[GPSCC-chat] FW: Notes from Medea, Swanson, Sheehan on Drones 11/11/12

[Brian Good]

http://www.digitaljournal.com/blog/19482

'U.S. Wars -- Are They Lawful?' Medea Benjamin, David Swanson, and Cindy
 Sheehan spoke 11/11/12 at the Main Library in San Francisco.

 Cindy Sheehan -----  War continues in Iraq--with tens 
of thousands of mercenaries and five thousand embassy employees 
remaining—and in Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan, the 
Philippines, Syria.  800 US military bases worldwide make locals 
unhappy.


Three days after 9/11, Congress authorized military force against 
terrorism. Bush and Obama have used that authority to justify torture, 
drone warfare and war crimes.  Democratic wars are just as bad as 
Republican wars, which at least get some opposition. Now we have the 
NDAA [providing for indefinite detention of US citizens] and a 
17-year-old girl [can be be nominated for inclusion] on Obama's kill 
list.  When a president's executive order can kill thousands of innocent
 Libyans without asking Congress, that's totalitarianism.  After Obama's
 drone strikes in Pakistan on his third day in office, Sheehan called 
him a war criminal, and 40,000 unsubscribed from her list. Obama 
supporters are worse than the Bush supporters, and they say the same 
things. Give him a chance?  He's had his chance!  


David Swanson ----- http://warisacrime.org/
   Clear laws on the books making war, threats of war, and propaganda 
for war illegal are ignored or evaded, or reinterpreted to reverse their
 force.  Other nations would be prosecuted if they did what we do, and 
sometimes (when they're African) they are.  US wars take place in an 
environment of open bribery. 


World War One cost enough to give a furnished home and 5 acres to every 
family in Russia, the USA, Canada, Australia, and most of Europe--plus a
 library, hospital, and college to every city over 20,000.  Thus in 1928
 the Kellogg-Briand Pact  banned all war.  81 nations (including the 
USA) signed this treaty, but the USA does not comply. 

 

The U.N. Charter permits two war loopholes:  1) defensive wars and 2) 
U.N.-approved wars.  The US wages war on impoverished nations while 
claiming self-defense, and falsely claims UN approval.  

Though the UK 
decided that attacking Iran would be illegal and the U.N. Charter 
prohibits threatening war, the US threatens, and lies about, Iran 
constantly.  Illegal war propaganda is so pervasive we don't perceive 
it, and polls show that US residents want to attack Iran. 


Authorizations for force preceding the Afghanistan and Iraq wars 
permitted presidents to declare wars. The Iraq authorization was never 
repealed, and the White House has claimed that the Libyan war did not 
constitute "hostilities" requiring Congressional approval.  Our brave 
drones are striking in many nations without the knowledge, let alone 
authorization, of Congress--killing people with no charges, trials, or 
due process.  US drones targeted a 16-year-old Pakistani [Tariq Aziz] 
when he was videoing drone damage. 



The New York Times claims that a OLC [DoJ Office of Legal Counsel] memo 
provides  that murder is not murder, but Congress can't see the secret 
memo.  Most drone victims are innocents.  Others are targeted John Does 
whose behavior suggests alliance with legitimate defenses against US 
attacks.  The U.N. Special Rapporteur has called drone strikes 
extrajudicial killing.  The U.S. says that's none of his business.  One 
intelligence official was asked what foreign nation might attack the 
USA, and could not name even one.  The U.S. makes 85% of international 
weapons sales.  




Other countries try to uphold the law--Turkey prosecutes Israelis in 
absentia for murder in the Gaza flotilla, and Italy convicted CIA agents
 in absentia for kidnapping.  


Obama's 2008 transition team asked the public for action proposals. The 
top vote getter:  A Special Prosecutor for Bush's crimes.  Dean Edley 
from UC Berkeley Law School participated in the deliberations that 
decided that if they prosecuted, the CIA, NSA, and military would revolt
 and Republicans would block legislation. So now John Conyers's threat 
to impeach a president who attacked Iran is seen to exempt Democrats.  
We must protest, and vote against, and consider impeachment for, anyone 
in Congress or the White House who gives an inch on protecting Social 
Security and Medicare, who votes for anything above 75% of current 
military budgets, or who fails to oppose wars or to act against climate 
change.  No more honeymoons. 




Medea Benjamin ----- Codepink, formed for just a couple
 of actions, is still at it after 10 years. Pakistan lives in a state of
 terror. 42 civilians were killed at a community gathering. As Senate 
Intelligence Committee chair, Diane Feinstein oversees the CIA secret 
wars.  She's not doing her job.  When ACLU tried to get CIA documents, 
government lawyers disputed that the drone wars' existence had been 
publicly recognized.  We all know they exist.  Feinstein claims her 
staff's viewing of drone strike videos to ensures that the drones are 
used judiciously.  

The CIA is on a killing spree.  Look back at to CIA's
 Phoenix program of assassinations.  Congress said the CIA was supposed 
to be Intel, not paramilitary, so we had the Church hearings in the 
1970s.  Why is Diane Feinstein not holding hearings? She must be 
accountable.


Nancy Pelosi sits on her butt.  Her last Town Hall meeting was in 2006! 
 The Authorization for Use of Military Force, the legal foundation for 
war after 9/11, specified going after people involved with, or 
associated with, the 9/11 attacks. Many people targeted now were 10 
years old on 9/11, and we are targeting organizations that did not exist
 on 9/11. 


Three quarters of Pakistanis call the USA its enemy and feel the USA has
 no respect for the Pakistani people.  The Pakistani legislature three 
times asked that the drone strikes be stopped, one time voting 
unanimously.


Hellfire missiles give no opportunity to surrender.  The attacks are 
disproportional:  of thousands killed, only 49 were high-level targets. 
 

Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan said a democratic society should not 
engage in state targeted assassination.  Obama claims no Congressional 
drone authorization is needed when US soldiers are not at risk. 




In March, 2012 Attorney General Holder told a law school audience at 
Northwestern University that there is no constitutional right to 
judicial process, that the demand for "due process" was fulfilled by 
executive deliberations. Washington Post recently reported that the 
"disposition matrix" assassination program will go on ten years at 
least.  


Under Bush, drone attacks were every 40 days; under Obama, it's every 4 
days. As  manufacturers seek to place drones in each of 18,000 police 
departments in this country, we should reach out to the many groups 
[across the ideological spectrum] that will suffer surveillance.  We 
must return to respect for the rule of law and free our country from the
 military-industrial complex so we can enjoy the respect of the world.  
We must demand that hundreds of billions of dollars in military funding 
be returned to productive domestic service.


Q/A


Swanson: When the law is not enforced, our ingenious legal arguments are
 beside the point.  We need a coalition to take on the 
military-industrial complex, the bankers, and the plutocrats.  




Benjamin:  A week-long protest is planned at the General Atomics drone 
factory in San Diego, with a national call, similar to the School of the
 Americas action.  A single Hellfire missile costs enough to build four 
schools.  Peace is a better investment than is drone warfare. 




Sheehan: Proposals for a constitutional convention:  Triple or quadruple
 the number of representatives in Congress.  Require respect of the sovereignty of other nations.  We need a brand-new constitution.  Equal 
rights for women.  Resist war taxes.  Surround the White House.  No more
 petitions.  No more  legitimizing the crimes.  Don't vote for them. 




Swanson:  Amend so corporations are not people, money is not speech.  
We're asking a broken Congress to fix itself.  Ban private money in 
elections, give free airtime to candidates, and public financing of 
campaigns. Hand-counted paper ballots. Increase the size of the House 
and eliminate the Senate.  Rights to housing, health care, and equality.
   Government by referendum is preferable to what we've got.  Connect to
 the faith-based, ask women's organizations to address the wars that are
 claimed to protect the rights of women. Turn off your TV. 
Rootsaction.org is the new MoveOn.  Inauguration demonstrations are 
planned.  Rebuild the peace movement. John Boniface wants to launch a 
suit about the drone wars.  droneswatch.org  


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