Spring Days of Drone Action Continue throughout Wisconsin

In the wake of a powerful demonstration at Volk Field, Wisconsinites are not resting on their laurels, but instead have planned several more events in conjunction with anti-drone actions happening nationwide in the next few weeks.

A united front against drone terror.

May 8 at 7 pm in Madison.  There will be a showing of Robert Greenwald's film  "Unmanned:  America's Drone Wars" at The Fountain, 122 State Street, just off the  Capitol Square.  It is also available to stream for free at Warcosts.com. 

May 17 all day -- We will maintain a presence at the Volk Field Open House.  [Note: this will replace our normal 4th Tuesday vigil at the gates of Volk Field]

Schedule of Events:

6:30-10:00 am 5K on the Runway/1 Mile Walk

6:30 am Gate opens for 5K Registration

7:30 am 5K Start

8:00-10:00 am Pancake Breakfast  for 5K Participants

10:00 am to 2:30 pm Bus Tours (Pick-up/Drop-off in Nelson Park in the town of Camp Douglas with a stop at Volk Field Museum)

12:00-1:00 pm Camp Douglas Armed  Forces Day Parade 

Contact Bonnie Block (cell: 608-320-0569) or Jim  Murphy (cell: 608-617-7379) about helping the Wisconsin Coalition to Ground the  Drones have a presence at the Open House events beginning at 10 am.  We'll meet at the usual location -- the wayside to your right after your take Exit 55 right off  I-90/94 at the town of Camp Douglas to finalize our plans. 

- We'll have t-shirts for sale for $10 (with a graphic of a Predator Drone and the word NOPE!)

-We hope to "Fly Kites, Not  Drones."

-We'll have a handout with info on drone warfare to pass out and, at the end of the day we'll have a birthday cake to celebrate Kathy Walsh's birthday.  BUT we can only do this with your help so please let us know if you can come.  

May 23, Noon to 1 pm at Hatch Public Library located at 111 State Street in Mauston.  Join us after the last trial and hear Five Grandmothers Speak Out Against Drone Warfare.  We will gather and read the names of children  killed by US drone warfare as we place a stone of remembrance in a small  "coffin." At the end of this ceremoney we'll talk about why we're taking action to "ground the donres" and discuss ways to make the future more safe for all the world's children and  grandchildren.  Refreshments will be served.

  CONTACTS:   Bonnie Block 608 256-5088 orblbb24@att.net

                     Joy First 608 239-4327 orjoyfirst5@gmail.com 

Join us as the Spring Days of Drone Action
continue! CLICK HERE for more information.

Jan 15-20: Wisconsin Lobby Day Against Drone Warfare

Wisconsin Lobby Day Against Drone Warfare

January 15-20, 2014

Organized by:

Wisconsin Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars

Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice

To participate or for more information: Joy First joyfirst5@gmail.com

Drones are immoral, illegal, and ineffective

What Should Members of Congress Do?

DRONE WARFARE IS IMMORAL:

*Between 3500-6000 people (over 200 have been children) are killed by drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, and other places around the world. (Bureau of Investigative Journalism. www.thebureauinvestigates.com )

*Only 2% of those killed are high-level targets. (Living Under Drones.  Study by Stanford and NYU Law Schools. www.livingunderdrones.org )

*Drones constantly flying overhead are terrorizing entire civilian populations. (Living Under Drones.  Study by Stanford and NYU Law Schools. www.livingunderdrones.org )

*US soldiers involved in the drone program have high rates of suicide, PTSD, and anxiety.

(http://healthimpactnews.com/2013/u-s-operators-of-droInes-suffering-suicide-and-antipsychotic-drugs-are-result-after-watching-people-die-repeatedly/)

DRONE WARFARE IS ILLEGAL:

*Drones are a violation of international law – the UN Charter, the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Conventions, and the principles of the Nuremburg Tribunal.  They also violate the U.S. Constitution, international human rights laws, the laws of war, and the law applicable to the use of inter-state force. 

* The people who are killed have not been given any kind of due process.  They have not been charged, tried, or convicted of any crime.  They are summarily murdered by our government.

*In a report to the UN Human Rights Council, UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, Philip Alston, has said that the use of drones by the CIA amounts to, “a license to kill without accountability.”

*The Supreme Court of Pakistan has declared that U.S. drone warfare is a war crime.

DRONE WARFARE IS INEFFECTIVE

*Drones are not making the world safer.  Many people being attacked by drones operate by the rules of tribal law and when someone in their tribe is killed, they are obligated to take revenge. 

*Yemeni activist, Faera Al-Muslimi, testified before Congress and said that one drone strike instantly radicalizes people against the United States in ways that al Qaeda propaganda never could.

* At the Code pink “International Drone Summit” in Washington D.C. in November, 2013 a member of the Pakistani Parliament reported that 74% of the people consider the US an enemy.  http://www.pewglobal.org/2012/06/27/pakistani-public-opinion-ever-more-critical-of-u-s/

STORIES FROM VICTIMS SHOW DRONE WARFARE VIOLATES HUMAN RIGHTS

More and more stories coming out from people whose lives been shattered by drones.

One story was told by a thirteen-year-old girl who had been out selling gum with her father in Afghanistan.  When they returned to their village, they found their home demolished.  They found the pieces of her mother and two of her brothers scattered on the ground and in a tree.  The trauma rendered her father mute, and the girl became responsible for the rest of her family.  She led them into Pakistan where she begged on the streets to try and make money to support her family.

Another story is about a ten-year-old daughter who died with her mother in a drone attack.  She was clinging so tightly to her mother when she died that the family could not separate them and they were buried together.

Entesaar al Qadhi is a young politician from Yemen who reported at the International Drone Summit in Washington, DC that they didn’t even know who al Qadhi was until the US came.  She said, “We don’t support terrorism.  Why must we suffer terror attacks?”  She wants what everyone wants – to live in her home in peace.

WHAT DO WE WANT OUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO DO?

**Remember that Wisconsin has a military base where drone training is being conducted.  Volk Field has just opened a $4.5 million drone training facility.  We can demand an end to funding training for drone pilots at this Wisconsin base.

**We can demand that Congress better exercise real oversight over the drone program – whether it’s done by the military, the CIA, or private contractors.  In order to do so members of Congress need to receive pertinent information, whether it’s classified or not.

**We can demand an end to funding for the drone warfare program worldwide.

**As we approach the mid-term elections this fall, we will make drone warfare an election issue, letting members of Congress know that they must assure constituents that they will do everything possible to stop this illegal, immoral, and ineffective program that not only denies people around the world their human rights, but also makes us less safe in the long run.

April Days of Action Against Drones in WISCONSIN

Wisconsin helped lead the kickoff of the April Days of Action Against Drones last week, and the schedule of events accelerates in the days ahead.

Highlights include:

JANESVILLE - Members of Veterans for Peace and the Rock Valley Fellowship of Reconciliation rallied on Milton Avenue in Janesville on Saturday April 6, 2013, receiving a great deal of support from passersby.

VOLK FIELD - On Tuesday, March 26, Wisconsin activists held their monthly vigil at Volk field. The next regular monthly vigil against killer drones at Camp Williams/Volk Field takes place April 23, 3:30 – 4:30. For more information, contact joyfirst5@gmail.com. SEE PICTURES AND AN ACCOUNT OF THE 4/23 DEMONSTRATION

Read more about the vigils at Volk Field and putting the drones on trial in Wisconsin.






OTHER UPCOMING WISCONSIN EVENTS


MILWAUKEE - Thursday, April 11, 2013 time to be determined, at National Guard grounds at 55th and Silver Spring Dr. For more information, contact Don Timmerman at don2roberta@yahoo.com (Watch for more information on this.)

MADISON- March and work on U.S. Drone quilt project, 4/20 at 11 A.M., a march begins on the library mall and terminates at the capitol.

EAGLE RIVER - Monday, April 22, 2013, 6:30-8:30PM, "Tracking Drones: Because the Drone War is Not Going Away! Mary Jo Berner, creator of the KILLING BY REMOTE CONTROL: DRONE WARFARE SERIES, will lead a discussion on the latest developments in our government's secretive drone program,. You're invited to bring information on drones to share with the group and enhance the discussion. Many Ways of Peace, a resource center for peace and nonviolence, 217 S. Main St., Eagle River, WI 54521 More information: www.manywaysofpeace.org or call 715.480.4697.

(Add additional Wisconsin events to the master list of national April Days of Action actions.)

What about YOU? Become part of No Drones Wisconsin!

Read about ALL the ways YOU can be involved 

in the April Days of Action Against Drones!

April Days of Action Against Drones in MADISON: Saturday, April 20th

MOURNING AFTER DRONES:
MARCH and work on U.S. Drone Quilt Project
MADISON WISCONSIN

SATURDAY APRIL 20, 2013

11 AM MARCH from Library Mall to Capitol

Part of the The April Days of Action 2013, a coordinated, national campaign of the Network to Stop Drone Surveillance and Warfare to generate a public uprising to STOP U.S. DRONE WARFARE.

The stories of the victims of drone attacks are horrific
and the photographs are grisly.  Targeting individuals for death without trial
or even knowing who they are in many cases, is illegal, immoral and reprehensible.

The US Drones Quilt project is a work of collective art
 designed to remind us that often the victims of drone attacks
are people like us who are afraid, alone and innocent

NO DRONES WISCONSIN • VETERANS FOR PEACE

ENDORSERS

WISCONSIN NETWORK FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
ROCK COUNTY FELLOWSHIP OF RECONCILIATION
WISCONSIN FOOD NOT BOMBS
MADISON PLEDGE OF RESISTANCE 
                                              WISCONSIN COALITION TO GROUND THE DRONES AND END THE WARS