That picture is of a commercially available UAV. http://www.draganfly.com/images/overview/DF-X6/Draganflyer-X6.jpg

I agree with most of what you have to say, but there are some who volunteer for the military because they want to ensure that if in the unlikely event the United States does face some sort of external threat, there is a force in place to defend against that threat. The standing army also provides a means for deterring threats like that from coming up in the first place. These people dislike the "international adventurism," but are willing to put up with it for the reasons given above.

Generally, eel are baited with horseshoe crab, not fish.

It is not today's "sailors" who are risk adverse. It is the people who are funding the missions. When tax payers are responsible for funding space exploration, they are unwilling to accept any sort of loss of life. I'm sure there are plenty more people who would actually take part in spaceflight that would be willing to risk their lives.

That is bogus. Just because the standard is unenforcable does not mean it cannot be followed. It is pretty sad that in our world when people know that someone will not be watching them all the time they can break the rules. And then when they get caught, the authority who set and enforces the rules gets blamed.