ok same scenario with unmanned air reconn above the outposts 24/7–with back up in case one gets shot down.

It would probably be cheaper anyway to have unmanned air recon above the outposts anyway.

Not sure if aq would find the outposts interesting with drones buzzing above them.

That said, the encounter closer to the border a couple weeks back had the drones not only killing aq/taliban but giving photographic evidence that the bad guys killed were not paki border police in their huts–but aq/tali on the ridgeline firing down at americans. so the pakis had to stand down.

That’s a better scenario than the one we’re hearing about now.