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Out of our sight. Are we out of our minds?
By mickielynn on 2012-08-05 07:19:25
[caption id="attachment_3587" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Air Force Senior William Swain operates a
sensor control for an MQ-9 Reaper during a training mission on Aug. 8, 2007, at Creech Air Force Base."]
} ee
[/caption] Drones: "hunter/killers", dropping 500 pound
bombs and firing Hellfire missiles. We don't see the blood, the bodies, the destruction. Death rains from the skies. Use of
drones distances US civilians and military operators from the wars and makes war seem "unreal." But it's not unreality to
those previously killed in Iraq, increasingly targeted in Afghanistan by our military, and assassinated by the CIA in
countries where no war has been declared such as Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan. Is Mali next? The use of drones may be
"tactically smart" but it's "strategically stupid" because each death of civilians creates hostility towards the US and recruits
terrorists and guerrilla resistance fighters. Excessive secrecy makes it hard to accurately keep track of civilian deaths,
especially when new, "kill list" definitions consider military aged males as "militants" until proven otherwise after their
deaths! Last Thursday evening I attended a program [thanks to Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace] about what our regional
upstate neighbors are doing to call attention to the role of MQ-9 Reaper drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles in
Afghanistan and in other parts of the world. There is a drone operating base very near us ~~ at Hancock Air Force Base just
outside Syracuse and active resistance and education has grown up around that location. There were two speakers sharing
information and inspiration. John Amidon and Ed Kinane who have both been extremely active during the drone protests
and who have also worked for many years in opposition to nuclear weapons, nuclear testing, extrajudicial killings, and wars
of aggression. The first speaker: John Amidon let his powerful video of the most recent (June 28, 2012) action blocking the
gates of Hancock for several hours speak for itself. Ifa picture is worth a thousand words this video is worth much more in
terms of the insight it provides as to how the protesters interact with and educate everyone around them:_Civil Resistance at
Hancock: Closing the Gate on War Crimes The written introduction to the video says: "This video captures the essence of
a civil resistance action against drone warfare at Hancock Air Field, Syracuse, NY. We hope it will be viewed as a "how to"
film and inspire others to take action and resist the criminality of drone warfare." [caption id="attachment_3572"
align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Hancock AFB demonstration June 28, 2012"]
[/caption] Ed Kinane has been
a long time member of the Syracuse Peace Council. He understands the reality of war, and of poverty in other nations. In
his long career he's taught at a Quaker school in rural Kenya. As a member of Peace Brigades International he's
accompanied people under threat by armies and paramilitary troops in Guatemala, El Salvador, Haiti and Sri Lanka. In
2003, working with Voices for Creative Nonviolence he spent time in Baghdad throughout the "shock and awe campaign
and returned there to help monitor the occupation of Iraq. Ed has also traveled to Iran in the winter of 2007 as part of a
Fellowship of Reconciliation delegation. During the summer of 2011 he spent time in Kabul, Afghanistan . So he has real
and practical knowledge of some of the people being killed, maimed and left homeless by drone attacks. Some of the
concepts in the opening paragraphs came from his passionate speech about the dangers that drones pose to the people over
whose countries they fly and to the whole world. There's an excellent website if you want more information about the work
that the upstate drone action group is doing at Hancock AFB. In particular they've presented an indictment to the
commander of the base and to all those above and below him in the chain of command for violation of International laws
based on the Nuremberg conventions against wars of aggression and invasion of a sovereign nation. Here's the link to the
war crimes indictment presented on April 23, 2012. On the eve of the anniversary of the Nuclear bombing of Hiroshima in
1945 the parallels of introducing a new and deadly weapon into the world and then dealing with the proliferation of such a
weapon are clear. In the most recent issue of SPC newsletter Ed has written a short article titled The Bomb and the Drone:
The Grim Reaper Keeps Taking Its Toll. [caption id="attachment_3579" align="aligncenter" width="466" caption="Debra
Sweet, Zohra Ahmed and Ed Kinane at a "Stop the US Drone Wars" panel March 2012"]
La
[/caption] Finally there is the issue of privatization
and war profiteering which is most likely to speed the proliferation of weaponized drones and those used for domestic and
international spying. The US has already shared weaponized drones with Britain and wants to share them with other NATO
allies but Congress is not too keen on approving this. Iran is reverse engineering the drone that they brought down earlier
this year and other nations may also be doing so. There are even drone "hobbyists" who have created and flown drones with
cameras and video goggles. Israel is the largest manufacturer and seller of drones right now having sold them to _at least 24
countries, including the US. More on those issues in another article. ***
