A German Bundeswehr armed forces pilot operator controls a Heron 1 unmanned aerial vehicle on a mission from their Advance Ground Control Station at the Marmal army camp in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, on December 11, 2012. (Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters) Here's one aspect of the drones debate that has received little airplay: the international consensus against human shielding - the idea that civilians in the United States should be protected from military targeting and the battlefield.