[Peace-discuss] [Peace] AWARE and Green Party in the 4th of July parade! parade slot #79

[C. G. Estabrook]

Several of the signs made so far take the News-Gazette’s theme of  “Flying High for Freedom” as occasion to address Obama’s drone war. 

(He continues to kill people with drones - more than four thousand so far, including US citizens and hundreds of children - in what Chomsky calls “the most extreme terrorist campaign of modern times.”)

David Swanson writes about some action against it:

========================================
Veterans Urge Drone Operators to Refuse Orders to Fly
by DAVID SWANSON ~ JUNE 30, 2015

An increasing number of United States military veterans are counseling United States military drone operators to refuse to fly drone surveillance/attack missions – the veterans are even helping sponsor prime time television commercials urging drone operators to “refuse to fly.”

In a letter released recently by KnowDrones.com, 44 former members of the US Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines whose ranks range from private to colonel and whose military service spans 60 years, “urge United States drone pilots, sensor operators and support teams to refuse to play any role in drone surveillance/assassination missions.  These missions profoundly violate domestic and international laws intended to protect individuals’ rights to life, privacy and due process.”

Among those signing the letter are retired U.S. Army Colonel Ann Wright, who resigned from her State Department post in 2003 over the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and former Marine Captain Matthew Hoh, who, in spite of pleadings by Obama Administration officials, resigned his State Department post in Afghanistan in 2009 in protest over U.S. strategic goals and policy there. Also signing are former U.S. Army Captain and CIA official Ray McGovern; former U.S. Navy Lt. Barry Ladendorf, president of Veterans for Peace; and former U.S. Army Sgts. Aaron Hughes and Maggie Martin, co-directors of Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Speaking to the issue of disobeying military orders, the letter says: “Those involved in United States drone operations who refuse to participate in drone missions will be acting in accordance with Principle IV of the Principles of International Law Recognized in the Charter of the Nuremberg Tribunal and the Judgment of the Tribunal, The United Nations 1950,” that states: “The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him of responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible.”

“The people signing this letter know that they are asking drone operators to take a heavy step,” said Nick Mottern, coordinator of KnowDrones.com, “but we feel it is perfectly legitimate to advise military people to stop taking part in illegal activity that has killed thousands without due process, is terrorizing thousands more and is wracking their own ranks with moral injury and PTSD.”

To advance the “Refuse to Fly” initiative, KnowDrones.com has been airing 15-second television commercials on CNN, FoxNews, MNBC and other networks in areas near drone intelligence and control centers in the U.S. The paid spots, the cost of which has been partially covered by members of Veterans for Peace, show the human toll of drone attacks and urge drone operators to refuse to fly.

The ads have appeared in Las Vegas near Creech AFB and in northern California near Beale AFB. They are currently airing in upstate New York near Hancock Air National Guard base outside Syracuse and the Air Guard base near Niagara Falls; more showings will be scheduled soon elsewhere in the U.S.				###
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> On Jul 2, 2015, at 6:12 PM, Stuart Levy via Peace <peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
> 
> Saturday parade details:
> 
> Where:
>    The Prairie Green Party + AWARE group is in parade slot # 79.
>    Meet in the parking lot to the west of the Assembly Hall (Kirby-to-St-Mary's Road, Oak St-to-1st-St).
>    You can park in the northern third or so of that lot.
>    Parade staging is somewhere in the middle of that lot.
> 
> When:
>    Arrive by 10:30am or so if you can.
>    Parade starts at 11:05; we might start moving half an hour or so later.
> 
> What else:
>    We are right next to the Progressive Coalition - PDA + Food & Watch (bee people!) + Jobs with Justice, at least.
>    They're in parade slot 80.
> 
> Preparation:
>    There's one more sign-and-prop-making gathering at Ron Szoke's on Friday, 7-9pm.
> 
> On 6/29/15 2:32 PM, Stuart Levy wrote:
>> AWARE and Prairie Greens are in the July 4th parade.   Come make signs, Wednesday or Friday evening!   Come march on Saturday morning!
>> 
>> 
>> The July 4th parade is coming up - this Saturday - and AWARE and the revitalized Prairie Green Party will be marching together in it.    Want to join us, or have ideas for signs?   See below for our description of our entry - thanks to David Green, David Wilson, and Karen Medina.
>> 
>> The parade theme this year:
>> 
>>        Flying High for Freedom
>> 
>> Given our government's ongoing use of aerial bombing and of drones for surveillance and destruction, we can go far with that theme.
>> 
>> Marching?  We'd gather around 10am Saturday, somewhere in the Assembly Hall / State Farm Center parking lot.   Details when we know them.
>> 
>> We need to make new signs!    If you have an idea, write back to peace-discuss about it, or better yet come and make it yourself at Carl's house after the "Capital in the 21st Century" Piketty discussion group:
>> 
>>     Wednesday evening, say 7pm to 8:30 or so  (or earlier if you'd like to join the 6pm discussion group)
>>     at Carl and Leigh Estabrook's home,
>>     5 Litchfield Lane, Champaign (a couple blocks south of the Balboa and Prospect #10 bus stop)
>> 
>> or somewhere on Friday - stay tuned for news.    We'll bring markers and posterboard.
>> 
>> David Green designed a whole suite of signs summarizing the Green Party's principles.
>> 
>> Don McClure proposes one that would read, in part -
>>      Fly this
>>      (picture of a kite)
>>      Not this
>>      (picture of a drone)
>> 
>> and at yesterday's AWARE meeting we bounced around a bunch more ideas, from kites to balloons to street performers.
>> 
>> 
>> Here's the announcement as sent to the parade organizers:
>> 
>> Two groups - the Prairie Green Party, and the Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort (AWARE) - march together to express concern over some fundamental and urgent issues.
>> 
>> Our people need a healthy environment; livable communities; workers' rights; and humane immigration policies.
>> 
>> Instead, we face endless war and violence; rising inequality; global climate change; mass incarceration; and unresponsive politics.
>> 
>> AWARE's members believe that American leaders should obey international law and promote diplomatic solutions to international conflicts.   Militarism, especially our own, threatens the survival of the species.    Drone warfare and bombing campaigns support no one's freedom.
>> 
>> The Green Party and its slate of candidates offer an alternative to a failed two-party system dominated by corporations that care only about profits.   We promote radically democratic policies towards economic equality, racial justice, universal healthcare, and a post-carbon future.
> 
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