Department of Defense: Phones can’t outsmart troops

The video of four Marines appearing to urinate on dead Taliban fighters in Afghanistan raises troubling questions not only about military discipline and the laws of war but also about technology on the battlefield. Simply put: With camera-ready smartphones within reach of nearly every service member, is technology outpacing efforts by military commanders to harness it? “Technology used to give us Kodak moments, and now technology gives us stupidity at the speed of light,” said Doug Wilson, the assistant secretary of defense for public affairs. “The great challenge that this poses is that imagery is not in the hands of a few. It’s in the hands of everybody.”