I was struck recently by the parallel between the use of “body counts” to tout signs of success in the Vietnam war with the current “we’re making progress because we’re killing oh so many al-Qaeda leaders” refrain.

At least when you’re using robots to kill at a distance you can’t get into the business of cutting off ears (I don’t remember if it was the left ear or the right ear that counted – you didn’t want anybody to cheat and get credit for two when they only killed one). There really is very little that’s new under the sun.