November 29, 2011
The Post-Standard
Syracuse, New York
To the Editor:
We still have a choice today: nonviolent co-existence or violent co-annihilation. — Martin Luther King Jr. In early November, the “Hancock 38” stood trial in DeWitt Town Court for our “die-in” outside the main gate of Hancock Field last spring.
We were charged with disorderly conduct while attempting to bring a citizens’ indictment to Hancock for piloting robotic MQ9 Reaper drones over Afghanistan. These drones, while sometimes used in combat, often hurl Hellfire missiles and 500-pound bombs at defenseless civilian targets.
The indictment, specifying the laws broken and the war crimes committed at Hancock by its Reaper drones, never got delivered. It was confiscated as our delegation, silent and somber, wrapped in “bloody” shrouds, approached the gate.
In response, many of us dropped to the pavement as if dead. Our “corpses” symbolized the uncountable number of Afghan civilians displaced, maimed and killed by the Reaper drone.
At our trial, we argued that our arrest violated our First Amendment right to free expression, to freedom of assembly and to petition our government for redress of grievances.
So significant are the issues raised by our weeklong trial that former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, now in his late 80s, traveled from New York City to DeWitt to testify on our behalf. Clark explained that the unmanned Reaper drone, electronically piloted by computer technicians at Hancock, violates the Nuremberg Principles and other international law.
Several of the Hancock 38 also testified. Our strategy: Stick with the Constitution and put the Reaper itself on trial. Judge David Gideon listened attentively; he is due to deliver his verdict Thursday.
For over two years, a loose coalition of mostly Upstate New Yorkers has sought to alert the public to the moral, legal and political implications of the Reaper drone in our midst. We have written articles, op-eds and letters to the editor; we have marched, vigiled and demonstrated; we have given talks to classes, congregations and community groups; we have met with staff of our elected representatives.
Further, we have twice written letters — signed by scores of concerned citizens — to Col. Kevin Bradley, the commander at Hancock, seeking a dialogue regarding our concerns. We have yet to receive a response.
Here, then, is why the Hancock 38 oppose the Reaper drone:
Many of us identify with the Judeo-Christian tradition and its ethical and moral imperatives. The Reaper is a robotic killer of the innocent and unarmed. It violates the Commandment, “Thou Shalt Not Kill.”
The Reaper, as Clark testified, violates international law, which according to Article 6 of the Constitution is the highest law of our land.
The Reaper violates U.S. laws forbidding extra-judicial execution — assassination — without proper investigation, legal representation, right to trial and appeal.
Although seldom defined, “terrorism” is violence or the threat of violence directed at civilians for political purposes. Given all the civilians the Reaper displaces, maims and kills, its attacks are the very essence of terrorism. Such calculated, premeditated killing exposes the hypocrisy of the so-called “war on terrorism.”
When it strikes, the Reaper generates enormous resentment toward the United States. While tactically smart, it is strategically stupid. It undermines any “hearts and minds” approach to anti-insurgency. Drone strikes may be al-Qaida’s most powerful recruiting pitch. The drone doesn’t “save lives,” as some claim. It perpetuates the killing. Blowback from drone terrorism makes us all less safe.
Drone technology is evolving and proliferating at an even faster pace than nuclear weaponry. Over 40 nations are now importing or developing the drone. One day, one of these nations may decide the world would be better off without Hancock Field and its chain of command
Domestically, police agencies and the Pentagon use drones to surveil U.S. borders — and are now lobbying to surveil citizens. Do we really want the armed forces and the government to have such powerful tools?
The Pentagon’s romance with deadly robotic aircraft calls to mind Martin Luther King’s 1967 statement that the U.S. government is itself “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.” Not long after this speech, King — already under close government surveillance — was assassinated.
Ed Kinane of Syracuse is one of the “Hancock 38.” This past summer he spent 30 days in Kabul, Afghanistan.
