On October 30 I joined about 100 people for a demonstration
at Beale Air Force Base calling for an end to drone warfare. Beale is home to the Global Hawk Drone, a
surveillance drone that is used to determine drone targets. After stopping traffic onto the base for four
hours, nine of us were arrested for trespassing onto federal property.
I took this action because I am convinced that the use of
drones for targeted assassinations is immoral and illegal and that their use
threatens us all. Now is the time to
stop the new drone arms race in its tracks.
This act of nonviolent direct action at Beale was my way of witnessing
to my hope that "another world is possible," a world based not on
domination and violence, but on peace, justice, and environmental healing. My
"no" of resistance is based on a "yes" of faith.
The U.S. use of drones for extra-judicial killings is
immoral and illegal under international law.
It assumes that the whole world is a battleground and that the United
States has the right to inflict capital punishment without trial on whomever it
has put on its "kill list."
Targeted assassinations by drones is not a clean as many
people seem to think. Many innocent
people have been killed, including children. In Pakistan, whole communities are paralyzed
with fear because of ongoing drone attacks.
"Secondary kills," that is, drone strikes on rescue workers,
if eyewitness reports are true, would constitute war crimes.
There are other complications to drone warfare. Drones are sold on the open market. Weapon manufacturers, whose sole purpose is
profit, have no loyalty to any country but only to their bottom line. Over fifty countries now have drones. Most are currently used for surveillance, and
in fact, many law enforcement departments in U.S. cities are purchasing drones
for that purpose. But drones can be equipped
with weapons, and many countries already have weaponized drones. With the United States setting the standard
and leading the way, we are in danger of a drone arms race without an
international legal framework for their use.
The public must become aware of the dangers of this deadly
program. We must rise up in resistance
and demand that the United States propose, sign, and ratify an international treaty
on drones. Clearly, this is a tall
order, especially given that the United States has not even signed the Anti-Personnel
Mine Ban Convention. Such an outcome can
only take place if there is widespread public awakening to the multiple dangers
facing us as a species, and spiritual renewal motivating us to work together
for global transformation. This will
entail a rising up of people willing to work for a peoples' democracy rather
than acquiescing to the current system of global corporate rule.
In the next few months, those of us who were arrested at
Beale will stand trial in federal court in Sacramento. I'm grateful to have this opportunity to
witness to my conviction that another world truly is possible.
