things go wrong.”
Tags: Body-worn, Cameras, Civilians, Gear, Interactions, Patrol, Police officers, Uniform, Video evidence
