Rattle wrote:
I wonder if that really is the issue.. I find the idea of people in the Air Force and CIA arguing over what controller is superior to be seriously funny, even though I can understand the reasoning.

The issue is not the physical "joystick"; the term is being used metaphorically, to talk about who's in charge of what at any given point in time.

Picture a dozen people trying to play (simultaneously) one instance of The Legend of Zelda on an NES Classic with one controller. Every one of them has a different idea about where to go next, who to talk to, how to respond to the prompts, etc. But there's only one Link.

RE: CIA Expands Use of Drones in Terror War - Los Angeles Times