Robot Soldiers in Iraq?

According to this interesting N.Y Times article, GI, Robot' rolls toward the battlefield, the Pentagone is seriously considering using 'robot soldiers' in future wars. Sci Fi? Apparently not:

• By April, an armed version of the bomb-disposal robot will be in Baghdad, capable of firing 1,000 rounds a minute. Though controlled by a soldier with a laptop computer, the robot will be the first thinking machine of its kind to take up a front-line infantry position, ready to kill enemies.

Another hint that this is becoming serious is that they are talking about lawyers but remain reassuring.

• The lawyers tell me there are no prohibitions against robots making life-or-death decisions," said Johnson, who leads robotics programs at the Joint Forces research center in Suffolk, Virginia. "I have been asked what happens if the robot destroys a school bus rather than a tank parked nearby. We will not entrust a robot with that decision until we are confident they can make it."

We are still a long way to the 'I, Robot' world but because it is all about money (the Robot being less costly in retirement benefits), and politics (a better way than censorship to make sure you don't see body-bags in the news), we can bet they'll try as hard as they can to have them working.
Unfortunately, we're even a longer way to the day when all soldiers and even all civilians are robots... but who knows?