{"id":95606,"date":"2017-07-17T12:00:34","date_gmt":"2017-07-17T11:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=95606"},"modified":"2017-07-16T16:32:36","modified_gmt":"2017-07-16T15:32:36","slug":"moral-corrosion-of-drone-warfare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2017\/07\/moral-corrosion-of-drone-warfare\/","title":{"rendered":"Moral Corrosion of Drone Warfare"},"content":{"rendered":"

The U.S. government uses drones to eliminate risk to its soldiers and thus domestic opposition to war, but that heightens the moral imperative to challenge the remote-controlled killings, says ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

16 Jul 2017 – <\/em>Required by court order to appear before a judge in Syracuse, New York, on July 12, some out-of-towners had already arrived there when the court granted the prosecution\u2019s last-minute request for more time to prepare its case against us, the Jerry Berrigan Brigade, for our nonviolent witness against drone warfare on Jan. 28, 2016.\u00a0A trial date is likely to be set in a month or two, or perhaps three (so much for our Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

A Predator drone firing a missile.<\/p><\/div>\n

Back in January 2016, we stood behind<\/a> 30 larger-than-life-sized wooden silhouettes of Syracuse peacemaker Jerry Berrigan, who died at age 95 on July 26, 2015.<\/p>\n

A widely loved and respected educator, Jerry \u2013 like his brothers Dan and Phil \u2013 was himself larger than life.\u00a0Even in his early 90s, Jerry could be seen braving the elements, witnessing against the extrajudicial killings enabled by Hancock drone base in Syracuse.<\/p>\n

Jerry was asked at one point if there were anything he would change in his life. \u201cI would have resisted more often and been arrested more often,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

On Jan. 28, 2016, we \u2013 the Jerry Berrigan Brigade \u2013 brought images of Jerry to the gates of Hancock as a tangible reminder that this is where he would have been standing that day, putting his body on the line to say a clear, physical \u201cNO\u201d to killing. Jerry\u2019s widow and daughter were there with us, cheering us on.<\/p>\n

Most Americans are blissfully unaware that, from states-side drone bases like Hancock, drone \u201cpilots\u201d \u2013 with a push of the joystick, a click of a mouse, or simply a keystroke \u2013 can incinerate \u201csuspected terrorists,\u201d<\/a> on the other side of the globe WITHIN THREE MINUTES.<\/p>\n

Thanks to a media that is heavily influenced by what Pope Francis (speaking before Congress in 2015) called the \u201cblood-drenched arms traders,\u201d it\u2019s largely a comfortable case of out-of-sight-out-of-mind.\u00a0However, the more the killing is hidden, the more we feel a moral imperative to bring the killing out into the open and appeal to the consciences of U.S. citizens \u2013 including those of drone \u201cpilots\u201d many of whom have moral qualms about what they are being ordered to do and end up with bad cases of PTSD.<\/p>\n

Many of us protesters \u2013 Catholic Workers and Jewish grandmothers alike \u2013 take our cue from anti-war activist Rabbi Heschel, who braced us all with this admonition: \u201cWhen injustice takes place, few are guilty, but all are responsible.\u00a0Indifference to evil is more insidious than evil itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rabbi Heschel got that right.\u00a0And Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. reassured us that \u201cthe arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.\u201d\u00a0But how long and how to make it bend?<\/p>\n

Seventeen-plus months since our Jerry Berrigan Brigade witness at Hancock, we cannot avoid wondering just how long it will take for our case to find justice.\u00a0Nor are we sure what kind of \u201cjustice\u201d will befall us.\u00a0Whatever it is, though, it will be a small price to pay, when one considers the price paid by families who slip into the crosshairs of drone-fired Hellfire missiles.<\/p>\n

Some well-meaning soul suggested we consider apologizing \u2013 a notion far from our minds.\u00a0Were we to issue an apology, it would be patterned on the one given by Jerry Berrigan\u2019s brothers Dan and Phil and the others of the Catonsville Nine, who burned draft cards with homemade napalm 50 years ago at the height of the war in Vietnam:<\/p>\n

\u201cOur apologies, good friends, for the fracture of good order, the burning of paper instead of children, the angering of the orderlies in the front parlor of the charnel house. We could not, so help us God, do otherwise. For we are sick at heart, our hearts give us no rest for thinking of the Land of Burning Children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Good Friday Witness, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cJustice\u201d is likely to be meted out more quickly to those of us who decided that Good Friday this year would be a fitting time to honor the memory of innocent victims of Empire, given what happened to Jesus of Nazareth when he challenged Empire.\u00a0This time nine nonviolent resisters, including from Upstate Drone Action and Catholic Worker, were arrested at the main entrance to Hancock drone base witnessing against Hancock\u2019s role in drone killings.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Done \u201cpilots\u201d launch an MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle for a raid in the Middle East. (U.S. military photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

Three hung on large wooden drone crosses representing victims of U.S. drone strikes in seven majority Muslim countries. Eleven others held smaller drone crosses headed by the phrase, \u201cDRONES CRUCIFY,\u201d each followed by one of these: Children, Families, Love, Peace, Community, the US Constitution, UN Charter, Rule of Law, US Treaties, Due Process, or Diplomacy (in all, 14 \u201cStations of the Cross\u201d). All the crosses were confiscated by Base personnel.<\/p>\n

Perceiving a need to explain our Good Friday action we issued a statement<\/a>, that includes the following:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cGood Friday commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus. Recognizing that 70% of our nation identify as Christian, we come to the gates of the Hancock drone base to make real the crucifixion today. As Jesus and others were crucified by the Roman Empire, drones are used by the U.S. Empire in similar fashion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Roman times, crosses loomed over a community to warn people that they could be killed whenever the Empire decided. So, too, our drones fly over many countries threatening extrajudicial killings upon whoever happens to be in the vicinity. On this Good Friday, we recall Jesus\u2019 call to love and nonviolence. We\u2019re asking this Air Force base and this nation to turn away from a policy of modern-day crucifixion.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat if our country were constantly being spied upon by drones, with some \u2018suspected terrorists\u2019 killed by drones? What if many bystanders, including children, were killed in the process? If that were happening, we would hope that some people in that attacking country would speak up and try to stop the killing. We\u2019re speaking up to try and stop the illegal and immoral drone attacks on countries against which Congress has not declared war.\u201d<\/p>\n

(A five-minute video<\/a> of Nativity Scene Action at Hancock, the theme of which was: \u201cIf Herod Had Drones, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph Would Have Been Incinerated.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Several of those arrested on Good Friday, including me, were the same \u201cperps\u201d awaiting trial for the action of our Jerry Berrigan Brigade action a year and a half ago.\u00a0But the judge hearing this more recent case told us when we appeared before him on July 13 that he will now set a trial date for us Good Friday protesters.<\/p>\n

Other Witness Against Drones<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the last couple of years there have been many protest actions and arrests at one of the most important drone bases \u2013 Creech AFB in Nevada, where many from many parts of the U.S. and abroad have demonstrated against the brutality of drone killing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Life-size cut-outs of Jerry Berrigan arrayed to blockade at Hancock airbase in upstate New York on Jan. 28, 2016.
(Screen grab from YouTube video)<\/p><\/div>\n

Lesser known are actions in other parts of the country to raise awareness of the expansion of drone bases in localities like Des Moines, Iowa.\u00a0There the Des Moines Catholic Worker and Veterans For Peace have launched a campaign to call attention to the drone assassinations in which the 132nd<\/sup> Wing of the Iowa Air National Guard plays a role from Des Moines airport. There have been several arrests, trials, and convictions.<\/p>\n

The July issue of the Des Moines Catholic Worker community newspaper, Via Pacis, <\/em>carries the words of Frank Cordaro, a Catholic priest, before his latest arrest in late May at the National Guard drone command in Des Moines.\u00a0Frank reached back to the prophet Ezekiel to address the imperative to \u201cblow the trumpet,\u201d saying:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis protest is an Ezekiel \u2018Watchman\u2019 witness. Ezekiel was a priest of the First Temple and only became a prophet after he was kicked out of Jerusalem and sent into captivity in Babylon.\u00a0Once there, he started to have visions: \u2018The Lord said to me, when the Watchman sees the sword coming against the land, he should blow the trumpet to warn the people.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Des Moines Catholic Worker community has been a kind of Watchman for the city of Des Moines on the issues of war and peace for the past 40 years. It\u2019s probably because we Catholic Workers have been protesting US-led wars for over 80 years nationally and 40 in Des Moines. And it\u2019s very personal for me too. I grew up on the south side of Des Moines and this airport is just blocks away from the neighborhood I grew up in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Needed: more Watchmen and Watchwomen.\u00a0A drone base may soon be coming to your own neighborhood.<\/p>\n

______________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Ray McGovern works for a publishing arm of the Church of the Saviour in inner-city Washington.\u00a0 He has written about the moral imperative of activism<\/a> and tries to heed it.\u00a0 He was an Army officer and then a CIA analyst for 30 years, and is now on the Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 consortiumnews.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. government uses drones to eliminate risk to its soldiers and thus domestic opposition to war, but that heightens the moral imperative to challenge the remote-controlled killings, says ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-militarism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95606\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}