--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Where land mines are indiscriminate…" description: "\"Where land mines are indiscriminate, cheap, and brutal, drones are discriminate, expensive, and brutal. And yet they are insufficiently discriminate: t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ff/teju-cole-2851_assassination_where-land-mines-are-indiscriminate-chea_726181.png" --- # Where land mines are indiscriminate, cheap, and brutal… ![“Where land mines are indiscriminate, cheap, and brutal, drones are discriminate, expensive, and brutal. And yet they are insufficiently discriminate: the assassination of the Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud in Pakistan in 2009 succeeded only on the seventeenth attempt.” quote by Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ff/teju-cole-2851_assassination_where-land-mines-are-indiscriminate-chea_726181.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ff/teju-cole-2851_assassination_where-land-mines-are-indiscriminate-chea_726181.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ff/teju-cole-2851_assassination_where-land-mines-are-indiscriminate-chea_726181.png) > “Where land mines are indiscriminate, cheap, and brutal, drones are discriminate, expensive, and brutal. And yet they are insufficiently discriminate: the assassination of the Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud in Pakistan in 2009 succeeded only on the seventeenth attempt.” [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Land mines cause indiscriminate harm, drones target specific individuals but are costly and still often miss their mark. **In simple terms:** Land mines are reckless; drones are precise but expensive and imperfect. Key Takeaway Recognize limits of technology in conflict. Themes ethics war technology humanitarianism Mood concerned critical Type ethical political When to use this quote - military planning - human rights advocacy - policy making Key Concepts collateral damage targeted killing cost-benefit analysis Questions to Reflect On - How do we balance precision with moral responsibility? - Can technology ever fully replace human judgment in war? A Different Perspective Even drones can fail to discriminate accurately, leading to unintended casualties. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Assassination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assassination/) [Assassination Taliban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assassination-taliban-5696386/) [Attempt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attempt/) [Brutal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brutal/) [Brutal Drones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brutal-drones-5696385/) [Cheap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cheap/) [Chief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chief/) [Discriminate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discriminate/) [Discriminate Assassination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discriminate-assassination-5696384/) [Drones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drones/) [Drones Discriminate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drones-discriminate-5696383/) [Expensive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expensive/) [Indiscriminate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indiscriminate/) [Israel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/israel/) [Land](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/land/) [Mines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mines/) [Only](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/only/) [Pakistan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pakistan/) [Succeeded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/succeeded/) [Taliban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taliban/) [Where](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/where/) ## Related quotes > [“He's indiscriminate with his charm. 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Indiscriminate commercial fishing practices that include…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-danson/the-industrial-way-we-fish-for-seafood-is-harming-the-marine-habitats/) [Ted Danson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-danson/) > [“Love is indiscriminate in the path it takes to find you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/truth-devour/love-is-indiscriminate-in-the-path-it-takes-to-find-you/) [Truth Devour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/truth-devour/) > [We cannot allow the indiscriminate entry of all those who come here only because they wanted to come.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jair-bolsonaro/we-cannot-allow-the-indiscriminate-entry-of-all-those-who-come-here/) [Jair Bolsonaro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jair-bolsonaro/) > [The fueling of anti-Turkish sentiment in Europe is resulting in an anti-European, indiscriminate nationalism in Turkey.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/the-fueling-of-anti-turkish-sentiment-in-europe-is-resulting-in-an/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) > [Even soldiers from the Vietnam War had said that when they were fighting in that war, the landmine was just one of any number…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jody-williams/even-soldiers-from-the-vietnam-war-had-said-that-when-they-were/) [Jody Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jody-williams/) > [Carpet bombing tends to portray something that's totally indiscriminate, you know, en masse without regard to the target.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-schwarzkopf/carpet-bombing-tends-to-portray-something-that-s-totally/) [Norman Schwarzkopf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-schwarzkopf/) > [The initial research will be very indiscriminate. I do a lot of reading, buy a stack of books and read and digest them, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-jeremiah-sullivan/the-initial-research-will-be-very-indiscriminate-i-do-a-lot-of/) [John Jeremiah Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-jeremiah-sullivan/) > [The one thing that the racist can never manage is anything like discrimination: he is indiscriminate by definition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/the-one-thing-that-the-racist-can-never-manage-is-anything-like/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [The larger and more indiscriminate the audience, the greater the need to safeguard and purify standards of quality and taste.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moses-hadas/the-larger-and-more-indiscriminate-the-audience-the-greater-the-need/) [Moses Hadas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moses-hadas/) > [He objected, though, to indiscriminate reading. 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On the best days, all three.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/writing-as-writing-writing-as-rioting-writing-as-righting-on-the-best/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [“The site was a palimpsest, as was all the city, written, erased, rewritten...Generations rushed through the eye of the needle, and I, one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/the-site-was-a-palimpsest-as-was-all-the-city-written-erased/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [“As I contemplated the silent world before me, I thought of the many romantic ideas attached to blindness. 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