http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WczGIhmaJ_M

This is what you come to expect: the secret near-death experience of Boeing's Phantom Ray killer drone. Drug lords who build their own MRAPs and Afghan insurgents who blow up MRAPs with our reporter in them. Mental calisthenics for intelligence analysts.

On one side of the ledger, stealth is on the way out; on the other side, missiles and rocket propelled grenades might start to see the dawn of their own obsolescence. Even as that all happens, the wars of the future will get longer – starting with the Afghanistan training mission.

We started with that sort of terror. We ended far, far away. Russian toilets that withstand terrorist attacks. Endorsements from the next secretary of defense for more joint CIA-JSOC hit teams, like a lethal Justice League. Custom-built DNA, courtesy of Darpa. And come next week, it gets even more intense. Stay tuned. And reset expectations.