Drones- A Threat to Our National Security and Civil Liberties!

 

About 40 people joined in a spirited anti-drone protest on April 13 in New Paltz, NY. It was part of a nationwide day of action called for by ANSWER- "US Drones Out of Africa, Middle East, Asia and Everywhere".  Jack Smith (pictured on the right) and Donna Goodman from the Hudson Valley Activist Newsletter were the organizers.

Drones are robotic, killing machines that now make up 1/3 of US warplanes. They are terrorizing civilians and wounding and killing children and innocent people around the world. It is estimated that over 4,000 have been killed by US drones and only 2% of them have been high level terrorists. At least 180 children have been killed by our drones. Many kids in Pakistan have stopped going to school for fear of being killed by one.

"Drones have replaced Guantanamo as the recruiting tool of choice for militants."
                                      5/29/12 New York Times

They also pose a real threat to our civil liberties here at home. It is estimated that by 2020 there will be 30,000 of them flying in US airspace. Consider the Argus drone which can fly three miles up and can zoom in on a candy-bar sized object on the ground with its 368 cameras with 1.8 billion pixels! Manufacturers also boast that these drones can be weaponized to deploy tear gas, rubber bullets, tasar technology and more.

Drones represent the murder of innocents,  war without time or geographical limits, illegal targeted assassinations, a permanent war economy and the end of freedom as we have known it.

People are rising up to say NO to these weaponized, intrusive spying machines.  Charlottesville, VA was the first city to outlaw them. In Seattle, the mayor and chief of police returned their two drones to the vendor after a public outcry.

Be a part of the outcry! Join the No Drones Network and get involved with ANSWER.

This event was co-sponsored by New Paltz Women in Black, Occupy Southern Ulster, Mideast Crisis Response, Real Majority Project, Dutchess Peace, Dutchess Greens, and other groups.

photo by Donna Goodman- all others by Barbara Upton

From our No Drones Action last October

Federal Prison for Peacefully Protesting Killer Drones

It is hard to believe this is my country.

About 40 folks went to this air force base to peacefully protest killer drones which are terrorizing and killing civilians in Pakistan and other countries. A Stanford NYU Study found that 98% killed by US drones are civilians. I also wrote about drones and helped to organize a protest in New Paltz, NY about them. You can see the write-up and video here.

One man, Brian Terrell who merely went to the gate to ask directions about how they could deliver a petition (an indictment of the immorality and illegality of drone warfare) was promptly arrested and now has to serve six months in a federal prison. Here is what Brian said at his sentencing.

"Each of the government's witnesses, all of them Air Force police personnel, testified that participants in this protest were nonviolent, respectful and peaceable in assembling at Whiteman Air Force Base, a government installation, to petition that government for redress of a grievance, demanding that the remote control killing carried out daily from Whiteman cease. They testified that at no time, before or during our protest, did they perceive us as a threat.

"Our expert witnesses testified that our behavior was consistent with the activities that the drafters of the First Amendment intended to be protected, not persecuted, by the government. The order and security of the base would not have been compromised had the security police allowed us to proceed to the headquarters to deliver our petition. No testimony to the contrary was offered this court.

"Instead of planning to accommodate a constitutionally protected peaceable assembly, however, the Air Force chose intimidation and conspired to deprive us of the rights they are sworn to protect. We learned from government witnesses that the phalanx of goose-stepping riot police is a 'Confrontation Management Team,' deployed only in the case of preannounced events. Whiteman security did not call out the Team to defend the base but to intimidate citizens engaged in lawful activities."

Brian Terrell

 A local woman named Keara met Brian at Catholic Worker 35 years ago. She shared his address if anone would like to write to him. He especially asked to be kept up to date about acts of resistance and peacemaking in your community.

BRIAN TERRELL 06125-026
FPC YANKTON
FEDERAL PRISON CAMP
P.O. BOX 700
YANKTON, SD 57078


And please sign the petition to ban weaponized drones from the world!

Stop Killer Drones Protest!

Thanks to all who joined us Saturday, Oct 13 to raise their voices against robotic killing and spying drones. Many Americans think they are a good thing as they are presented as an efficient way to get the "bad guys" while not putting our troops at risk. Unfortunately, the truth is much different from the narrative we have been given. Here is the flyer we passed out. Please share this info and video with anyone concerned about the killing of innocent civilians, harm to our national security and our own freedom! Press Ctrl + to increase size. Thank you.

Drone Action Oct 13 in New Paltz

A new report by the law schools of Stanford and NYU, says that the US drone program is "counterproductive" and is "terrorizing" civilians in Pakistan.

“Drones hover twenty-four hours a day over communities in northwest Pakistan, striking homes, vehicles, and public spaces without warning. Their presence terrorizes men, women, and children, giving rise to anxiety and psychological trauma among civilian communities. Those living under drones have to face the constant worry that a deadly strike may be fired at any moment, and the knowledge that they are powerless to protect themselves. These fears have affected behavior.”

The report goes on to say that some children have stopped going to school for fear of being killed by a drone strike.

The NY Times reported recently that "Drones have replaced Guantánamo as the recruiting tool of choice for militants."

In addition to making us less safe on an international scale, 56 domestic government agencies, mostly law enforcement, have been authorized by the FAA to fly drones in US airspace. One of the drone manufacturers, Vanguard Defense Industries, touts their ability to weaponize drones for local police departments. They can be equipped not only with warrantless spying technology (Boeing calls their Inceptor drone "an eye in the sky") but they can also deploy tear gas, tasar technology, rubber bullets and more. 

Drones represent the murder of innocents,  war without time or geographical limits, illegal targeted assassinations, a permanent war economy and the end of freedom as we have known it.

Is this the world we want? Time to raise our voices to ban weaponized drones. Watch this video, then please sign the petition to Ground Drones and join us October 13 in New Paltz.

Robotic Killers, Military Missionaries, Monsanto above the Law?

Robotic Killers Coming to a Neighborhood Near You?

I personally think this is one of the most frightening images of the 21st century. Unmanned drones that can kill from afar. In Pakistan alone it is estimated that from 2004-2012, 500 civilians were killed by US drones.

In Yemen, increased drone strikes are having the unintended consequence of increasing sympathy for al-Qaeda.

From the Washington Post-
“These attacks are making people say, ‘We believe now that al-Qaeda is on the right side,’ ” said businessman Salim al-Barakani, adding that his two brothers — one a teacher, the other a cellphone repairman — were killed in a U.S. strike in March.

The other day my husband thought he saw a drone fly over our house- it is entirely possible. There was a recent article in the NY Times magazine that revealed that drones in the US practice tracking enemies by putting civilian cars in their cross hairs and following them. Drones are being sold to local police departments at a rapid clip and they may soon be able to be equipped to fire rubber bullets and tear gas. Here is a  a map of domestic drone authorizations. Thanks to a bill Obama signed in February they can also be used for a range of commercial endeavors, from dusting crops to shooting movies.

Rep Peter King said drones “carry out the policies of righteousness and goodness.” He added he wasn't concerned about civilian casualties. I wonder what he'd say if China was using drones and killing hundreds of US citizens every year?

"Hunting people for Jesus" Scary Video


Tax payer paid military missionaries?  Say NO- support the Military Religious Freedom Foundation

This Is What Global Warming Looks Like

  Photograph: Jerilee Bennett/AP

 A headline from the Guardian UK recently read "US wildfires are what global warming really looks like, scientists warn The Colorado* fires are being driven by extreme temperatures, which are consistent with IPCC projections"

Meanwhile US media fails to connect the dots. Although there were 14 weather disasters in the US last year compared to the long term average of 3 a year and 82% of Americans say they have experienced a natural disaster or extreme weather event first-hand- mainstream media's coverage of climate change  dropped 72% from 2009 to 2011. Sunday morning shows "have all spent more time covering Donald Trump than they have climate change." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jamie-henn/connecting-the-dots-betwe_2_b_1472754.html

 *And of course it is not just Colorado we are talking about- much of the western US is going up in smoke- "Fire season in the West is 78 days longer than it was 25 years ago. Since 1986, we have experienced a fourfold increase in the number of major wildfires and a sixfold increase in the area of forest burned. The average burn duration of large fires has increased from 7.5 to 37.1 days." read more

 Monsanto Above the Law?

TV ad in production by Nationofchange.org

"A so-called "Monsanto rider," quietly slipped into the multi-billion dollar FY 2013 Agricultural Appropriations bill, would require – not just allow, but require - the Secretary of Agriculture to grant a temporary permit for the planting or cultivation of a genetically engineered crop, even if a federal court has ordered the planting be halted until an Environmental Impact Statement is completed. All the farmer or the biotech producer has to do is ask, and the questionable crops could be released into the environment where they could potentially contaminate conventional or organic crops and, ultimately, the nation's food supply." Truthout.org

The rider was added by Jack Kingston (R-Georgia) wa ho was named legislator of the year by the Biotech industry. 

Sign the petition against granting Monsanto immunity from federal law here.