It is now 10 years since the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Iraq is in shambles with perhaps over 1 million dead due to the war and the sectarian violence instigated by the U.S. The war continues in Afghanistan. The war on Libya destabilized the entire region. Mali has been invaded as the U.S. builds a new drone base in Niger and has moved troops into 35 African countries. The threat of direct military intervention in Syria and Iran is increasing.
At home, the government's "national security" scare tactics and its promotion of Islamophobia, hate and intolerance are designed to justify ever-increasing attacks on civil liberties and democratic rights. These include frame-up prosecutions and harassment of the Muslim community, subpoenas for antiwar activists, attacks on communities of color and undocumented workers and new laws that allow for people to be arrested without charges and held indefinitely without a trial. Targeted assassination, and government-approved presidential "kill lists" of American citizens and all others "suspected" of "terrorism" are the new norm in the growing arsenal of murder and oppression.
The wars have changed in the past 10 years. President George W. Bush sent U.S. troops to Afghanistan and Iraq. President Obama did the same with his failed “surge” in Afghanistan. Since then, the Obama administration has used special operations forces (the code words for death squads), drones, military forces from other NATO countries and regional regimes to pursue their endless wars of conquest, occupation and plunder. This tactical "change," aimed at lowering the interventionist profile of the U.S. war makers, is a response to the growing antiwar sentiment in the U.S. The Obama administration fears that its austerity measures and attacks on civil liberties may well combine to bring forth an explosive mass movement in the streets that begins to challenge the policies of a government whose only solution to the deepening economic crisis is to bail out the corporate elite at the expense of the great majority. The Arab Spring and occupy has put fear into the hearts of the 1%.
During the month of April, antiwar forces will take to the streets again, this time with a focus on challenging the drone war politics increasingly utilized across the globe to advance the interests of the corporate elite and the associated military-industrial complex. This form of robotic mass killings allows for the spread of wars everywhere as U.S. troops no longer have to cross borders to crush resistance to imperial rule. This twisted logic is based on the notion that fewer U.S. casualties will lessen the resistance at home to mass murder abroad. Please see the actions listed below. Join an action or build one in your community.
For more information and to volunteer, contact info@justicewithpeace.org 617-383-4857
And around the country: [http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1170/p/salsa/event/common/public/index.sjs?distributed_event_KEY=708] or [http://droneswatch.org/]
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San Diego, Ca. (drone production capital of the world)
National Anti-drone Days of Action
April 4 – 7, 2013
April 4 – Veterans for Peace demonstration at General Atomics predator drones production site.
April 5 – morning, demo at General Atomics Headquarters, coordinated by CodePink. Afternoon, demo at Northrup Grumman site coordinated by CodePink. Evening socializing.
April 6 – Afternoon demo at Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum, Evening Speaker’s Forum
April 7 – General Assembly – Workshops, next Steps
For more information: [http://www.sdcpj.org/] or on Facebook at: [http://www.facebook.com/events/176137409176804/]
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Syracuse, NY (Hancock drone base)
April 26 – 28, Resisting Drones, Global War and Empire: demonstration and convergence to action. Three days of resistance.
April 26 – Welcome & Introductions, Music with Charley King
April 27 - All day conference and workshops with Kathy Kelly, Gruce Gagnon, Chris Hedges, Ann Wright, Nick Moltern, Debra Sweet, Joe Lombardo, Kevin Zeese, Dr. Margaret Flowers and others.
For more information: (315)308-0048, [http://upstatedroneaction.org/index.html]
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Chicago
Protest Against Drone Warfare, protest Boeing research and development
Saturday, April 6th, 12:30 pm
Washington & Wacker, Chicago
For more information: Anti War Committee – Chicago [antiwarcommitteechicago.blogspot.com]
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Connecticut
Forum, Stop the Drone Attacks on Pakistan, April 3rd 8:30 p.m., Sprague Carlton Room, Student Center, Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT. Will the US drone attacks on Waziristan bring Peace, Democracy, Women’s rights and Economic well-being to the working people of Pakistan?
* Shahram Azhar is a Pakistani Marxian economist, activist and singer, who is pursuing a PH.D. in Ecomonics at UMass Amherst.
* Waqas Mirza is a graduate in Political Science from UMass Amherst who lectures on drones and the “War on Terror.” He is a member of Occupy Boston.
* Usman Khan Yusufzai is a radical economist pursuing his doctorate who recently spent six months in Pakistan researching the impact of drone attacks.
For more information: 860-478-5300
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Minneapolis, MN
Protest Against Drone Warfare, April 6, 1 – 3 PM, Lake Street & Hiawatha Ave.
For more information: 612-522-1861 or 612-827-5364
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Dayton, OH
Demonstrate at Congressman Mike Turner’s Office – 120 W. 3rd St, April 5 1 – 3 PM
For more information: http://nodronesohio.blogspot.com
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Baltimore, MD
The New Faces of War: A conference, April 5 - 7, St. John's United Methodist Church, 2640 St. Paul St, Starts 7 PM April 5. Speakers include: Col. Ann Wright, Rashid Khalidi, Phyllis Bennis, Nick Turse Vinay Lal John Prados and other.
For more information and to register: [http://historiansagainstwar.org/conf2013].
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Washington, DC
Saturday, April 13, Assemble at 12 noon at Lafayette Park – 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Sponsored by the ANSWER Coalition, For more information: [http://ANSWERcoalition.org].
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San Francisco, CA
Saturday, April 13, Sponsored by the ANSWER Coalition.
For more information, 415-821-6545.
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Boston, MA
Sat., April 13 -- march/rally/die-in downtown Boston, starting at 1:00 PM Park St.
April 26-28 -- E. Mass. contingent will go to Syracuse for the anti-drone conference and actions at the Hancock AFB
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