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It's the combination that's problematic. It suggests that the killing is done lightly and carelessly, and it cheapens human lives.

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And yet that is the fact. The worth of human life is decided but what's in the pocket. The sooner you accept it the easier it will be.

I should be surprised that a HN reader is falling for this guy's trick, but I guess I'm not.

"Oh and look at how the military is using these hacker kids with neck beards who part-time as assassins in between their Battlefield 3 matches"

I guess this guy (and apparently you too) would feel better if this guy was wearing a 3-piece suit before he launches a hellfire missile into a Taliban camp.

No, someone wearing a uniform and whose leash it tightly held by commissioned officer is a tiny bit more appropriate. A clear and unambiguous chain of command from the sovereign state is the least you can ask for in a war. Those involved should know that they are not autonomous agents, they are instruments of power, tools, and disposable themselves.

Exactly : Wearing a uniform you're doing things that you would never do wearing civilian clothes. That's a psychological threshold, for soldiers and for the society.

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