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Business Daily: The Business and Morality of Drone War

US RQ-1 Predator Drone

07/05/2013

The Business and Morality of Drone War

BBC World Service - Business Daily, The Business and Morality of Drone War

How does Abraham Karem, who designed the Predator drone, feel about how it is being used?

Drones are the defining weapon of the post 9/11 era.  Pilots at computer screens thousands of kilometres away can now dispense death at the push of a button.  The way we wage war has been transformed. During Barack Obama's presidency American drones buzzing over Libya, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen have killed well over a thousand people in countries which the United States has not been at war. 

The success - if that's the right word - of military drones has created a multi-billion dollar business but has also raised some tricky philosophical questions.  

Justin Rowlatt discusses the morality of the business of remote war with Abraham Karem, the man who made millions by designing the Predator drone in his garage.  

Plus: what is it that really annoys you about your work colleagues?  Is it noisy eating, messiness, people turning up late for meetings?  Or, asks Lucy Kellaway, is it when your colleague slips on a pair of headphones?

(Image: A US RQ-1 Predator drone or UAV (Unmanned aerial vehicle) flies over the moon above Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan. Credit: Associated Press)

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