It doesn't take that much imagination to make it nightmarish, though. Give it a circular saw on the end of one of those arms. The descendants of these things are quite likely to see combat service.
It's still something stupid to be scared of, drones with bombs are significantly more dangerous and significantly more practical at holding people hostage than robots.
The US military isn't a totalitarian despot that is willing to kill any and all civilians to maintain power in the middle east. So really it hasn't been tried.
No, but it is plausible that some of its NATO allies are not quite as disciplined or altruistic, and IIRC, the treaty allows dissemination of weapons technology (and associated knowledge) among the allied states.
On the plus side, clickbait title attract a wider audience to the subject. I know lot of people with zero interest in robotics like these 'creepy' robots.
