BEALE AFB – Killer military drones are being targeted by veterans, military families, “grannies against war” and war opponents from San Francisco, Sacramento and other Northern California cities at a daylong demonstration TUESDAY at the front gates of Beale AFB.
The demonstration starts TUESDAY at the Beale AFB (west side/main gate) at 6:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. and then 3:30 p.m. through 5:30 p.m.
The growing protests, which started in November, encourage service members to refuse to fight and “resist” war by not using the killer drones.
Veterans for Peace, Grandmothers Against War, Military Families Speak Out and CodePINK are organizing the protest.
“It is part of a national collaborative campaign to have regular demonstrations at military bases across the country to educate soldiers about the truths of U.S. wars and encourage them to resist drones and endless wars by refusing to fight,” said CodePINK in a statement.
“Drone warfare has serious moral, legal and ethical ramifications. We want all U.S. military personnel participating in drone programs to think seriously about these issues. Drone technology is expanding exponentially, distributed now in 44 countries. But drone warfare will not make us safer. In fact, by it’s an assault on humanity, destabilizing the world, and we want the military to be aware of that and refuse to fight,” says Toby Blome, Bay Area CodePINK organizer.
CodePINK said it is also focusing on the trial of 14 peace activists arrested in Las Vegas last year protesting the use of drone warfare at Creech AFB. Former U.S. Attorney General, Ramsey Clark, retired Army Col. Ann Wright and law professor Bill Quigley provided expert witness testimony in defense of the Creech 14. The judge in the case put off a ruling until later this year because he said the testimony was so “compelling.”
Find out about the trial here:
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/09/15-0
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/sep/14/judge-delays-decision-creech-14-drone-trial/
