72% of Xbox 360 Gamers Approve of "More Military Drone Strikes" 446
An anonymous reader writes "During the latest presidential debate, Xbox 360 owners were being polled live, as the debate was progressing, on a number of different questions, and asked to answer 'Yes,' 'No,' or 'Don't Know' using their gamepad. Out of these questions, one particular question produced a surprising result: Xbox 360 owners were asked 'Do you support more use of drone aircraft to attack suspected terrorists?' 20% answered this question with 'No'. 8% answered 'Don't know.' And a whopping 72% answered the question 'Yes.' This raises an interesting question in and of itself: Is the average Xbox 360 player at all aware that drone strikes in countries like Pakistan cause a serious number of civilian deaths on a regular basis? Or do Xbox 360 gamers live in a parallel, game-inspired universe, where a real world 'Drone Strike' is something seriously cool, just like it is cool to use it in popular games like Call of Duty? In other words, does playing simulated war games like COD on a game console on a daily basis, and enjoying these games, cause gamers to become blinkered to the at times seriously dire real world consequences of using military tactics like drone strikes for real?"
Re:Perhaps (Score:5, Informative)
That's your stupid fucking opinion, but here's the facts:
"The study by Stanford Law School and New York University's School of Law calls for a re-evaluation of the practice, saying the number of "high-level" targets killed as a percentage of total casualties is extremely low -- about 2%."
http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/25/world/asia/pakistan-us-drone-strikes/index.html [cnn.com]
Re:Or... (Score:5, Informative)
The Taliban, as evil as they may be, did not attack the US. They allowed Bin Laden to lead Al Qaeda from Afghanistan. The US gave them the choice of turning Bin Laden over, which they refused. Bin Laden's reasons for hating the US are well documented, but chiefly had to do with the American military setting foot in Saudi Arabia.
This may seem like hair splitting to some, but misremembering history is not a good recipe for sound decisions.