Replies to post #144192 on World Surveillance Group Inc (fka WSGI)

[Madmonks]

I understand your argument. And I respect it.

When innocents are killed, no matter what the circumstances, it's not OK. Collateral damage is not OK. The line for me is arming. I know it's a fine line maybe in today's modern warfare. But once you arm the airship, its only purpose is to kill and destroy. The BiB's main purpose from what I read in the PR issued by the company, is:

The BiB is designed to provide real-time day/night high definition footage for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance ("ISR"), detection of improvised explosive devices ("IEDs"), border security and other governmental and civilian uses.

Can that lead the military to use it in some role on a kill mission? I suppose it can. Can a man use a camera to shoot child pornography? I suppose he can. So if I own stock in a camera company in which this man uses the company's camera to take pornographic pictures of children, am I going to sell my stock? No. But if this man owns a video store in which the main purpose is to sell and distribute child pornography, I can't support that. Yes, I know, that's not a very good example, but I think you get my point. Once an airship is armed, its main purpose (at least in my mind) is to kill and destroy.

I was never ever in favor of invading Afghanistan in the first place. But now that we are over there, we not only have a right to defend our troops and the Afghan civilian population, we now have an obligation IMO. My dad served in World War II. I understand his purpose for serving. I understand that there is good and evil. And I understand that people die fighting wars. I just don't want to be directly involved with the platform that drops the bomb that destroys a school, a hospital or our own troops in a friendly-fire incident.

I want to keep our troops safe while serving. And I think the BiB and Argus can do that. While at the same time, I think they can protect our borders, monitor oil pipelines, and provide emergency communications following natural disasters. I want our products to save lives, not destroy them.

Run, you don't have to agree with my position. I was just agreeing with nilremerlin's. We all have our own moral compasses we have to follow.

These can become very gray areas. I think we can all agree, though, that people kill people, not machines or technology.