Reports from Hancock and Beyond
The Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars
by Judith Bello Hancock Air National Guard Base was one of the first domestic drone bases to come on line. The base is located in a pleasant suburb of Syracuse New York, along side the International Airport. The 174th Attack Wing at Hancock is tasked with flying Reaper Drone missions over Afghanistan and other places on the far side of the world that they are unwilling to name. They also fly Drones berthed locally over the Adirondacks to the East
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by Ed Kinane, June 22, 2019 Shortly before 8 a.m. on Thursday, June 20, our Upstate Drone Action caravan of six or seven vehicles arrived, unannounced, at the main gate of Hancock AFB in De Witt, a suburb of Syracuse, New York. Two of us – accompanied by one of our videographers – proceeded to the guardhouse 50 yards in from East Molloy Road to read aloud and deliver a statement (below). The statement called on base personnel, in accordance
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by Judith Bello, 2017 In Pakistan in October of 2012, my group of peace activists met Malik Jalal, who spoke to us about the effect of drones on his community in Waziristan and later accompanied our caravan up to Tank, a town on the edge of Waziristan, where we joined a lively anti-war rally. I specifically remember Malik Jalal as a handsome man in the prime of life, accustomed to having authority. He had a full beard and wore the
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Header Image: Boys gather near the wreckage of car destroyed last year by a US drone air strike targeting suspected al-Qaida militants in Azan of the south-eastern Yemeni province of Shabwa. ( The car in which bin Ali’s relatives were murdered) Photograph: Khaled Abdullah/Reuters Faisal bin Ali Jabar Sues Germany In the spring of 2014, Faisal bin Ali Jabar sued the German Government for the drone killing of his brother-in-law and nephew in Yemen. Jabar’s brother-in-law was an imam, and
Continue readingDead Syrian Children and Drones on the Wing by Judy Bello rePosted from The Deconstructed Globe Recently the Pentagon admitted to killing two Syrian children in a drone attack last fall when they bombed a group of al Qaeda fighters in the suburbs of the Syrian city of Aleppo. Someone from the press asked me if I thought this was a sign of increasing transparency. A few of my remarks were quoted in the ensuing article, which I have linked
Continue readingOn Ramstein: An Open Letter From US Citizens to German Chancellor Angela Merkel authored by Elsa Rassbach, Judy Bello, Nick Mottern, Ray McGovern reprinted from Truthout.org Speakout The letter was written and endorsed by Americans who stand in solidarity with the Yemeni survivors of drone strike victims on behalf of their murdered loved ones. Faisal bin Ali Jaber, the first complainant on the suit, has previously met with members of Congress in the United States, but received no satisfactory response.
Continue readingTaking Responsibility for Drone Killings President Obama and the Fog of War by Brian Terrell, reprinted from Voices for Creative Nonviolence When President Barack Obama apologized on April 23 to the families of Warren Weinstein and Giovanni Lo Porto, an American and an Italian, both hostages killed in a drone attack in Pakistan in January, he blamed their tragic deaths on the “fog of war.” “This operation was fully consistent with the guidelines under which we conduct counterterrorism efforts in
Continue readingKathy Kelly talks about her recent trial, the action she was convicted for, and her pending jail sentence. She talks about drone victims and the victims she is sure to meet when she arrives at whatever prison she is told to report to. On December 10, International Human Rights Day, federal Magistrate Matt Whitworth sentenced me to three months in prison for having crossed the line at a military base that wages drone warfare. The punishment for our attempt to
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