I'm Caitlin McNally, the co-producer of Digital Nation. I also worked on Growing Up Online, a report on the internet's impact on the social and emotional lives of teenagers that appeared on FRONTLINE last January. I'm astonished by the velocity with which the digital landscape has already changed since we made that film: Obama's online campaign swept up millions; Twitter has become mainstream; Facebook is almost a social requirement.
In the spirit of change, we're now posting our material (sometimes raw, occasionally unpolished) on this site as we go. I've never worked on a film this way, and it's one of the elements of Digital Nation that excites me the most. We're asking you to take a look at what we do and respond as we do it. There's definitely a tinge of anxiety in opening ourselves up, an equal amount of exhilaration, and more than anything, a lot of hope.
So for my first post on this site, I'm seeking your advice. Here's one of the stories up for debate right now in our office, and I'm hoping you'll weigh in:
Last Friday, President Obama unveiled a new strategy for combating Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Insurgents in Afghanistan benefit from sanctuary in the Pakistan provinces directly across the border, and the Pakistan Taliban in these regions has been steadily gaining strength. One of the crucial components of the new administration's policy there will be how it deals with the parts of Pakistan hanging in a precarious balance between government rule and Taliban control (see the upcoming FRONTLINE/World film about this struggle, "Children of the Taliban," on April 14).
A quiet centerpiece of the U.S. approach to the problem has been the CIA's use of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, to identify and take out Taliban and Qaeda leaders in the lawless frontier provinces on the Pakistan side of the border. The pilots who control drones are stationed here, at bases in the U.S., over seven thousand miles away from the front. They fly drones remotely -- mostly in two-person teams, in air-conditioned trailers in Nevada, Arizona, California and elsewhere -- and at the end of a work day spent surveilling and sometimes executing air strikes on targets, they climb in to their cars and drive home to dinner.
We've been following the complex questions posed by the use of drones.There are many who claim this is a cost-efficient, modern strategy for combating an elusive and unconventional foe. There are others who worry that removing the physical experience of war might in some way lower our collective bar for what constitutes justifiable violence. Some refer to drone pilots as a kind of cubicle warrior, and the comparison between the skills employed in a video game and the skills required to fly a drone has been drawn more than once. Also, while these weapons allow the U.S. to execute attacks on sovereign Pakistan soil without directly endangering troops, the people of Pakistan pay a price, and they've taken to the streets in protest against the strikes. The U.S. holds a powerful and seductive technology in its hands, but faces mounting unpopularity in delicate regions of Pakistan and potential moral criticism at home as drones continue to be deployed.
Recently, we interviewed P. W. Singer, author of "Wired for War" and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. It was a far-reaching conversation, in which we touched on some of these questions about drones as well as many others about the contours of life in a wired world. We'll be posting excerpts from the interview on the site soon, along with a whole new set of material exploring the military's use of digital technology. You can also hear P. W. Singer talking about his book today on the WNYC/PRI radio show, The Takeaway.
Our look at the military so far has focused on places where technology is touching people's lives and experiences in a profound way. We've found this intersection in a virtual world program designed to help veterans overcome PTSD, and in virtual reality training systems that teach Marines how to make the most important combat decisions. Up until now, drones had felt a little far afield for us -- more about war strategy than the people fighting. But talking to P. W. Singer, and chewing on some of these larger questions, prompted us to revisit the issue.
We're curious if you're interested in drones, and if so, what about the story interests you? Here's the place to chime in to the debate, and please do -- we're listening.
-- Caitlin
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