War of drones: hunting, fantasy and the art of assassination
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/dra.2022.003Keywords:
Drone Warfare, Pilots, Man-Hunting, Fantasy, Trauma, Art of Killing, ObamaAbstract
The article deals with drone warfare as man-hunting carried out via satellite from Creech AFB near Las Vegas. The book examines the layers of fantasy on which counterterrorism and its self-sustaining logic are grounded. Its initial revelatory event is the trauma endured by drone operators when, due to their visual intimacy with the victims, the fantasy of the beast-like enemy collapses. It shows how counterterrorism, through euphemism, narrative, and video game imagery, has turned drone assassination and button-pushing murder into a form of art. Finally, the article dwells on the tragic error of a president unable to resist the deceptions of the counterterror state and considers as well the current status of drone warfare under President Biden.
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