We watched a movie last night we had missed when it was released in late 2015, Eye in the Sky, with Helen Mirren and Alan Rickman and a fine ensemble struggling with the ethics and legalities of making a drone strike in Nairobi on a house full of terrorists who are getting ready to do two suicide bombings. Without going into all the complexities (one of the most cerebral political thrillers I've seen), I'll just say it comes down to a choice: strike immediately and kill the bomb-vested ones before they leave (this is the only way to intercept them), while also likely killing a young girl selling bread right outside, or wait until the girl has sold her bread and leaves. If they wait, it is certain the bombers leave and dozens, maybe hundreds, will die in a shopping mall or marketplace. (a surveillance "beetle" is inside the house, so they can see the bombers strapping on vests and wiring up)
This film is a full exploration of what ethicists deal with in their famous thought experiment known as The Trolley Problem. (Worth Googling) - the proposal is to do something morally wrong to do something right, to save many lives. What philosopher Jeremy Bentham developed as an ethical system called utilitarianism. The generals are all pretty much okay with it. The government ministers are more resistant (not all for the best of reasons). The drone pilot, Aaron Paul, seeing the little girl, is horrified and puts up resistance and throws some procedural wrenches into the machinery. If you're not yelling things at the screen in the movie's final act, you just haven't been paying attention.
I especially recommend the film to anyone who has asked "So what's the problem with drone warfare?"
