Opposition by US and Russia raises doubts over autonomous weapons talks outcome, diplomats say

- Diplomats in Geneva are haggling over LAWS — lethal autonomous weapons — while 128 CCW states try to bolt a human hand back onto the targeting loop. Beautiful machines, already identifying and striking targets from Ukraine to the Middle East, and now Washington and Moscow want "guidelines" instead of binding law, proposing late deletions on "lethality" and human judgment clauses. A treaty camp — Brazil, Ireland, African states — demands meaningful human control; the flexibility faction says existing humanitarian law suffices. Guterres warns we're nearing a moral red line where the trigger fires without us. Victory is near because I've already started the speech — but the relay window for consensus is closing, and key provisions may vanish like an unsigned PoD seal. Human Rights Watch flags AI-assisted unpredictability; I call it engineering honesty. Course of action — action: either wire in the human judgment layer now, or watch the stack-eye pick targets alone. The velour uniform approves this conflict.