News Release

Tomorrow: Trial on Drone War

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In a piece titled “U.S. drone strike kills ‘six militants’ in Pakistan,” AFP is reporting: “Pakistan has seen a sharp spike in U.S. drone strikes in its rugged northwestern tribal region in recent days, amid a surge in suicide attacks and bombings across the country.

“The Pakistani Taliban said Tuesday they would continue to target Pakistani security forces with suicide attacks in revenge for the U.S. drone strikes.”

Fr. JOHN DEAR, KATHY KELLY, ANN WRIGHT, BILL QUIGLEY
Jim Haber
Fr. Dear is a peace activist and author. Kelly is co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence. Both have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. They are facing trial Tuesday with twelve other activists for trespassing onto Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, Nevada, one of the centers where members of the U.S. Air Force control drones used to kill people in the escalating “drone war.”

Kelly just wrote the piece “Banning Slaughter,” which states: “General Petraeus may perceive short-term gains, but in the long run it’s likely that the drone attacks, as well as the night raids and death squad tactics, will cause blowback. What’s more, drone proliferation among many countries will lessen security for people in the U.S. and throughout the world.

“With the usage of drones, the U.S. populace can experience even greater distance and less accountability because U.S. armed forces and CIA agents, invisible to the U.S. populace, can assassinate targets without ever leaving a U.S. base. Corporations that manufacture the drones and technicians who design them celebrate cutting-edge technology and rising profits.”

Scheduled witnesses in the trial include former Attorney General Ramsey Clark, former Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. embassy in Afghanistan Colonel Ann Wright and Legal Director for the Center for Constitutional Rights William Quigley. Haber is coordinator for the Nevada Desert Experience and can provide interviews with activists and witnesses. See: “Drones on Trial in Las Vegas, Sept. 14th 2010

For more background on drones, see: Drone Wars UK

Also, UPI reported earlier this month: “U.S. Army officials expect increased flights of unmanned aerial vehicles over Iraq despite Washington’s decision to withdraw American combat troops, Defense News reported.”

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167