The comforts of modern killing

Robots with guns? I've seen enough science fiction to know that combination is bad news. Robotic minds always go haywire at the wrong time. Yet, with the military introducing science fiction to the battlefield, it is the minds of the humans that I am concerned about.

Just a few days ago, the military unveiled SWORDS, or Special Weapons Observation Reconnaissance Detection Systems. SWORDS is identical to the bomb detection robots already in use in Iraq, yet the SWORDS robots sport an automatic rifle capable of firing 300 to 350 rounds per minute.

Impressive? Most definitely. These robots can scale stairs, set themselves upright, and pass through barbed wire. SWORDS can go where human troops cannot and keep their human controllers at a safe distance from the fighting.

As a person with both good friends and family in the military, I favor anything that will keep them safer. SWORDS does this. As one Marine described the robot, "This is my invisibility cloak." Especially considering the urban combat faced by our troops in recent months, a weapon like SWORDS allows American troops to advance in the most dangerous areas without risking life.

But is SWORDS merely a weapon as the army contends? Operators currently control the device with joysticks and a keyboard while viewing the pictures from SWORDS' four cameras. In the future, a soldier wearing virtual reality glasses will control the device with a game system controller. Very real killing will be no different from the war games on XBOX and Playstation.

Anyone who has played HALO, XBOX's hugely popular war game, knows how easy it is to kill. Yes, the game is one of strategy, and winning takes skill, but for the player killing is very easy. While lying on a bed, one merely must push a button and a life is gone. As the game goes on, the player kills more and more. And when the game is done, the player shuts off the system and continues on with life.

With SWORDS, killing is no different. A soldier can kill from relative comfort and safety. SWORDS insulates the soldier from reality, but the soldier's actions are very real. Just like HALO, the soldier can kill with the push of a button. And when the battle is over, the soldier puts down the controller and continues on with life while very real dead bodies lie in the streets.

I hope that SWORDS will not be used lightly. Few are more acquainted with the horrors of death than our troops in Iraq. The military should know the implications of its newest weapon. Namely, that SWORDS is more than a weapon. When war is as easy as a video game, when infantry kill with the push of a button, killing has become too easy. And when killing is this easy, can we ever expect to stop?