Leah Bolger,
President of Veterans for Peace talked about her trip to Pakistan to investigate drone
bombings.
This phone/internet meeting was on 12-12-12.
Pakistani Opinion & Politics
*75% say US
is the enemy
*Pakistanis do see the difference between Americans and
their government, and Leah’s group was always treated warmly
Information on drones from Stanford and Investigative Bureau
of Journalists.
She showed short film from Brave New Films (no sound though). I believe it is the film above, but I am not certain.
Pashtun Culture – covers Afghanistan
and Pakistan,
but they do not recognize the border.
They follow communal living and believe in hospitality (will defend
guests with own lives) and revenge. Women are very private and did not talk to
this delegation. Problems solved by jergas (sp?)– a group meeting.
Obama targets based on “signature strikes” meaning that the
act or dress or live in the area of what they consider a “proper target” which
means a military aged male for the most part.
GPS chips are used to target specific people. US will name a terrorist killed, sometimes
multiple times, with no verification.
She talked about how the drone strikes impacted the people
on the ground. They are under threat of
drone attacks 24/7. It is making people
suicidal. Children are afraid to go to
school. Changed cultural norms – weddings used to be large, but now they are
afraid of large gatherings. Same for funerals, since they are targeted by
drones. People are afraid to meet in groups. People are relocating, or sending
their children to live elsewhere.
There is no compensation for injuries, loss of income, or
property damage. Often times, there is
no medical care available.
They had 3 meetings with tribal leaders and victims of the
drone bombings. There are in rural areas and communication is difficult. Pakistani army is complicit in keeping things
secret. They do not even release the names of the women who were injured or
killed, because of cultural norms and privacy issues. There is no record keeping of births, deaths,
etc. No pictures of women either. One
man showed a scrap of dress to show his wife was killed.
Leah had a video on their journey in Pakistan, but did not sho it. She will post to V4P website. The Pakistani
politician they traveled with was very popular and people greeted them
everywhere. Then she talked about legal issues, like UN Charter, Geneva
Conventions and US Constitution. The drone strikes violate sovereignty. There is no transparency or accountability
since it is CIA and classified. No evidence or charges are presented; there is
no positive identification and no chance to surrender. “Double tap” means they go after first
responders – a flagrant violation of international law.
These are extrajudicial assassinations.
They had 2 meetings with Ambassador Hoagland for Pakistan. In
first meeting, he guaranteed the convoy would not be a target of a drone
strike. Leah suggested that they would position Americans around Pakistan to
stop the drone strikes, to protect the Pakistanis. He claimed that civilian casualties are in
“two digits”. Leah said they are over 3,000.
They discussed “double tap” and compensation for injuries or
damage. Ambassador thought compensation
would be good, but is not possible. Also
told him about Stanford Report, but he did not read it before second meeting
(after the convoy into Warzirastan). He
has not met with any victims and denies applicability of international laws on
drones at this time. He denied that visibility or audibility of drones and
denied the veracity of photos and stories. He seemed to be indifferent to their
reports. Leah found the indifference to be very upsetting. He took no notes and
asked few questions. Hoagland claimed that there are no strikes when women and
children are present. He was offended to their talk about Obama’s “kill list”.
What we can do:
educate yourself and others
Join anti-drone organization
Get a drone replica – wheel into farmer’s market and have a
die-in (a participant said they took their drone replica to a UN meeting and in
front of capital building in Madison WI)
Protest outside of drone bases or drone manufacturers
Host a speaker in your town – the whole team of folks are available
Lobby and pressure Congress
Some websites:
Code Pink is hiring a full time person to keep on top of
drones.
April 6 – National No Drones Day
San Diego Chapter of VFP is hosting DroneDiego and they hope
to make this a series of international days of actions from April 4 to 7. Dave Patterson is heading this action. There
is also a VFP drone working group.
Same presentation next Wednesday evening!
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