drones

Code Pink To Dems: Stop Drone Warfare, Bust Up Big Banks

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by Pamela Powers Hannley
I knew when I saw that hot pink bra on the sidewalk, I knew that Code Pink must be nearby. 
Code Pink, the women-initiated peace and social justice group, protested the War on Women at the Republican National Convention. Their message for President Barack Obama and Democrats targets the military-industrial complex.
At the People's Convention, sponsored by Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin spoke against war– particularly drone warfare– and called for Congress and the President to make dramatic cuts to the military budget.
Benjamin, author of Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control, is a highly vocal peace activist.
At the PDA event, she said that there are strong, powerful men like Arizona Senator John McCain, who are standing up against cuts to the military budget, which are scheduled to go into effect due to sequestration.
But where is the movement to protect Pel Grants, Medicaid, and other social programs? she asked. According to Benjamin, the US could cut the military budget by 80% and still have the largest military in the world.
"Slash the Pentagon and put that money into life-affirming activitieis, which is what the people on the planet need," Benjamin demanded.
Attacking the other sector of the military-industrial complex, Benjamin and other Code Pink protesters wore pink bras on the outside of their clothes and shouted "Bust up the banks" in front of Bank of America, which is headquartered in Charlotte, host city of the Democratic National Convention.
Video after the jump.

Peace activist Medea Benjamin on drone warfare (video)

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by Pamela Powers Hannley

Traditionally, war is a messy business– all that blood, sweat, and tears– not to mention danger, death, destruction, dismembered bodies, human suffering, nightmares, guilt, wasted taxpayer dollars, mounting deficit spending… you know the drill. (Pun intended.)

In recent years, the US military-industrial complex has made war less messy and less dangerous, at least for a select group of American soldiers. Drone pilots sit in secure bunkers and, armed with banks of sophisticated computer hardware, “fly” unmanned killing machines.

Drones– killing machines aimed at faceless targets– AKA fellow human beings– thousands of miles away.

No-muss, no-fuss drone warfare is no less deadly, destructive, or perverse than traditional war. It’s just easier and cleaner– just like playing the same violent video game day after day.

Although you hear about drones in the news, there is never any real analysis or detailed reporting of what the US is doing. Recently, Code Pink co-founder and author of the book Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control Medea Benjamin gave an eye-opening talk to an audience of about 60 Tucson activists. Personally, I was shocked how deeply entrenched in drone warfare Tucson already is. Davis-Monthan, The University of Arizona, Raytheon, and Fort Huachuca all have ties to the drone business. According to Benjamin, Fort Huachuca trains more drone pilots than any other facility in the world.

Last winter, Mayor Rothschild, then Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' office, and the  Davis-Monthan 50 held a press conference promoting Tucson and DM as a drone warfare center. (You can see the Tucson Sentinel’s raw raw footage here above and in KVOA’s edited news footage here.) We already have a dearth of good-paying jobs in Tucson that are not connected to the military industrial complex. Why court more

 Videos of the Benjamin talk after the jump.