The Guardian view on the new drone wars: as prices fall, casualties mount | Editorial

Never before have unmanned aerial vehicles been used so intensely in conflict, with even commercial devices enlisted in battleThree days into his presidency, Barack Obama ordered his first drone strikes. Over the next eight years, he oversaw a massive expansion of the US programme of targeted killings using armed drones. The initial appeal was that the US did not risk its personnel, and strikes could be carried out without attracting much attention and, supposedly, with more precision – th