War Without Humans By Barbara Ehrenreich

Name: Course Code: Date: War without humans The author described the evolution of warfare and corresponding impacts it has had on the world, especially the nature of engagement on the battleground. The impacts have transcended the military industry to encompass social welfare and other aspects of our lives. The internet itself began as a military research endeavor CITATION Fra11 \l 1033 (Harris, 2011) and it has revolutionized communication and information technology. Warfare has also impacted other industries such as insurance, education, etc. The author describes the evolution and shows how the future battlegrounds will be different and their possible correspondence to human life. She contextualizes the effects of war to the citizenry and if it stays on course of the current trajectory, she tries to imagine its impacts in the future. I concur with her views on the future of warfare which have been backed by strong arguments on the development of warfare and the newest trends in the industry. She draws a strong argument that wars are decreasingly in need of humans on the battlefield. She cites the American Iraq war in 2003 when the troops deployed were not accompanied by drones. She notes ‘When American forces invaded Iraq in 2003, no robots accompanied them; by 2008, there were 12,000 participating in the war.’ This is a strong indicator that warfare is changing and the need for humans on the battlefront is decreasing. Technology is giving an edge to those who have invested in it and they can undertake their missions with less humans at stake. She notes that the Air Force Academy cadets were informed that ‘most of them would not be flying airplanes,’ which are increasingly becoming unmanned. Manned equipment is continuously being replaced by automated equipment which continuously reduce the need for humans on the ground. Remotely controlled weapons will continue to be used and it will reduce the needs for boots on the ground. Commanding a huge army and providing it with the necessary supplies, equipment for combat has become another hurdle of deploying troops. Governments are rethinking on how to reduce this cost and use more cost efficient and easier strategies that could give them a significant advantage on the battlefield. She notes that moving troops to a designated area is becoming difficult, resource-intensive and inefficient, thus calling for new strategies that could be faster. She notes that, ‘it took the US military a full month to organize the transport of 20,000 soldiers to Haiti in the wake of the 2010 earthquake.’ For each troop deployment, there is a logistical nightmare which weighs down the efficacy of the operation especially if it needs to be short-termed. She notes, ‘those soldiers will need to be preceded or accompanied by tents, canteens, trucks, medical equipment and so forth.’ Additionally, she notes, ‘Flyover” rights will have to be granted by neighboring countries; air strips and eventually bases will have to be constructed; supply lines will have to be created and defendedall of which can take months to accomplish.’ These issues add to the cost of the war significantly and prompt the governments to re-strategizeand invest in a war without humans which would cut on these demands in wa...