<nettime> Reducing military spending

["Ivo Skoric" <ivo@balkansnet.org>]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/16/technology/16robots.html?pagewanted=
1&ei=5094&en=527b7e950d00d351&hp&ex=1108616400&partner=homepage

Pentagon says that an average soldier's upkeep, training, and 
retirement costs about $4 million. That's tax-payers money. If the 
soldier is replaced by a robot, that would cost only $230K per piece. 
And the cost of maintenance, of course, shich hopefully would be less 
than $4M. Although one never knows with new and untested technology. 
And where are they going to make them? In China?

On the other hand, present declared enemy, already operates with army 
of cheaper force that are easy and quick to train, and that do not 
need retirement, since they die before that time: suicide bombers. 
They have disadvantages - since they are not re-usable, like US 
Marines - but overall they come at much cheaper price tag. To beat 
the army of robots, maybe Al Qaeda responds by cloning the most 
succesful, most zealous, most pliable suicide bombers?

ivo


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