Ground the Drones...Lest We Reap the Whirlwind

DRONE-Resisting Sanitized Remote-Control Death

Joshua Brollier — Sun, 08 May 2011 19:37:41 -0500

Short Information Teaser

New Publication by the Dennis Duvall and the Creech 14

Excerpt

Warfare is not a video game. Educate yourself and your community about the dangers of drone warfare. Check out the new publication DRONE- Resisting Sanitized Remote-Control Death written by Dennis Duvall and members of the Creech 14.

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The Verdict: Guilty of Protesting the Drones

Joshua Brollier — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 15:52:02 -0600

Short Information Teaser

By John Dear

Excerpt

By John Dear

On Thursday, thirteen of us stood in a Las Vegas courtroom to hear the verdict from Judge Jansen regarding our September trial for trespassing on April 9, 2009, at Creech Air Force Base, headquarters of the U.S. drone operations. Last September, the judge had dramatically announced that he would need at least three months to “think” about the case.

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The Verdict: Guilty of Protesting the Drones

By John Dear

After telling us how “nice” it was to see us, the Judge presented each of us with a twenty page legal ruling explaining why he found us guilty. “You argued a defense of necessity,” he said, “when an inherent danger is present and immediate action must be taken, such as breaking a no-trespassing law to uphold a higher law and save life. In this case, no inherent danger was present, and so I find you guilty.”

Guilty! My friends and I have tried every legal means possible to stop our government from its terrorist drone bombing attacks on civilians in Afghanistan, and so we journeyed to the drone headquarters at Creech AFB near Las Vegas on Holy Thursday to kneel in prayer and beg for an end to the bombings. This nonviolent intervention is determined to be criminal—not the regular drone bombing attacks on children in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

I expected this ruling, but it was sad nonetheless. The judge missed a great opportunity to take a stand for justice and peace, to do the right thing, to help end terrorism. Instead, he sided with the war machine. Worse, he dismissed the loss of life caused by our drone attacks. “It does not matter that civilians are being killed by our drones,” he said in effect. His ruling indicated that some lives are not worth as much as others.

Before he sentenced us, we each spoke briefly about our action and why we crossed the line. This testimony was the best, most moving part of our ordeal, so I thought I would share excerpts from my co-defendants remarks.

Brian Terrell of the Catholic Worker told the judge that the evil work of Creech Air Force Base does involve immediate, present danger—to the children and people of Afghanistan. He cited a recent interview with a young drone operator who sits in front of a computer screen at Creech. “The war is 7,000 miles away and the war is 18 inches away,” the Air Force operator said. “7,000 miles, the distance from Creech to Afghanistan,” Brian explained. “Eighteen inches, the distance from his face to the screen. This distance is an illusion. And it’s a very dangerous illusion. The purpose behind our action was to dispel that illusion because it is very close and the danger we were addressing was and is imminent.”

Brian should know. He and Kathy Kelly were just back from a three week trip to Afghanistan where they met victims of U.S. drone attacks.

“In Afghanistan, I met a family displaced by a drone attack in the Helmand Province,” Kathy Kelly told the judge. “One man showed me the photos of his children’s bloodied corpses. The drone attack killed his spouse and his five children. In the Charahi Qambar refugee camp, I sat next to Juma Gul, a nine[-]year[-]old girl whose arm was amputated by the same drone attack. She was punished horribly even though she committed no crime. We want to be in solidarity with her.

“It’s criminal for the U.S. to spend 2 billion dollars per week for war in Afghanistan that maims, kills and displaces innocent civilians who’ve meant us no harm,” she said.

“I deplore the high tech technology used for mass killing which destroys and pollutes this sacred planet,” Sister Megan Rice said. “I had to enter the base in order to obey higher orders. I have listened to the voice of the victims of drone warfare. These weapons are aptly named drones, predators, reapers.”

“We each have a responsibility to work for justice and to act in defense of human life,” Libby Pappalardo said. “The use of drones has increased hatred and violence in our world. I have tried to work through the system, but it isn’t enough. This is an emergency situation. Our country is worse off because of the violence of war and militarism. It’s necessary to take this next step. I will continue to struggle for human rights and nonviolence so that all the world’s children can feel safe and embraced by peace and hope.”

“I went to Creech to express my deep sorrow and outrage over the fact that my country was engaged in what I believe were acts of terrorism in the use of drones against my brothers and sisters,” Eve Tetaz said. “I cannot remain silent. I think of Moses’ words: ‘I set before you this day life and death, good and evil. Therefore, choose life that you and your family may live.’ It is my prayer that you will be with us in speaking this truth to justice, that one day our nation will lead the world in the attempt to turn swords into plowshares and learn war no more so that the God of peace, mercy, justice and compassion will bring about law and justice. I invite you and all those who are present in the court to join us.”

“As a veteran, I care about our guys over there,” Dennis DuVall said. “Every time there’s a drone strike, most of the victims are innocent women and children and old men like me. The younger men are considered militants. Each attack results in revenge attacks.”

“Last Spring I was in New York City during the nuclear disarmament march in Times Square when a car bomb was almost detonated. It’s ironic that I was protesting drone warfare at Creech AFB where they’re directing drone attacks and a year later I was almost an unwitting victim of a revenge car bomb attempt in Times Square. The young man who built the bomb, Faisal Shazad, said he was motivated by drone attacks against Pakistan. There is a greater harm. If this isn’t necessity, what the hell is? We cannot run from the consequences of our drone air war 7000 miles away. Eventually, it’s going to come home to us. We’re going to be the victims.”

“We are attacking people in an Islamic country,” Brad Lyttle said. “We are shooting missiles and killing them in an arbitrary manner. It is generating great hatred, and these people have the means to access weapons to cause us tremendous harm. We need to establish peaceful, just ways to resolve disputes. This is the message I would like to have people examine and think about. We have to develop non-military means for achieving justice and therefore peace.”

“I’ve been hearing about the Afghan youth peace volunteers who work for peace and nonviolence in their land,” said Mariah Klusmire. “As long as they’re working for peace in their country, I will too, and no punishment can stop me from working for peace.”

“Through our presence, we were trying to make the imminent danger posed by drone warfare less remote,” Steve Kelly said. “Our presence there was making the connection that would otherwise seem remote. We weren’t there to do civil disobedience. We were there to make an intervention. Our intention was lawful. I’m disappointed and saddened that you came to the wrong conclusion.”

“As a follower of Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I take seriously his second commandment, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’” Judy Homanich said. “As the mother of two wonderful children – my precious daughter, Sarah, who is just starting her adult life and my gone but not forgotten son, David, whose faith, courage and compassion continue to inspire me—I prayerfully acted in solidarity with all mothers, daughters, wives and sisters here and around the world who suffer loss due to war. My son David’s death, at age 21, was due to cancer not war, but I understand the heart-wrenching, life-changing pain of losing a child, a loved one. The U.S. government kills countless innocents in drone attacks and calls it collateral damage.”

“President Obama should heed his own words, spoken in October, 2010, while in India. He said. ‘Nothing ever justifies the slaughter of innocent civilians.’ But the U.S. drone attacks continue. This criminal long distance killing makes us all less human and less safe. I have a duty to bear witness against this killing and I will continue to do so.”

“We are all one family,” Fr. Jerry Zawada said. “The huge numbers of innocent people being killed by drones is something I have to stand up against. We think of people on the other side of the border or the ocean as being different from ourselves. They’re not. That’s my family and your family too. We are one family. We have to take risks for one another.”

For my two cents, I named these drones (are) as illegal, immoral, and impractical, and said they are bad for us politically, economically, socially and spiritually. I said that crossing the line onto Creech was an act of prayer for an end to these terrorist drones, and for an end to war itself, for new nonviolent ways to resolve conflict. We were obeying a higher law, taking our case to a Higher Power.

In the end, the judge sentenced us to time served. We didn’t go to jail, and meanwhile, our drones continue to drop bombs. A new report says unauthorized U.S. drone strikes last year claimed nearly 1,200 lives. According to Pakistani sources, our drone attacks kill almost 50 civilians for every “militant” we target.

Together, through our action and our courtroom testimony, we argued that we can do better than drop bombs through these drone machines. As we left, we pledged to continue to speak out against the drones, to try to wake one another up about the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and to stir the embers of the peace movement to speak out and take action for a new world of nonviolence. We give thanks for the opportunity to witness to peace, and we go forward determined to promote peace with everyone.

As Father Jerry said, we are all one family.

Rev. John Dear is the author of 25 books on peace and justice, including most recently Daniel Berrigan: Essential Writings (Orbis), A Persistent Peace (Loyola) and Put Down Your Sword (Eerdmans). For further information, or to schedule a lecture or retreat, visit: www.johndear.org.

"Creech 14" Sentencing Statements

Gerald — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 17:34:59 -0600

Short Information Teaser
The "Creech 14" speak to Judge Jansen upon hearing thier sentences.
Excerpt
July 27, 2010

Sentencing statements: Creech 14 verdict in the Las Vegas courtroom of Judge Jansen

Brian Terrell

Thank you for your listening, the time you took to study and your thoughtful response.

I spent three weeks in Afghanistan where I saw and witnessed the harm drones cause. I met a nine year old child who lost an arm in a drone attack

An airman at Creech wrote, “I am 7,000 miles away from the killing….I am 18 inches away from the killing.” He was referring to his proximity to seeing human beings dismembered on the video screen.

This is precisely what the drones are doing…giving an illusion of distance. We are very close to the destruction. The harm is imminent. The harm is real

The analogy is so close to the reality, it is the reality.

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July 27, 2010

Sentencing statements: Creech 14 verdict in the Las Vegas courtroom of Judge Jansen

Megan Rice

I had to speak then, on April 9, 2009, as I do now, —the evil of killing and destroying people and lands 8000 miles away was and is emblazoned on my awareness. Human execution is fostered on the psyche of a nation….developing more and more nuclear weapons. I see that to allow more atrocities to continue is my real crime….I deplore the high tech technology of the use of any weapons for mass killing which destroy and pollute this sacred planet. I had to enter the base in order to obey higher orders. I have listened to the voice of the victims of drone warfare.

“They are treating us like insects,” –said a man in Lebanon about the use of drone weapons.

These weapons are aptly named drones, predators or reapers.

My entry into any place was and is an absolute necessity.

Thanks to all in this court who consciously or unconsciously are transformed as we listen and learn from the honest truth of history and reality.

Brian Terrell

Thank you for your listening, the time you took to study and your thoughtful response.

I spent three weeks in Afghanistan where I saw and witnessed the harm drones cause. I met a nine year old child who lost an arm in a drone attack

An airman at Creech wrote, “I am 7,000 miles away from the killing….I am 18 inches away from the killing.” He was referring to his proximity to seeing human beings dismembered on the video screen.

This is precisely what the drones are doing…giving an illusion of distance. We are very close to the destruction. The harm is imminent. The harm is real

The analogy is so close to the reality, it is the reality.

Libby Pappalardo

We each have a responsibility to work for justice and to act in defense of human life.

The US use of drones has increased hatred and violence in our world.

I remember the families I met in the 70s when I traveled in Afghanistan. I remember how much they loved their beautiful children. Yet today after ten years of an illegal and immoral war the suffering and death are unimaginable.

I have tried to work through the system.

It isn’t enough. This is an emergency situation.

Our country is worse off because of the violence of war and militarism.

It’s necessary to take this next step.

I will continue to struggle for human rights and nonviolence so that all the world’s children can feel safe and embraced by peace and hope.

Eve Tetaz

I went to Creech to express my deep sorrow and outrage over the fact that my country was engaged in what I believe were acts of terrorism in the use of drones against my brothers and sisters. I cannot remain silent. I think of Moses’ words: see I set before you this day life and death, good and evil. Therefore, choose life that you and your family may live

It is my prayer that you will come to the point where you will be with us in speaking this truth to justice, that one day our nation will lead the world in the attempt to turn swords into plowshares and learn war no more so that the god of peace, mercy, justice and compassion will bring about law and justice.

I invite you and all those who are present in the court to join us.

Please join us in our struggle to bring about God’s law and justice which are not in opposition to each other.

Denis Duvall

As a veteran, I care about our guys over there. Every time there’s a drone strike, most of the victims are innocent women and children and old men like me. The younger men are considered militants. Each attack results in revenge attacks, — results in building more IEDs in revenge for drone strikes. I was in New York City at the nuclear disarmament march on Times Square when a car bomb was almost detonated. It’s Ironic that I was protesting drone warfare at Creech AFB where they’re directing drone attacks and a year later I was almost an unwitting victim of a revenge car bomb attempt in Times Square. The young man who built the bomb, Faisal Shazad, says he was motivated by drone attacks against Pakistan. There is a greater harm. If this isn’t necessity, what the hell is?

We cannot run from the consequences of our drone air war 7000 miles away. Eventually, it’s going to come home to us. We’re going to be the victims.

Kathy Kelly

In Afghanistan, I met a family displaced by a drone attack in the Helmand Province. One man showed me the photos of his children’s bloodied corpses. The drone attack killed his spouse and his five children. In the Charahi Qambar refugee camp, I sat next to Juma Gul, a nine year old girl whose arm was amputated by the same drone attack. She was punished horribly even though she committed no crime. We want to be in solidarity with her.

It’s criminal for the U.S. people to spend 2 billion dollars per week for war in Afghanistan that maims, kills and displaces innocent civilians who’ve meant us no harm.

John Dear

I went to Creech mindful that I was in NY on Sept 11, 2001 and became the Red Cross coordinator for all the chaplains at the Family Assistance Center. New Yorkers know that war is not the answer. I’ve spoken to hundreds of thousands of people across the country saying that bombing Afghanistan is not the way to peace. In March 2009, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and I tried to meet with President Obama. The meeting was canceled at the last minute, and so I came with my friends to Creech on April 9, 2009.

I could talk at length about why these drones are illegal, immoral, impractical, and why they are another form of terrorism and why they are bad politically and economically. But, they’re also bad spiritually.

We went out on Holy Thursday. For me, it was an act of prayer.

As a Christian, a follower of the nonviolent Jesus, I was praying for an end to war and a world without drones, and for new nonviolent ways to resolve conflict. I call on everyone in the country and world to do what they can to end war and drone weaponry and join this campaign for peace.

Brad Lyttle

This court is part of a legal system which resolves disputes in ways that make people think that justice is being done.

If the court resolved cases by pushing a button to send a missile far away to blow people up, and this is how it operated, our society would be in total chaos and people would be hunting down judges and assassinating them for not dispensing justice.

We are attacking people in an Islamic country. We are shooting

missiles and killing them in an arbitrary manner. It is generating great hatred, and these people have the means to access weapons to cause us tremendous harm. We need to establish peaceful, just ways to resolve disputes.

This is the message I would like to have people examine and think about.

We have to develop non-military means for achieving justice and therefore peace.

Mariah Klusmire

I spent this week hearing about Afghan youth peace volunteers working for peace in their land. As long as they’re working for peace in their country, no punishment will stop me from working for peace here.

Steve Kelley

I’m privileged to act with these people.

I do have to make the connection for you that our presence at Creech Air Force Base was taking the remoteness out of the conditions of the necessity defense. Through our presence, we were trying to make the imminent danger posed by drone warfare less remote. We were making the necessary connection in the hotly contested areas. Our presence there was making the connection that would otherwise be remote.

We weren’t there to do civil disobedience. We were there to make an intervention.

Our intention was lawful. Although motive cannot be evidence our mental state or our mental intent was lawful.

It’s in your hands and I appreciate the work that you did.

I’m disappointed and saddened that you came to the wrong conclusion, but I think we can still get there together.

Judith Homanich

As a follower of Jesus as my Lord and savior, I take seriously his second commandment, “love your neighbor as yourself.” As the mother of two wonderful children – my precious daughter, Sarah, who is just starting her adult life and my gone but not forgotten son, David, whose faith and courage and compassion continue to inspire me—I prayerfully acted in solidarity with all mothers, daughters, wives and sisters here and around the world who suffer loss due to war. My son David’s death, at age 21, was due to cancer not war, but I understand the heart wrenching life changing pain of losing a child, a loved one. The U.S. government kills countless innocents in drone attacks and calls it collateral damage. President Obama should heed his own words, spoken in October 2010 while in India. He said, “nothing ever justifies the slaughter of innocent civilians”. But the U.S. drone attacks continue.

While the drones destroy the bodies of our so called enemies in Afghanistan and Pakistan, men women and children - they also damage the minds and spirits of our own soldiers who operate them at Creech and elsewhere. This criminal long distance killing makes us all less human and less safe. I believe that I have a duty to bear witness and I will continue to do so.

Jerry Zawada

For me it’s a matter of survival long before we were convicted by this court of trespassing there was another conviction that came into my life……as long as I have time left I want to take whatever risk is needed to say that we are all one family.

The huge numbers of innocent people being killed by drones is something I have to stand up against. Our national policies have gone downhill. We think of of people on the other side of the border or ocean as being different from ourselves. They’re not. That’s my family and your family too. We are one family. We have to take risks for one another.

Judge Jansen:

before I pronounce sentence , … none of you were combative

You were very cooperative

You’re a friendly bunch

I will insist I hope you continue to fight for your cause for diplomacy Mary Wright said the best way of doing it is through diplomacy. I know you each have a strong feeling for your cause…you have your own right to believe in your cause.

In pronouncing sentence today I’m gonna give each of you credit for time served. The case is closed.

Judge Jansen gave each defendant an article from the Sunday newspaper,

“Drone technology — ending the war on drugs”.

Use the avenue of diplomacy

I gave you a fair trial.

Press Release: "Creech 14" Verdict

Gerald — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 16:24:38 -0600

Short Information Teaser
"Creech 14" Anti-drone protesters vow to continue activism following guilty verdict in Las Vegas courtroom
Excerpt
For Immediate Release
January 27, 2011

Contact: Jim Haber Coordinator, Nevada Desert Experience and 415-828-2506 Kathy Kelly 773-619-2418

Creech 14 Anti-drone protesters vow to continue activism following guilty verdict in Las Vegas courtroom

Las Vegas—On Thursday, January 27th, activists charged with trespass, along with their supporters, filled Judge Jansen’s courtroom to hear his verdict regarding their April, 2009 protest at Creech Air Force Base Crews at Creech control the drones used in these expanding wars, killing civilians in remote controlled assassination attacks.

In a 20-page written decision, Judge William Jansen found the fourteen guilty of trespass as charged, ruling that their defense did not meet the legal requirement of immanence for acquittal based on necessity.

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For Immediate Release
January 27, 2011

Contact: Jim Haber Coordinator, Nevada Desert Experience and 415-828-2506 Kathy Kelly 773-619-2418

Creech 14 Anti-drone protesters vow to continue activism following guilty verdict in Las Vegas courtroom

Las Vegas—On Thursday, January 27th, activists charged with trespass, along with their supporters, filled Judge Jansen’s courtroom to hear his verdict regarding their April, 2009 protest at Creech Air Force Base Crews at Creech control the drones used in these expanding wars, killing civilians in remote controlled assassination attacks.

In a 20-page written decision, Judge William Jansen found the fourteen guilty of trespass as charged, ruling that their defense did not meet the legal requirement of immanence for acquittal based on necessity.

Before being sentenced, twelve made statements calling for an end to the drone bombings and for nonviolent ways of resolving international conflict. The Creech 14 were arrested during an April 2009 demonstration at Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, Nevada, protesting the remote piloting of armed killer drones from Creech in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

All were sentenced to time served.

Although Judge Jansen had insisted that he would only hear evidence related to a relatively minor trespass charge, the case was groundbreaking because expert witness testimony was admitted and because Judge Jansen opted to take the case under advisement, write a written decision, and take three to four months to do so.

The Creech 14 are: Fr. John Dear; Dennis Duvall; Renee Espeland; Judy Homanich; Kathy Kelly; Fr. Steve Kelly; Mariah Klusmire; Brad Lyttle; Libby Pappalardo; Sr. Megan Rice; Brian Terrell; Eve Tetaz; Fr. Louie Vitale; and Fr. Jerry Zawada.

Available for interviews are: Jim Haber 415-828-2506 Kathy Kelly 773-619-2418 and John Dear, 505-629-2029 # # # #

"Creech 14" Found Guilty of Trespassing, Judge Says ‘Go in Peace’

Gerald — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 15:32:13 -0600

Short Information Teaser
Judge William Jansen, in a 20-page decision, ruled that the "Creech 14" who protested April 9, 2009, at the base, were guilty of the crime of trespassing.
Excerpt
By Dave Toplikar
Las Vegas Sun
Jan. 27, 2011, Creech Air Force Base

A Las Vegas judge on Thursday handed down a decision that got a mixed reaction from protesters of drone warfare who were arrested for trespassing nearly two years ago at Creech Air Force Base in Southern Nevada.

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By Dave Toplikar
Las Vegas Sun
Jan. 27, 2011, Creech Air Force Base

A Las Vegas judge on Thursday handed down a decision that got a mixed reaction from protesters of drone warfare who were arrested for trespassing nearly two years ago at Creech Air Force Base in Southern Nevada.

Judge William Jansen, in a 20-page decision, ruled that the “Creech 14” who protested April 9, 2009, at the base, were guilty of the crime of trespassing.

But the judge also decided that the defendants, who stood trial for the misdemeanor offense last September in his courtroom, would be given credit for the time they served in jail and would be free to go.

“Go in peace,” were Jansen’s final words to the defendants after an hour-long court proceeding this morning in Las Vegas Justice Court.

The judge also urged them to use diplomacy, rather than trespassing, in their attempts to get U.S. drone warfare policy changed.

There was some scattered applause in the crowded courtroom upon hearing the defendants wouldn’t get jail time — but the defendants weren’t pleased about the judge’s guilty verdict.

The protesters had argued there was “necessity” that compelled them to act. As someone might trespass onto private property to save a child from a burning building, they said they were trying to stop drone warfare from killing civilians thousands of miles away in Afghanistan.

However, in his conclusion, Jansen said that “Defendants’ motivation for why they committed the offense is irrelevant and does not constitute a defense to the charge. Moreover, defendants are unable to show that their conduct was compelled by true ‘necessity’ as that doctricne has been defined by various courts.”

Before handing down sentences, the judge allowed each of the defendants to make statements. Each of those who spoke said they disagreed that what they were doing wasn’t out of necessity.

Those found guilty of the misdemeanor charge are the Rev. John Dear, a Jesuit priest; Dennis DuVall; Renee Espeland; Judy Homanich; Kathy Kelly; the Rev. Steve Kelly, a Jesuit priest; Mariah Klusmire; Brad Lyttle; Libby Pappalardo; Sister Megan Rice, a member of the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus; Brian Terrell; Eve Tetaz; and the Revs. Louie Vitale and Jerry Zawada, both Franscican priests.

Video of Kathy Kelly Speaking in Des Moines, Iowa

Gerald — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 15:43:13 -0500

Short Information Teaser
In advance of the Creech 14 trial, Kathy speaks against the use of drone warfare.
Excerpt
Kathy Kelly of Voices for Creative Nonviolence spoke in Des Moines Friday July 31st about the use of drone warfare in Pakistan and Afghanistan. KELLY is one of the “ Creech 14” who will stand trial for protesting the use of drones April 9, 2009 at Creech air force base.

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The above two short videosclips from Kathy’s talk in Des Moines, Iowa. If you would like a DVD of the entire talk, Rodger Routh would be happy to send you a copy for $5.00 to cover mailing and dubbing. Just e-mail him your mailing address.

Peace

Rodger Routh, videographer

On September 14, 14 activists from around the country will stand trial in Las Vegas for trespassing at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada in April 2009. Creech is headquarters for the Air Force’s drone warfare program, from where unmanned planes (called “Predators” and “Reapers”) do surveillance and fire (“Hellfire”) missiles at targets on the other side of the globe. As this results from one of the first public protests of this insidious new technology, a spirited defense, including an appeal to international law, is being prepared.

The big guns

Joshua Brollier — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:47:38 -0500

Short Information Teaser
Peace protesters arrested at drone warfare center now face trespass charges
Excerpt
Peace protesters arrested at drone warfare center now face trespass charges

by JASON WHITED : JWHITED@LVCITYLIFE.COM
LasVegas City Life

An upcoming trial for activists who illegally entered Creech Air Force Base to protest the government’s use of unmanned aerial vehicles has caught the attention of United Nations officials and could have serious implications for the future of remote-controlled warfare.

In April 2009, 14 activists who had gathered here from across the country illegally entered the base’s gates and refused to leave in protest of Creech’s role as the little-known headquarters for U.S. military operations involving unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, over Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan.

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Peace protesters arrested at drone warfare center now face trespass charges

by JASON WHITED : JWHITED@LVCITYLIFE.COM
LasVegas City Life

An upcoming trial for activists who illegally entered Creech Air Force Base to protest the government’s use of unmanned aerial vehicles has caught the attention of United Nations officials and could have serious implications for the future of remote-controlled warfare.

In April 2009, 14 activists who had gathered here from across the country illegally entered the base’s gates and refused to leave in protest of Creech’s role as the little-known headquarters for U.S. military operations involving unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, over Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan.

Held at gunpoint by Air Force security police until officers from Metro and the Nevada Highway Patrol handcuffed them and took them to the Clark County Detention Center, the activists now face a September trial on misdemeanor trespassing charges.

The activists, whose ranks include members of the local anti-war group the Nevada Desert Experience, had been holding a 10-day peace vigil outside Creech to protest both the use of drones by military and CIA officials and the deaths of hundreds of innocent Iraqi, Afghan and Pakistani civilians they say have been murdered by the unmanned craft.

Activists said they were gladly willing to risk arrest and prosecution — and will continue to do so — in order to alert taxpayers to the U.S. government’s taste for this particularly insidious form of warfare now being waged from just outside Sin City.

“It’s just something that has clearly made killing so much easier,” said Iowa-based activist Brian Terrell, one of the so-called Creech 14 now facing charges. “Removing a combatant from the battlefield has a certain coldness, a weirdness about it. The idea that someone is sitting at a console at Creech and shooting missiles at people half a world away is very spooky.”

Spooky, and very possibly illegal, particularly in the cases of hundreds of innocent civilians who’ve been killed by drones, according to a growing number of international observers.

“These issues raise questions about the law of war and whether you can target nonmilitary personnel who are not engaged in actual combat,” said Richard Falk, professor emeritus of international affairs and politics at Princeton University and the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Occupied Palestine.

Falk said he hopes to testify at the Creech 14 trial in September on potential legal problems with the use of drones. He said his work, which has also focused heavily on similar, so-called targeted killings of Palestinian militants by Israeli officials, has convinced him that drone strikes also raise serious questions of potential war crimes by U.S. military personnel.

“There are two fundamental concerns. One is embarking on this sort of automated warfare in ways that further dehumanize the process of armed conflict in ways that I think have disturbing implications for the future,” Falk said. “Related to that are the concerns I’ve had recently with my preoccupation with the occupation of Gaza of a one-sided warfare where the high-tech side decides how to inflict pain and suffering on the other side that is, essentially, helpless.”

While few, including activists, would accuse al-Qaida militants of being helpless, critics have charged those who suffer most from American drone strikes are the Iraqi, Afghan and Pakistani peasants unlucky enough to live across an entire region now considered a war zone by leaders in Washington, D.C.

Since the United States first used drone strikes in November 2002 to kill an al-Qaida leader allegedly responsible for the 2000 U.S.S. Cole bombing, both the military and the CIA have spent billions acquiring squadrons of the craft to target alleged terrorists and insurgents overseas.

Press reports and independent human rights groups estimate American drones have killed hundreds of Afghan and Pakistani nationals since then, souring relations with those two nations. A July 2009 report from the Brookings Institution found that for every supposed terrorist killed by a drone strike, more than 10 Afghan or Pakistani civilians have been killed, a figure that topped 600 at last count.

Activists agreed with Falk that drones dehumanize killing and said that sense of removal will only ensure future abuses by the U.S. military. That’s why they came to Creech to protest, activists said.

“They’re not only flying drones in Iraq and Afghanistan from Creech, but they’re also training people there to fly them. When you stand outside the gates you can see drones taking off all the time there. No one except the military is really sure where all this is leading,” Terrell said.

For years, Creech has been ground zero for the government’s rapidly expanding use of the unmanned vehicles.

There, amid the high, craggy desert plateaus, pilots with the Air Force’s 432nd Wing continuously fly a fleet of more than 100 drones over large swaths of Southwest Asia and beyond — all from a fleet of nondescript, air-conditioned trailers on this quiet military outpost. Exact details are classified, but base insiders say, at any given time, Creech pilots fly at least 36 unmanned Predators and their beefed-up cousins, Reapers. Cutting-edge satellite technology enables Creech pilots to drop the thousands of pounds of bombs many of their drones carry with barely a two-second delay — all with the twist of a joystick and the push of a button.

Perhaps if military officials were more careful to avoid killing civilians with drones, activists wouldn’t be so quick to sound the alarm, many of them said.

But activists also reserved some of their complaints for Clark County District Attorney David Roger. They said Roger’s decision to prosecute them, while not dissuading hardcore protesters from demonstrating in the future, could have a chilling effect on average citizens who decide to demonstrate against this new type of warfare being waged in their name, with their tax dollars.

It’s a charge Roger strongly denies.

“We don’t have any particular animus toward these protesters, but these citations were submitted to our office, and we felt we could prove [the case] beyond a reasonable doubt,” he said.

Activists, however, contend Roger’s decision to prosecute the Creech 14 represents a larger pattern at work. Across the country, they said, prosecutors and judges are doing all they can to throw activists in jail in an effort to tamp down a growing domestic anger at the warlike policies of both the Bush and Obama administrations.

Court documents from across the country, and press reports from organizations such as Democracy Now and the Tucson, Ariz.-based Nuclear Resister, do show an increase in the number of protesters now facing charges for anti-war activities. While official figures from the FBI for 2010 aren’t yet available, court documents from Fort Benning, Ga., to Lancaster, Penn., show rising numbers of anti-war demonstrators either face charges or are already behind bars for trespassing onto U.S. bases or staging sit-ins at military recruiting stations.

Another problem with the way Roger’s office handled the case, activists said, is they almost didn’t find out about their upcoming trial at all. They never received a letter or a phone call from anyone at the DA’s office alerting them that they were, in fact, being charged.

This problem of gaps in defendant notification has long been reported by defense attorneys across Southern Nevada. It’s a problem Roger said has now been corrected.

“We have suffered cutbacks; right now, we have lost about 60 positions, and some of those positions were in our case assessment unit (the office that notifies defendants of pending charges) … we mail them to defendants at their last known address, but if they’ve moved, our only alternative is to seek a bench warrant,” he said.

Trial or no trial, demonstrators said, neither prosecutors nor drones will dissuade them from staging future protests at Creech.

“People who perform arrest actions or risk prosecution are counseled or coached to be ready for the worst-case scenario,” said Jim Haber, coordinator for the Nevada Desert Experience. “But prosecutions like this do reduce the number of people willing to risk it.”

And that’s a shame, according to scholars like Falk and others. He said protesters like the Creech 14 can have an impact on U.S. foreign policies, particularly in legally and morally nebulous situations like the American drone fleet and the rising number of innocent civilian deaths that result from its use.

“I’ve analogized [the use of drones] to torture, where the victims have no retaliatory capability. It’s why people view torture with a certain moral abhorrence. And while [potential war crimes by the U.S. military] isn’t new, as one moves further and further into this domain of one-sided warfare, it’s really better understood by the terminology of massacre.”

Peace Activists Arrested After Protesting US Drones in Nevada

Dan Pearson — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:50:53 -0500

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Democracy Now! coverage plus interview with Fr. Louis Vitale
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April 14, 2009

Democracy Now!

Peace Activists Arrested After Protesting US Drones in Nevada

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April 14, 2009

Democracy Now!

Peace Activists Arrested After Protesting US Drones in Nevada

US drone bombings have reportedly killed 687 Pakistani civilians since 2006. During that time, US Predator drones carried out sixty strikes inside Pakistan, but hit just ten of their actual targets. Last week, a group of peace activists last week staged the first major act of civil disobedience against the drone attacks in the United States. Fourteen people were arrested outside the Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, where Air Force personnel pilot the unmanned drones used in Pakistan. We speak with longtime California peace activist Father Louis Vitale, who was among those arrested, and with Jeff Paterson of Courage to Resist.

We turn now to a new focus of some in the anti-war movement here in the United States. According to the Pakistani newspaper the News, U.S. drone bombings have killed 687 Pakistani civilians since 2006. During that time US Predator drones carried out sixty strikes inside Pakistan, but hit just ten of their actual targets. The most recent attack came last Wednesday, just hours after Pakistani officials rejected a US proposal to conduct joint operations in tribal regions near the Pakistani border with Afghanistan. According to the Pakistani newspaper Dawn, Pakistani officials have also asked the US to hand over control of the drone missions in response to growing public outrage. Their request came as Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced he would seek a more than 100 percent increase in funding for the drones.

Well last week a group of peace activists staged the first major act of civil disobedience against the drone attacks in the United States. On Thursday, fourteen people were arrested outside the Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, where the Air Force pilots the unmanned drones used in Pakistan. The activists were arrested after holding a ten-day vigil dubbed “Ground the Drones.”

I’m joined now a by-long time California peace activist who was among those detained. Father Louis Vitale has been active in social justice movements for over four decades. During that time he has racked up hundreds of arrests and over a year in jail time for his involvement in a number of local and international causes. Last year he ended a five-month prison term for staging an anti-torture protest at a military intelligence training center at Ft. Huachuca, Arizona. For twelve years he was pastor of the St. Boniface Catholic Church in San Francisco. He is a co-founder of “Pah-Chay Bay-Nay”, a group committed to non-violent action for social justice.

Father Louie joins me here in San Francisco.

Father Louis Vitale, legendary Bay Area social justice activist, active for more than four decades. Has racked up hundreds of arrests and more than a year in jail time for his involvement in a number of local and international causes. For twelve years he was pastor of the St. Boniface Catholic Church in San Francisco.

Jeff Paterson, program director of Courage to Resist, an organization that supports troops who refuse to fight.

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Ground the Drones…Lest We Reap the Whirlwind

Photos from Ground the Drones Action at Creech Airforce Base

Gerald — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:00:13 -0500

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View the Gallery for more photos of the Creech action.
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Outside Creech Air Force Base April 5

View more pictures from Creech AFB

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Outside Creech Air Force Base April 5

View more pictures from Creech AFB

Ground the Drones Video Links

Gerald — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:38:45 -0500

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Videographers Claudia Salamanca and Kate Chandler document the action at Creech Air force Base.
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