Weaponized Drones Are The Real Threat To Security Say Protesters At Creech AFB In Nevada

Afghans inspect damage of Ahmadi family house after U.S. drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Khwaja Tawfiq Sediqi) Source: Military.com

Amid the chaotic and embarassing retreat from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan came a drone strike on the Ahmadi family whose aid worker dad was transporting water in his car with little children aboard. "The Pentagon admitted Friday an airstrike in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 29 killed 10 civilians, including seven children, but not any terrorist planners as officials first claimed," according to Military.com.

Now it is even more urgent to demand the use of flying killer robots be banned. A large group of dedicated activists return each year to the Nevada desert where U.S. drone operators sit in trailers and decide to kill entire families without enough information to evaluate whether or not those targeted actually pose a threat to security. 

Weaponized drones are the real threat to security.

Here's the organizers' press release with detailed information on the week long protest.

2019: People protest against drone warfare at the entrance to Creech Air Force Base. Six people were detained and charged with misdemeanors during the week-long event, which is held several times a year. (John Locher/AP) Source: AirForceTimes.com

PROTESTORS FROM 12 STATES CONVERGE AT CREECH AFB FOR WEEK OF PROTEST TO DEMAND AN END TO REMOTE DRONE KILLING, AND BAN ON KILLER DRONES 

Kabul Killing of Afghan family, including 3 adults and 7 children, by U.S. Drone Last Month will be Memorialized

LAS VEGAS/CREECH AFB, NV – Anti-war/anti-drone demonstrators from the East and West coasts announced they are converging here Sept. 26-Oct. 2 to hold daily protests – which will include efforts to interrupt "business as usual"  – at the U.S. Drone Base at Creech Air Force Base, an hour north of Las Vegas, Nevada. 

U.S. anti-drone activists across the country will be holding solidarity protests at drone bases and in communities across the country during the same week, to amplify their common call for a ban on killer drones.  Contact Nick Mottern for more info:  (914) 806-6179.

In the aftermath of the horrific “mistake” from a U.S. drone attack on a civilian family in Kabul last month, that left three adults and seven young children dead, protesters are demanding that the U.S. cease its secret remote assassination program that they say is illegal and immoral. 

Vigils every morning and afternoon during commute hours will take place with varied themes each day. See schedule below. Nonviolent interruptions of flow of traffic into the base are planned during the week to oppose the inherent abuse, illegality and injustice of the U.S. targeted remote assassination program.  Rejecting the very nature of U.S. extrajudicial killings that has led to the death of thousands of civilians, protesters demand an immediate ban on all killer drones. 

Many military veterans, now members of Veterans for Peace, will be joining, including post-911 veterans. The event is co-sponsored by CODEPINK, Veterans for Peace and Ban Killer Drones.

At Creech, U.S. Air Force personnel, coordinating with C.I.A. officials, are, regularly and secretly, killing people remotely using unmanned armed drone planes, primarily the MQ-9 Reaper drones.  

Thousands of civilians have been killed and injured, in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, and elsewhere, since 2001, by U.S. drone strikes, according to independent investigative journalism.    

Over the last 20 years, the use of  armed drones have led to deadly atrocities that have included strikes on wedding parties, funerals, schools, mosques, homes, farm laborers  and in January, 2020, included direct hits on high level foreign military and government officials from Iran and Iraq.  

These drone massacres have, at times, resulted in the deaths of dozens of civilians with a single drone attack. To date not a single U.S. official has ever been held accountable for these ongoing atrocities – Yet, drone whistleblower, Daniel Hale, who leaked documents revealing the high rate of civilian casualties from U.S. drone strikes, is currently serving 45 months in prison.

“U.S. officials and military leaders exhibit total disregard for the value of human lives in the countries targeted under the so-called War on Terror,” said Toby Blomé, one of the organizers of the week long protest. “Over and over again, innocent lives are being purposefully sacrificed in drone strikes, in order for the U.S. to continue its 'counter-terrorism campaign,’” said Blomé.

“The Ahmadi family drone massacre that occurred in Kabul last month is not an example of accidental mis-judgement. It is an example of an ongoing reckless pattern of abuse whereby the U.S. assumes the right to kill a person on suspicion alone, just in case that person may be a threat, while also sacrificing everyone else who happens to be in the area,” Blomé added.

Organizers say that the only reason the truth about this recent drone tragedy was exposed is because it took place in Kabul, where investigative journalists were available to scrutinize the event. For 2 weeks after the incident U.S. military had insisted that they killed an ISIS affiliate. The evidence proved otherwise. Most drone strikes are underreported and not investigated because they occur in remote rural areas, far from international media.  

Participants of the week-long protest are calling for a complete ban on killer drones, an immediate end to the targeted killing program, and full accountability for the innocents killed, including reparations to the surviving victims of U.S. drone strikes, past and present.

“Given the murder of 10 innocent people in Kabul, including seven children, we know that the U.S. drone program is a disaster,” said organizer Eleanor Levine. “It makes enemies and it has to end now.”

Demonstrators are also calling for the immediate release of Daniel Hale  the drone whistleblower who exposed the criminality of the drone program. The documents leaked by Hale revealed that in many cases, up to 90% of those killed by U.S. drones were not the intended target. Demanding a pivotal shift toward justice, Shut Down Creech participants declare:  "Arrest the war criminals, not the truth-tellers.”

Mon, Sept 27, 6:30-8:30 a.m.  DRONE FUNERAL PROCESSION:  Dressed in black with white “death masks,” activists will process down the highway, in a solemn death march, carrying small coffins with the names of the countries that have been the primary targets of ongoing U.S. drone attacks that have led to high civilian casualties.  (Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan and Libya)

Mon, Sept 27, 3:30-5:30 p.m. "DRONE ATTACKS ARE…”  Participants will hold large bold signs with varied descriptive words to demonstrate the failure of the U.S. Drone Program:   ILLEGAL, RACIST, IMMORAL, BARBARIC, CRUEL, FUTILE, WRONG, DISGRACEFUL, etc.

Tues, Sept.28 , 6:30 - 8:30 a.m. THE DRONE MASSACRE MEMORIAL:  A long series of banners will be stretched along the highway, each one highlighting details of past U.S. drone massacres, including strikes that have hit wedding parties, funerals, schools, farm laborers and mosques.  Statistics on civilian deaths are included on each banner. This time, the horrific tragedy of the Ahmadi family killed in a Kabul neighborhood will be added to the historical record.

Tues, Sept 28, 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.  THE WAR IS A LIE;  To demonstrate the concept that the "first casualty in war is the truth,” a series of signs will convey examples: Presidents Lie, Congress Lies, Generals Lie, CIA lies, etc.  The messages will conclude with banners calling on more critical thinking:  Question Authority; Resist the Lies They Tell...Resist the Wars They Sell;  Truth-teller and Drone Whistleblower, Daniel Hale, will be featured:  "FREE DANIEL HALE.”

Wed, Sept 29, 6:30 - 8:30 a.m.   GO BACK, WRONG WAY!  A nonviolent, peaceful action will be planned to “interrupt business as usual” and to resist the illegal and immoral activity that takes place at Creech Killer Drone Base.  Details will be available later in the week.  NO MORE DEATHS! Other nonviolent acts of resistance may be planned at other times during the week.

Wed, Sept 29, 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.  ALTERNATIVES TO WAR;  A series of signs will offer alternatives to the military working at Creech AFB:  Doctors NOT Drones, Bread NOT Bombs, Housing NOT Hellfire Missiles, Peace Jobs NOT War Jobs, etc.

Thurs. Sept 30, 6:30 - 8:30 a.m.  “CREECHERS FOR THE PLANET”;  In a playful approach to connect the very serious global problems of climate crisis and environmental devastation with militarism, participants will dress in their favorite “Creecher Costumes” (Creature Costumes) and/or hold large animal puppets, while holding educational signs "connecting the dots”:  U.S. Military #1 Polluter, War is Toxic, End War for Climate Justice, U.S. Military = #1 User of FOSSIL FUEL, War in NOT Green:  PROTECT EARTH, etc.

Thurs. Sept 30, 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.  TBD:  Creech AFB may or may not have a vigil.  Stay tuned for updates.  A Las Vegas Anti-drone Street Theater Action planned at the Fremont Street Pedestrian Mall (4:00 - 6:00pm) in Las Vegas.  Details to come later. 

Fri. Oct. 1, 6:30 - 8:30 a.m.  FLY A KITE, NOT A DRONE;  In a colorful display of beautiful kites in the sky, participants will hold their final demonstration of the week, focusing on the positive benefits of alternatives to war, where all sides win.  The central large banner:  DIPLOMACY NOT DRONES!  The vigil will also honor the Afghan People, who have been forced to live under the terror of U.S. drones for 20 years, with immeasurable human losses.  The U.S. has “officially withdrawn” it’s troops and closed it’s bases in Afghanistan, the most droned country on earth; however, the drone strikes are expected to continue under Biden’s unspecified “Over the Horizon” policy.  Another large banner will declare:   STOP DRONING AFGHANISTAN:  20 YEARS ENOUGH!

Contact:  
Toby Blomé, 510.501.5412;  toby4peace@sonic.net
Eleanor Levine, 510-290-7071;  eastbaycodepink@gmail.com

For more details:   www.ShutDownCreech

'The Temptation Not To Question It' -- Daniel Hale, Drone Warfare Whistleblower

Afghanistan War veteran Daniel Hale pled guilty to revealing the truth about U.S. drone warfare on civilians. Although there's no indication he shared what he knew with opposing forces, he wrote an anonymous chapter in the book The Assassination Complex: Inside the Government’s Secret Drone Warfare Program (Scahill et al., 2016) and provided documents to the lead author.

Hale later pled guilty to charges under the Espionage Act and will be sentenced today. 

Hale's handwritten letter from prison explains his motivations for the choices that ruined his life and the lives of many others; it is full of eloquent wisdom. 

Some excerpts:

...I sat by and watched through a computer monitor when a sudden terrifying flurry of Hellfire missiles came crashing down, splattering purple-colored crystal guts on the side of the morning mountain.

Since that time and to this day, I continue to recall several such scenes of graphic violence carried out from the cold comfort of a computer chair. 

Source: "US Drone Strike 'Accidentally' Kills 30 Afghan Farmers" Axis of Logic, 2019

Not a day goes by that I don’t question the justification for my actions.

...

how could it be that any thinking person continued to believe that it was necessary for the protection of the United States of America to be in Afghanistan and killing people, not one of whom present was responsible for the September 11th attacks on our nation.

...

in spite of my better instincts, I continued to follow orders and obey my command for fear of repercussion. 

Yemen,  2014 from "Are US military drone strikes legal?" SBS Australia, 2014

Yet, all the while, becoming increasingly aware that the war had very little to do with preventing terror from coming into the United States and a lot more to do with protecting the profits of weapons manufacturers and so-called defense contractors

...

contract mercenaries outnumbered uniform wearing soldiers 2-to-1 and earned as much as 10 times their salary. 

...

I was starting to wonder if I was contributing again to the problem of money and war by accepting to return as a defense contractor. Worse was my growing apprehension that everyone around me was also taking part in a collective delusion and denial that was used to justify our exorbitant salaries for comparatively easy labor. 

The thing I feared most at the time was the temptation not to question it.

Source: The Indypendent, 2021

...

I believe that any person either called upon or coerced to participate in war against their fellow man is promised to be exposed to some form of trauma. In that way, no soldier blessed to have returned home from war does so uninjured.

...

on that day, years after the fact, my new friends [gasped] and sneered, just as my old ones had, at the sight of faceless men in the final moments of their lives. I sat by watching too, said nothing, and felt my heart breaking into pieces.

...

Left to decide whether to act, I only could do that which I ought to do before God and my own conscience. 

The answer came to me, that to stop the cycle of violence, I ought to sacrifice my own life and not that of another person.

So I contacted an investigative reporter with whom I had had an established prior relationship and told him that I had something the American people needed to know.

Respectfully,

Daniel Hale

Calling Out Civilian Deaths By Drone Under Yet Another Democratic Party Warmonger

Screenshot from video of protest blocking the road at Creech AFB on April 5. 

Group chanting, "Arrest Col. Jones, the war criminal, not Daniel Hale, the whistleblower!"  

Posted by Toby Blomé at https://shutdowncreech.blogspot.com

Today I am reposting a press release from the dedicated drone resistance that converges annually at Creech Air Base in Nevada. 

These people of conscience work tirelessly to shine a light into the dark crime of U.S. relentless bombing of civilians with each successive administration in Washington DC, whether Democrat or Republican. 

Many of them will risk arrest to bring attention to these atrocities.

April 2, 2021
Contact: Toby Blomé, 510.501.5412 Maggie Huntington.602.459.5257
For more details: https://shutdowncreech.blogspot.com

ANTI-DRONE PROTESTORS FROM AROUND U.S. CONVERGE THIS WEEK TO CONDEMN KILLING BY CREECH AFB DRONES

LAS VEGAS/CREECH AFB, NV – Anti-war/anti-drone demonstrators from the East and West coasts announced they are converging here April 4-10 to hold daily protests – which may lead to arrests – at the U.S. Drone Base at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada.

Many military veterans, now members of Veterans for Peace, will be joining. The event is co-sponsored by CODEPINK and Veterans for Peace.

At Creech, U.S. Air Force personnel, coordinating with C.I.A. officials, are, regularly and secretly, killing people remotely using unmanned armed drone planes, primarily the MQ-9 Reaper drones. 

Thousands of civilians have been killed and injured, in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, and elsewhere, since 2001, according to the activists.

In the aftermath of the recent and tragic U.S. massacres by lone gunmen in Georgia and Boulder, activists will hold daily two hour vigils between 6:30-8:30 a.m. and 3:30-5:30 p.m., during commute hours to underline the connection between mass violence at home and the "normalized" mass violence of the U.S. covert drone program and U.S. military.

Over the last 20 years, U.S. armed drones have been used to commit horrible atrocities that have included strikes on wedding parties, funerals, schools, mosques, homes, farm laborers, and in January, 2020, included direct hits on high level foreign military and government officials from Iran and Iraq.

"A man walks past a graffiti, denouncing strikes by U.S. drones in Yemen, painted on a wall in Sanaa November 13, 2014"KHALED ABDULLAH/REUTERS

These drone massacres have, at times, resulted in the deaths of dozens of civilians with a single drone attack. Not a single U.S. official has ever been held accountable for these ongoing atrocities, 

yet, an important drone whistleblower, Daniel Hale, who leaked truths about these atrocities faces potentially harsh sentencing later this July.

The daily vigils will include different themes each time, but two notable ones include:

Mon, April 5, 3:30-4:30 p.m. "WE STAND WITH Drone Whistleblower DANIEL HALE." On Wednesday, March 31, Daniel Hale pled guilty to being the informant who anonymously leaked classified military documents to an online media publisher, The Intercept, that revealed secret military statistics documenting civilian casualties under the covert U.S. targeted drone assassination program. (See The Drone Papers, 2015).

As a U.S. citizen and USAF analyst, Daniel acted out of conscience to reveal the truth about these serious war crimes that he felt the public had a right to know. Protesters will stand in support of Daniel's courageous act and demand that the real criminals be prosecuted, including the commanders of killer drone bases like Creech AFB, not the whistleblowers, who reveal the atrocities. Some of the messages will include: "Free Daniel Hale, Exposing war crimes is not a crime" "Prosecute the War Criminals not the Truth-tellers"

Tues, April 6, 6:30 - 8:30 a.m. THE DRONE MASSACRE MEMORIAL: Activists, will display a long series of banners, stretched along the highway, each highlighting details of past U.S. drone massacres, including statistics on civilian deaths.

"It is our hope," said Toby Blomé, one of the organizers, "that the military personnel that drive into the base everyday will reflect deeply about their role in this criminal activity that causes innumerable deaths and untold suffering around the globe, and that just maybe some of them will make the difficult but ethical choice to not participate.

"Militarized drones are expanding at an unbelievable rate, replacing conventional warfare, without any meaningful public debate. It is therefore the obligation of the military personnel to embrace their own individual responsibilities."

-END-

A pre-pandemic crowd of protestors at Creech in April, 2016.

What Happens Near Vegas Doesn't Stay Near Vegas, As Drones Fly And Children Die

"Shut down Creech" action in Fall, 2018 shows the many countries where taxpayers in the U.S. fund flying killer robots that kill many innocent civilians.

Organizers for peace in the desert near Las Vegas are sharing this troubling video with a military commander glorifying and justifying the murders conducted from Creech Air Base in Nevada.

White keyboard warriors killing brown children without much risk to the themselves. Very brave.

Despite what this career military man thinks, "Hunters" do not deliver justice. How could burning up children in their beds at night, or celebrants at a wedding, or people grieving at a funeral, be justice?

Justice involves the rule of law, impartial courts, the ability to confront one's accuser and to respond to the charges against you. 

"We've decided you're collateral damage in an area we seek to control with drones flown from a safety zone thousands of miles away," is not anything resembling justice, and it's a big fat lie to suggest that it is.

The fact is that drone operators have been found to suffer from PTSD and moral injury, and their wives and families suffer when they do. 

Lining up the wives and lecturing them about how their warriors need their support so they can go on being killing machines was enough to make me gag. 

Consider joining peace workers for an action outside the gates of Creech AFB. They are a well-organized group who know how to support one another in a desert protest under harsh conditions. Here is the latest message I received from them.

U.S. drone murdering continues to expand.

3 WEEKS TO SHUT DOWN CREECH, SPRING 2019

March 30-April 5.  

Details Here!    Register Here!

10 Years of Drone Resistance at Creech Killer Drone Base

Drones are “almost more frightening than nuclear weapons because nuclear weapons are not being used but this kind of targeting is going to destroy the world as we know it to be in completely new ways.”

-Arundhati Roy

Important Articles to Read:

Trump Ends Rule Requiring US to Disclose Number of Civilians Killed by Drone Strikes

The Gray Eagles have been smuggled into Fort Carson with lots of happy talk

We hope you will join us in saying no to this cruel & bloody madness!

Bring friends!

Eleanor, Maggie & Toby

Details Here!    Register Here!

Graffiti in Yemen

Conscience Of Our Nation Says Stop Droning #Afghanistan, 17 Years: Enough!

Screenshot from "Beale Air Force Base Gate Blockade" YouTube

Report back from peace workers in the Nevada desert. Posted here with gratitude and admiration for their acting as the conscience of our nation, a nation which kills innocent people regularly without much attention being paid to that fact.

URGENT NEWS ADVISORY
Contacts:   Shirley Osgood:  (941) 735-8865
Toby Blomé  510-501-5412

BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, near Wheatland – Four demonstrators were arrested early Tuesday, Oct. 30, as they opposed the ongoing 17-year U.S. bombing campaign in Afghanistan and U.S. occupation of one of the poorest countries in the world. 

Screenshot from "Beale Air Force Base Gate Blockade" YouTube

Traffic was backed up for 1/2 mile or more down two merging roads, for nearly an hour as protesters – arriving in the dark of early morning – blocked the main entrance road into Beale Air Force Base, South Beale Road, near Wheatland, California. 

Activists stretched a large banner across the road that said:  STOP DRONING AFGHANISTAN;  17 YEARS ENOUGH!  

Screenshot from "Beale Air Force Base Gate Blockade" YouTube

Four protesters were arrested, and held for 2.5 hours in military jail cells on the base. They face misdemeanor trespassing charges in U.S. Court with a maximum penalty of six months in federal prison. Those arrested were Michael Kerr, Bay Point, CA; Mauro Oliveira, Montgomery Creek, CA; Shirley Osgood, Grass Valley, CA and Toby Blome, El Cerrito, CA.

Afghanistan, referred to as “the most droned country on earth,” has over 40,000 foreign troops, including U.S. military, allied forces and private mercenaries.

“Mission Accomplished” was declared by two previous U.S. Administrations, Bush and Obama, yet, after October 7, the 17th anniversary of the U.S. invasion, the bombing campaign continues under President Trump, with no end in sight. 

Beale Air Force Base is intimately involved in the U.S. drone assassination program.  Airmen at Beale who are in the covert unit that controls the U.S. Global Hawk surveillance drone work cooperatively with armed drone operators elsewhere to surveil, target, and execute drone strikes remotely in foreign countries.  Thousands of civilians have been killed, and funerals, wedding parties, mosques, schools and other public gatherings have been attacked by U.S. remotely controlled planes, known as drones.  



Just two weeks ago, on Oct. 12, over 75 Somali new young “recruits” with Al-Shabaab were killed by a single U.S. drone attack.  “We oppose the use of armed drones in all killing attempts.  This type of remotely controlled aggressive violence, without any imminent threat, has become normalized in U.S. foreign policy.  To whose benefit?” asks Toby Blomé, one of the arrestees.  “What world is being created?”  

Most often these strikes occur unannounced, without any warning.  Bodies are often charred beyond recognition.  “The relatives of the dead, the sons, fathers, cousins and even friends of the killed, could easily become the next recruits for any militant organization.  This is no solution, and only further destabilizes any community,” says Ms. Blomé.

Activists arrested said they are committed to continue their ongoing anti-drone campaign at Beale AFB, Creech AFB and other U.S. drone bases until the cruel, illegal and immoral practice of drone killing ceases.

Videos of the protest and arrests: https://youtu.be/DWjVcru1IPA

Photos: 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/31179704@N03/30699238327/in/dateposted-public/

USA Wedded To War Is Message Of Activists Arrested Protesting Violence Near Las Vegas

Drones fly, children die and Stop killing for empire seen at Creech Air Base near Las Vegas where flying killer robots known as drones are used to terrorize civilians thousands of miles away. This is a screenshot from a video of peace activist Toby Blome being arrested for blocking access to the base.

It is sadly ironic that bullets raining down on hundreds of concertgoers in Las Vegas happened just miles away from the U.S. military base flying drones to rain down bombs on wedding guests.

This has been going on for years, and so have blockades and other forms of protest at the gates of Creech Air Base. People in the U.S. were terrorized by the events at Mandalay Bay last week, but they mostly turn a blind eye to the terror their government unleashes in their name and at their expense. That terror, for most in the U.S., is invisible.

But it's not invisible to everyone here in the heart of the violent empire. Here's an eyewitness report of the protest at Creech and a link to a Facebook video of the arrests recorded by peace activist Ann Wright:

Two arrested Friday at Creech Drone Base north of Las Vegas in mock wedding and blockade

CREECH AIR BASE, INDIAN SPRINGS, NEVADA -  On the sixteenth anniversary of the war on Afghanistan, two citizens were arrested for challenging the use by the United States of assassin drones, which were first used in Afghanistan in 2001.

The two arrestees were part of a larger group of activists  blocking the main gate to Creech Drone Base. Arrested were long time peace and justice activists Toby Blome of California and JoAnn Lingle of Indiana.  Other activists hailed from California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, and Pakistan. All participated in the enactment of a mock wedding attacked by a killer drone.  U.S. assassin drones have routinely attacked wedding parties in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen. 

Prior to her arrest Toby Blome said, “The killing has to stop.  We are bombing and assassinating people in the poorest countries in the world.”

JoAnn Lingle said, “Being arrested is non-violent resistance to U.S. endless wars.”

As the sound of drones operated by military student pilots at Creech Drone Base was seen and heard overhead, the bride and groom exchanged vows to work for peace and justice.  A sign reading “U.S.A. Wedded to War” was held over the wedding party. 

This is a part of the ten-year campaign at Creech Drone Base, 40 miles north of Las Vegas, to stop the extrajudicial killing of civilians.

Over 100 arrests of peace activists have been made at Creech over these years.

The events at Creech Drone Base are a part of the global mobilization to raise international concern about endless war in violation of the U.S. constitution and international law.  We invite the public the join with activists in local Global Days of Action found at demilitarize.org and at Creech AFB home of the Predator and Reaper killer drones.

Actions at Creech will continue through Wednesday, October 11 with morning and afternoon vigils.
##

For more information contact: Eleanor Levine at dreleanorlevine@yahoo.com 510-290-7071

Close Ramstein Air Base In Germany, Or Just End Its Role As Drone Command Central?

A corporate fast food outlet at Ramstein Air Base was destroyed by fire
after an employee used a blowtorch to burn weeds.
(It is hard to write satire in an age brimming with this much irony.) Stars and Stripes

There's a difference of opinion among antiwar activists who focus on enormous Ramstein Air Base, located on the soil of another defeated enemy of the U.S. from WWII.

June, 2016 "Thousands of Germans surround Ramstein Air Base to protest the US's use of drones"
by Carolyn Copley, Business Insider  

Some, like the estimated 5,000 protesters above, want the base to stop serving as command central for the flying killer robots know as drones. Germans claim this use of their soil violates their post-WWII constitution. A full investigative article revealing this appeared in mainstream publication Der Spiegel in 2015.

The organization "Stop Ramstein -- No Drone War" will hold a weekend of action August 12-13 this year. From their website:

The US military base Ramstein is a central hub for the preparation and implementation of international attacks. The deadly operations of American combat drones, including in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria, are carried out through the satellite relay station at the US Air Base Ramstein resulting in tens of thousands of victims, the majority of whom were uninvolved civilians.

Other activists would like to close the base altogether as part of a campaign to close the estimated 800-1,000 military bases the U.S. maintains abroad. Details on that campaign may be found here.

As the Pentagon has moved ever more in the direction of contracting with corporations like Burger King to feed soldiers and airmen, the cost to taxpayers of maintaining these outposts of capitalist imperialism has likewise grown. That is, taxpayers in Germany, Japan and Korea.

Gone are the days when Beetle Bailey peeled potatoes on K.P. (kitchen patrol), a staple of my childhood funny papers. Now Beetle would be a joystick warrior killing remotely viewed people he would refer to as "bug splats" after murdering them; now Beetle would have PTSD from doing this kind of military "service" for my government.

And a German employee of a U.S. corporation can accidentally sets a fast food franchise outlet on fire while using a blow torch to burn unsightly weeds.

Not to worry. Burger King has announced it will rebuild.

"Nabila Rehman, 9, holds up a picture she drew depicting the US drone strike on her Pakistan village
which killed her grandmother. Photograph: Jason Reed/Reuters" Guardian 2013

Anti-drone activists have long objected to the use of remote controlled technology to murder innocent victims. Organizer Elsa Rassbach told me recently that they believe banning drone operations from Ramstein AB is within the realm of possibility. Closing the base is probably not.

I have a lot of respect for Elsa's work (and, she may be correct) but I am going to cling to my idealistic notion that ALL U.S. military outposts around the planet can and should be closed, permanently -- for the environment, for the local community, and certainly not least for the victims.

Grandma Drone Protester Jailed For 65 Days Appeals Her Case

"NY grandma jailed for violating protection order used to 'quell dissent' outside drone base" RawStory

MEDIA ALERT: August 4, 2017

Contact: Mary Anne Grady Flores 607-280-8797

Ed Kinane 315-478-4571/ upstatedroneaction.org

Oct. 11th NYS Court of Appeals Hears Grandma Drone Protester Case

Ithaca, N.Y. -- The long-awaited appeals case of Mary Anne Grady Flores, one of many Grandma drone protesters at Hancock MQ-9 Reaper Drone Base, will be heard by the panel of judges of the N.Y.S. Court of Appeals in Albany, on Oct. 11, 2017.

Depending on the verdict, Grady Flores, who has already served 56 days, may have to complete 65 days in Jamesville, Onondaga County Jail, E. Syracuse.

On Feb. 13th, 2013, Ash Wednesday, Ithaca Catholic Worker Grady Flores took pictures of eight Catholic protesters from the roadway, unknowingly crossing what Hancock claims to be its boundary, “the double yellow line in the middle of the road.”  Where she stood in the roadway violated a domestic violence, stay away "order of protection" (OOP’s) given by local DeWitt Court on behalf of Colonel Earl A. Evans of the 174^thAttack Wing of the NY National Guard Base.

In another drone protester appeal the OOP had been ruled invalid by Onondaga County Judge Brunetti because the OOP didn’t delineate how close or far people had to be from the base. Grady Flores’ OOP’s was from a previous nonviolent witness at the base, Oct. 25, 2012. 

Colonel Evans testified during her 2014 trial that he didn’t know Grady Flores or ever speak with her.  He said he, “That’s just a piece of paper. I just want the protesters away from my base.”

Grady Flores, left, with her sister Ellen Grady, being arrested at Hancock Drone Base  syracuse.com

Judge David S. Gideon sentenced Grady Flores to a year in jail, unsuccessfully trying to stop 50 others, many who returned to protest despite having OOP’s.

Grady Flores' appeal contends that you cannot take an order of protection out on behalf of property. Her appeal, written by Ithaca attorney Lance Salisbury, also argues that the order threatens her First Amendment protected right of free speech. NYC attorney Jonathan Wallace of the National Lawyers Guild has submitted an amicus brief in support of her case.

Child victims of drone strikes in Pakistan. #1 is 4 year old Shakira, who survived with severe facial burns.
#2 is a child who died.  http://www.interet-general.info/spip.php?article18089

The eight Catholics photographed were protesting Hancock Killer Drones, atoning for the killing and maiming of child drone victims on that February Ash Wednesday. They were acquitted of their only charge, disorderly conduct, explaining their intent was to uphold law and sound the alarm of laws being violated by the base, such as extrajudicial killing, violation of drone victims' right to due process, violation of sovereignty laws. They contended they were there to enforce law, not there to break law.

Hancock is the largest training and maintenance center for the US MQ-9 Reaper drone program. Extra judicial killings are executed by Air Force crews sitting in front of computer screens in the Syracuse base, killing civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

In a five-month period in 2015, up to 90% of drone assassination victims were civilians.

December, 2016 nativity scene protest at Hancock Drone Base

The base shares facilities with civilian Syracuse International Airport.  Hancock Air National Guard Base has been the site of protests of the US killer drone program since 2010, resulting in about 200 arrests and numerous trials, appeals, and numerous incarcerations -- some ending in acquittal.

upstatedroneaction.org / knowdrones.com

Protesters at Hancock Drone Base 2014
http://theperiledsea.ning.com/profiles/blogs/hancock-air-base-drone-protester-sentenced-to-1-year-in-jail-appe