Petraeus called out for war crimes on the Stanford campus

From Toby Blomé of Code Pink:

"We live in a very surreal world, where a 4 Star General, David Petraeus, who is responsible for some of the bloodiest and most brutal human rights violations against the people of Iraq and Afghanistan is invited to speak at one of our most prestigious universities.

David Petraeus, war criminal

  Gen. Petraeus helped train, orchestrate and protect the brutal paramilitary death squads that did America's worst crimes in those countries, including the torture and killing of thousands.  Oh, and he also helped expand President Obama's secret drone wars, including popularizing the "double tapping" tactic of sending secondary drone strikes into an area already hit, killing anyone that happens to be trying to give aid to the injured survivors of our murderous hellfire missiles.  Oh, and let us not forget that he was head of the CIA at the time when the bodies of 16 year old Tariq Aziz and his 12 year old cousin were turned to ash by a U.S. drone hellfire missile while they were driving on a highway by themselves on the way to play soccer.

16 year-old Tariq Aziz, killed by a drone in Pakistan.
 One of Gen. Petraeus's many innocent victims.

  Why were they targeted by the CIA?  Tariq had the courage to vow to use a camera to photograph the civilian victims of our drone war in Pakistan.  Mr. Petraeus was also in charge when Abdulrahman Al-awlaki, a 16 year old U.S. citizen and non-combatant was killed in Yemen by U.S. drone while sitting in a cafe with 5 or 6 other youth who were also killed in the attack that day.

Stanford anti-war students invited CodePink and World Can't Wait to a protest outside the event location.

"Activists brought great visual displays and signage to break the
 silence and deliver the truth to the public entering, reminding
 them of the real horrors and crimes that bloody the
 General's hands." -Toby Blomé 

"Dear Petraeus,  Funerals, weddings, parties, and tribal council meetings
 are NOT terrorists cells.  Stop Bombing Them!"

"Four CODEPINK activists, Diana, Charlotte, Fred and myself, participated.  I chose to cover up my "PINK" in order to indiscreetly get inside...We did ultimately get in, but were kept "isolated" in an upper tier balcony, with the very watchful eyes of the campus police officer nearby, yet still close enough to be heard by Petraeus on the stage below, if one chose to speak their mind. There was about 50 minutes of ...misinformation and lies... The most difficult moment was hearing the disingenuous general speak about "truth" and "integrity". At that point I needed to get my emesis basin nearby. (vomit bucket)  But it also helped me prepare for what I came for:  speaking truth to power."

"Petraeus is responsible for torture...PROSECUTE!"

"As I indiscreetly pulled off my green cover to expose my prideful pink,  the watchful gaze of the campus police looked over. I stood up tall, and spoke in the loudest voice I could muster, without screaming:

'General Petraeus,  You are a 4 Star War Criminal.

You should be arrested for the torture and killing of thousands of Iraqi and Afghan people.

Your drone machines are terror in the sky.

Your death squads and special forces are terror on the ground.

Stop killing so that the 1% can profit from stolen resources.

War Criminals stay off our campuses.

Stanford Students Wake Up and learn the truth.'

"Fortunately the campus police officer was very gentle, as he slowly escorted me out of the building.  There still remains a little bit of democracy in our country.  I wasn't manhandled and brutalized as our dear Medea was recently in Cairo, or worse, I wasn't killed on the streets as activists are in many of the countries we give military aid to.  Maybe, just maybe, the officer himself was pleased that a little bit of truth was told that afternoon."  

"Thank you Emma's Revolution and Laura Zweig for providing a joyful and inspiring evening of music and dance performance later that evening, that helped us to detoxify from the Petraeus propaganda machine. I feel very blessed to be surrounded by the love and commitment to peace exuded by my CODEPINK sisters and brothers!

Speaking of blessed, Petraeus said in a Meet the Press interview (THIS IS NO LIE):

Watch him in this 45 second video: 

'Afghanistan is blessed with the presence of what are trillions of dollars, with an 's' on the end, trillions of dollars of minerals, if and only if...to enable you to get it out of the country...'

Dear Petraeus:  I feel blessed to be standing on the side of peace and justice!

Always Marching Forward,  

Toby Blome

S.F. CODEPINK"

"Arrest Petraeus for war crimes."

Demonstrators were a highly visible presence on the Stanford
 quad, visible to those attending Petraeus's speech.

Photos by Curt Wechsler of World Can't Wait.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE NATIONWIDE SPRING DAYS OF DRONE ACTION, INCLUDING EVENTS IN YOUR STATE!

Spring Days of Drone Action 2014

We Will Show You Fear in a Handful of Dust | 2014

“From late Neolithic times in the Near East, right down to our own day, two technologies have recurrently existed side by side: one authoritarian, the other democratic, the first system-centered, immensely powerful, but inherently unstable, the other [hu]man-centered, relatively weak, but resourceful and durable.” - Lewis Mumford, Authoritarian and Democratic Technics

                              

"We Will Show You Fear in a Handful of Dust" is a public sculpture with related artwork and ephemera created by Finishing School, a Los Angeles-based artist collective in collaboration with artists Nadia Afghani and Matt Fisher. The sculpture is a full-scale model of a MQ-1 Predator Drone. The drone substrate will be fabricated with a subtractive 3d CAD process. The public is invited to the Occidental College campus in Los Angeles (March 14-16, 2014) to help FS and collaborators with the application of architectural-grade mud to the surface of the drone using age-old participatory construction methods and traditions. In the dichotomy between the drone's form and its surface, the sculpture opens a powerful discussion of technology and contemporary foreign policy while inviting multiple propositions about cultural legacies and possible resistances in the era of pervasive global surveillance and warfare.

March 14-16, 2014 // Drone Building Workshop // 10AM-Sunset
March 19, 2014 // Reception // 5-9PM

"We Will Show You Fear in a Handful of Dust" is made possible by the Wanlass Artist in Residence Program, which is supported by the Kathryn Caine Wanlass Foundation. 
Support for this project also provided by the Remsen Bird Fund. 


To learn more about the upcoming Spring Days of Action against drone kiling and surveillance, CLICK HERE!

Call for "No Drones" in California Colleges, Universities, and Research Institutions

Friends,

A national call has been made for “April Days of Action” to focus on three key components of U.S. drone work: Drone Manufacturers, Drone Bases in the U.S., and Drone Research. (See the list about nationwide actions and post your own planned actions for April.)

Given the fact that drones are now the primary weapons of warfare used by the US, and for surveillance both domestic and abroad, the research and development of this warfare is growing rapidly at academic institutions, in our towns and neighborhoods. Drones are the perfect instrument for endless war that kills civilians, even as they target “militants” in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Afghanistan.

Academic institutions often receive large grants from the U.S. Department of Defense, enabling them to build labs within schools of engineering, for instance. We are well aware that without this research in robotics, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), and the accompanying accessories, these drone warfare projects would probably not take place. So there is an interdependent relationship between the universities and the U.S. government and or its Department of Defense and CIA. (CIA drones are used in countries with which the U.S. is not “at war”, ie Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan, Mali, and others.)

While universities tend to publicize some information on their respective websites regarding the drone work, it is most often said to be for non-military purposes. And there are students working in the labs who are convinced that all the research is for humanitarian purposes. However, history has told us that non-military can quickly and easily become military. Moreover research has shown drones make mistakes on recognizing their targets.

We are therefore asking organizations and individuals, nationwide, to explore any drone research that might be going on at their local university. We are calling for local actions between April 16 and 18, 2013 (Suggested actions are listed below) Our limited research into University and Academic UAV programs indicates that research centers are operating in California:

California Polytechnic - San Luis Obispo
Girvan Institute of Technology - Santa Clara
Stanford University - Palo Alto
University of California - Berkeley
University of Southern California - Los Angeles

Before those dates in April we will need to know what information you have acquired about the research and what actions and events your group is planning.This will be shared among groups in the Network. You can send this information to us at notodrone@gmail.com.

We will have a press committee that will receive your press release and any articles you are able to publish before or after the event.

This project will complement other outreach, education and action projects that will be launched in April, focusing on drone bases, April 27-28 and drone manufacturers , April 4-6.

Suggested actions:

1. Learn what research is being done by searching on a university website. Look especially at the Engineering Dept. 
2. Organize a forum, preferably on campus, with speakers and discussion. Be sure to publicize in campus newspapers, and possibly include a professor as one of the speakers. Also include local activists.
3. Plan a small meeting with the appropriate persons in the department working on drone research, both professors and students.
4. Hold vigils and leaflet on or close to the campus, as well as in town.
5. Let us know if you need further tools for your research.

Thanks in advance for your reply to notodrone@gmail.com.

With all good wishes,

Marge Van Cleef, WILPF, Philadelphia
Leila Zand, For USA
Kathy Kelly, co-coordinator, Voices for Creative Nonviolence