Veterans For Peace
216 South Meramec Ave
St. Louis MO 63105
http://veteransforpeace.org
(314) 725-6005(office)
(314) 725-7103 (fax)
For Immediate Release: September 27, 2012
Contact: Gil Field GField@san.rr.com 858-342-1964; Dave Patterson dpatterson998@yahoo.com 760-207-9139; Ben Griffin bsggriffin@gmail.com 07866 559 312; David Swanson, david@davidswanson.com 202-329-7847.
Veterans For Peace Take on Drone Makers in San Diego and London
San Diego Veterans For Peace and Veterans For Peace-United Kingdom are protesting drone manufacturer General Atomics today, September 27th, in both Poway, California, and London, England.
Both protests are scheduled for 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. local time.
The California action is at the corner of Scripps Poway Parkway and General Atomics Way in Poway, CA. For more information contact Gil Field, Director For Communications, San Diego Veterans For Peace, 858-342-1964, GField@san.rr.com
The London action is at Tower 42, 25 Old Broad Street, London, Ec2N 1HQ; tube Liverpool Street; For more information contact Ben Griffin 07866 559 312, bsggriffin@gmail.com.
General Atomics is the manufacturer of the Reaper UAV in service with the U.S. and U.K. militaries. The Reaper has been used in numerous attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and other countries. People targeted by these weapons are killed from above without warning and without due legal process. Numerous entirely innocent people including women and children have been killed by these weapon systems.
VFP is calling for the grounding of Reaper Drones and for General Atomics to stop manufacturing them, and will be highlighting the fact that General Atomics is partially responsible for the slaughter of numerous innocent people in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen.
Other members of VFP are currently traveling from the United States to Pakistan as part of a delegation organized by Code Pink to visit one area where U.S. drone strikes have become frequent.
VFP is part of a coalition organizing an online petition in support of banning weaponized drones.
Veterans For Peace was founded in 1985 and has approximately 5,000 members in 150 chapters located in every U.S. state and several countries. It is a 501(c)3 non-profit educational organization recognized as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) by the United Nations, and is the only national veterans' organization calling for the abolishment of war.
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Transmitted below is a superb article by Glenn Greenwald on the lessons to be learned from the U.S. State Department’s decision to “de-list” the Mujahedin e-Khalq cult as a “foreign terrorist organization” now that its lethal acts (of a nature which would be deemed “terrorist” if the U.S. government disliked their objectives) are being committed for reasons approved (and perhaps even encouraged and funded) by the U.S. government.
This decision would appear to confirm my long-held (and long-expressed) contention that, in U.S. government (and media) usage, the application of the quintessentially subjective term “terrorist” does not depend or even relate to the nature of any act but, rather, depends entirely on who is doing it to whom and simply means someone that the U.S. government doesn’t like – and now believes it has an absolute right to imprison perpetually without charges or trial or assassinate (by drones or otherwise) without any semblance of legal process.
Five lessons from the de-listing of MEK as a terrorist group
BY GLENN GREENWALD , September 23, 2012
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/23/iran-usa?newsfeed=true
A separate justice system for American Muslims, the US embrace of terrorism, and other key political facts are highlighted.
From Roots Action Team:
UPDATE: Veterans For Peace and other allies in our coalition to ban weaponized drones are headed to Pakistan in a delegation organized by Code Pink. Please add your name to the petition now, and forward this to everyone you know, so that we can make clear to Pakistanis how many of us oppose the endless killing imposed on their country by our unmanned planes.
Veterans For Peace will deliver the petition to elected officials, tribal leaders, and victims' family members.
We've become a nation that callously kills. Meticulous researchers have documented that U.S. drones are killing many innocent civilians in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere. Drones are making the world less stable and creating new enemies. We must end the use of weaponized drones.
Add your name now.
RootsAction and our allies will deliver this petition to:
- the United Nations Secretary General, urging him to investigate the concerns of Navi Pillay, the U.N.'s top human rights official, that drone attacks violate international law -- and to ultimately pursue sanctions against nations using, possessing, or manufacturing weaponized drones;
- the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, petitioning him to investigate grounds for the criminal prosecution of those responsible for drone attacks;
- the U.S. Secretary of State, and the ambassadors to the United States from the nations of the world, asking them to ratify a treaty forbidding the possession or use of weaponized drones;
- President Barack Obama, urging him to abandon the use of weaponized drones, and to abandon his "kill list" program regardless of the technology employed;
- the Majority and Minority Leaders of the U.S. House and Senate, asking them to ban the use or sale of weaponized drones.
Add your name now to build a movement that will rid the world of weaponized drones.
Please forward this email widely to like-minded friends.
--The RootsAction team
Resources:
Bureau of Investigative Journalism: U.S. Secret Wars
Washington Post: U.S. Drone Targets in Yemen Raise Questions
New York Times: Secret 'Kill List' Proves a Test of Obama’s Principles
Organizations Supporting This Petition (partial and growing list):
Antiwar.com
Arlington Green Party
Code Pink
Fellowship of Reconciliation
Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace
Jeannette Rankin Peace Center
LA Laborfest
The Northampton Committee to Stop War
RootsAction.org
Sitkans for Peace and Justice
Veterans For Peace
Veterans For Peace Chapter 27
WarIsACrime.org
Women Standing
Bill of Rights Defense Committee
September 27, 2012, From Code Pink
As we embark on a peace delegation to Pakistan to protest the Obama administration's drone warfare, some people tell us that with all the turmoil around the hated Innocence of Muslims film, this is a terrible time to go. We don’t take the risks lightly, but we also feel it’s critical—precisely at this moment—to show the Muslim world that there are Americans who want relations of peace and friendship, not religious insults, drone strikes and military occupations.
We will be in Pakistan from September 28-October 14 to meet with drone victim families, lawyers, academics, women's groups, representatives of major Pakistani political parties and US officials. On October 7 we will join Pakistani political leader Imran Khan, drone victims, tribal elders and thousands of locals in a peaceful march to Waziristan protesting U.S. drone strikes that have killed between 2,500 and 3,330 people since 2004.
Since the US provides no assistance to innocent victims, we are collecting funds for their rehabilitation, including prosthetic legs. One of the people we will help is 16-year-old Sadaullah, from North Waziristan, who lost an eye and both legs in an attack on his home. “I had a dream of becoming a doctor, but now I can’t even walk to school,” said Sadaullah. whose story is related in Medea’s book Drone Warfare. We are trying to raise $5,000 to help the victims, so please consider making a donation.
We will also be taking petitions to the US Embassy in Islamabad, so make sure you have signed. We would like to deliver 5,000 signatures to the Ambassador, and right now we have just under 2,000. Can you help us reach our goal?
The 40 American delegates range in age from 23 to 85, hail from cities across the United States and represent students, writers, doctors, political analysts, veterans and artists. What binds us is a conviction that drone strikes are immoral, illegal and counterproductive, and that we must be ‘citizen diplomats’ who model the policies we want our government to put forth. Read more about the delegation in Medea’s latest article on Common Dreams and check out Living Under Drones, a new detailed report by NYU/Stanford law schools.
Back at home, anti-war groups will be marking October 7, the 12th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan, with protests around the country. Check here to see where they are planned, or add your own. You can also follow our Pakistan trip by going to www.droneswatch.org.
With hope for peace,
Medea Benjamin and Ann Wright
P.S.- Help us spread the word! Share our petition on Twitter and Facebook.
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