High in the sky

The cameras aboard today's drones are easily capable of detecting people from 5 miles or 6 miles away, allowing the aircraft to travel undetected at altitudes of 25,000 feet.

Though drones might be facilitating an ease of war, the road to drone warfare hasn't been smooth. Today during his confirmation hearing to be CIA director, White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan faced questions by the Senate Select Intelligence Committee about the agency's covert use of lethal force in unauthorized war zones and the drone killings of Americans.

The government claims to have eliminated up to 70 percent of al-Qaeda's top leadership with the use of drones. But critics say the collateral damage is too high. The Taliban claims that 30 percent of those killed in drone strikes are civilians.

By removing the danger of war to our troops, have we facilitated the spread of war around the world? Technically, the United States is involved in one war -- Afghanistan. But drones strikes have killed thousands with just the press of a button, often without accountability or transparency, and with few constraints. The U.S. has fired drone missiles in Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia, and Iraq, and the military is soon to open a new base for drone flights in northwest Africa.