(11.12.) The drone operators, L’Espresso reports, see very few conventional military targets from their remote-control stations on the ground in Kuwait. There are few tanks or other military vehicles, far more cars and tractors, and few columns of soldiers, mainly gunmen circulating in small groups, mixed in with the civilian population.

“A huge part of drone surveillance is exactly about this: tracking patterns, rhythms, habits, pathways,” Mr. Keenan said. “They are acquiring massive quantities of data this way, both about individuals (who can be individually tracked, as is clear from this footage) and in the aggregate.”