"The drone is the ultimate imperial weapon, allowing a superpower almost unlimited reach while keeping its own soldiers far from battle," writes New York Times reporter James Risen in his important new book "Pay Any Price: Greed, Power, and Endless War."
"Drones provide remote-control combat, custom-designed for wars of choice, and they have become the signature weapons of the war on terror."
But America's monopoly on death from a distance is coming to an end. Drone technology is relatively simple and cheap to acquire — which is why more than 70 countries, plus nonstate actors like Hezbollah, have combat drones.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.