Interesting bit of irony, if that’s the word, recorded by William Saletan at Slate. Seems the seven CIA operatives killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan were active in the CIA drone program. Their death was no accident. The drone program – the use of robotic, remote controlled flying machines – is relatively effective in killing and devastating in psychological impact – a little like being hit with a bolt of lightning out of a clear blue sky.

The Taliban hate the drones, and fear them. However, there’s not much chance these days of bringing down a drone, or of killing an operator (who is often thousands of miles away). No, what’s left for the Taliban is to kill those who act as spotters for the drones. That’s the Afghans who get paid by the CIA, or the CIA people who do the paying. They were the ones killed.

With the irony on his sleeve, here’s Saletan’s money quote:

Either way, it appears that the bomber used our intelligence-gathering system to slip into the base and kill the people who orchestrated the intelligence gathering. In so doing, he delivered the worst blow ever suffered by the drone program. He found the flesh in our unmanned air force, seduced it, and slaughtered it.

[Source: Slate]