Drone Warfare: There has to be a different way

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Beale Protest

Yesterday I was interviewed  by Alan Stahler on KVMR about why I engaged in nonviolent direct action and was arrested at Beale last October.  (You can listen to the Podcast below.)  In the interview, Alan said, “Using drones must save American lives.  What’s your objection to them?”  My initial answer:  “It may be that using drones save American lives, but there has to be a different way.”

The U.S. Drone Warfare Program is flouting the rule of law, killing thousands, terrorizing whole communities, and making enemies.  There has to be a different way, a way that can lead to mutual concern and lasting security for people in the United States and in countries around the world.  There has to be a way that can lead to peace.

U.S. drones have killed thousands of people, mostly civilians, including hundreds of children.  Yes, our drones go after alleged terrorists.  We have kill lists, made up of individuals who have been approved by the president or the CIA for targeted killings.  But our drones do not only go after particular individuals.  The majority of U.S. drone attacks are “signature strikes”  based on looser criteria.  In some areas, any man of military age is considered a militant and a legitimate target.

Drone strikes often result in civilian casualties.  Hundreds of children have been killed.  Friends of mine who have traveled to regions under fire by drones describe an atmosphere of fear and terror, children having nightmares, people afraid to gather in groups, go to funerals, or send their children to school.   Whole communities are being terrorized.  We are not only causing great harm to people in the communities we target, but making enemies and creating a cycle of violence that may last for generations.

All of this is taking place outside of both U.S. and international law.   The United States is setting an example that other countries will surely follow.  Over 75 countries now have drones.  Some of these drones have weapons, others are surveillance drones, which can easily be weaponized.  The United States is leading the way toward a global drone arms race.

U.S. drone warfare is not making the world more secure, but more dangerous.  Those who are directing U.S. policy on drones are acting out of a vision of the future based on an endless War on Terror waged across borders, under cover by the CIA and Joint Special Forces, using whatever advanced technologies are available in an attempt to dominate the world.  Many of us reject this vision, and are working under the influence of faith in a higher vision, the vision of a peaceful, just, and sustainable world.

Drone warfare?  There has to be a different way.

Pocast of Alan Stahler’s interview with Sharon Delgado

For more information about the impact drone strikes are having upon communities, read the transcript of Farea Al-Muslimi’s testimony in the US Senate.  He claims that rather than fighting terrorism, US drone strikes in his country are fueling it.

Keep up with this court case and other issues by signing up to follow Sharon’s blog.

127 Years is Enough

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MTA freeway

All of the issues that I write about are tied together and exacerbated by growing corporate power.  Huge transnational corporations now dominate nature, culture, political systems, and the rule-making institutions of the global economy.  As an antidote, I support the movement to Amend the Constitution to make it clear that corporations should not have constitutional rights.

Last Friday, May 10, Guari and I took a two-hour shift holding freeway banners over the Brunswick Road overpass in Grass Valley.   The signs said “Corporations are not people” and “Money is not speech.”

Our local Nevada County Move to Amend Coalition  created and displayed the banners throughout the day as part of a coordinated action with other Move to Amend affiliates around the country.   The theme of this action was “127 years is enough.”  Groups in over fifty communities displayed freeway banners to commemorate the Santa Clara v. Southern Pacific Railroad Supreme Court case, which was decided 127 years ago, on May 10, 1886.   In that case, corporations argued that they are protected under the 14th amendment, the amendment that was passed to ensure equal protection of African Americans after slavery was abolished.   Since ruling in favor of corporations in 1886, in case after case, the Supreme Court has expanded the constitutional rights of corporations, leading up to the Citizens United case in 2010.

The goal of the Move to Amend coalition is to raise awareness and build momentum toward passing a constitutional amendment to abolish corporate personhood and declare that money is not speech.

For background and a spiritual perspective on this issue, see my article, “Democracy is for People“.   You can also read a related analysis in “If It Doesn’t Breathe, It Doesn’t Deserve Free Speech,” an excerpt from my book, Shaking the Gates of Hell.

To stay informed, to take action, or to find an affiliate group near you, go to Move to Amend.  You can also check out Earth Justice Ministries “Projects and Campaigns” or Nevada County Move to Amend.

A Moment of Profound Choice

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Another World is Possible

We are at the beginning of a new era in the earth’s history. Humanity has reached a crossroads, a moment of profound choice between two incompatible futures. One direction seems almost inevitable: the world’s dominant institutions and prevailing ideologies are driving at an ever-accelerating speed toward a market-based future dominated by corporations. The billboards along this multi-lane freeway advertise the benefits of where we are headed: toward a wonderland of accumulated wealth and general prosperity, technological achievement, economic and cultural integration, and peace through U.S. military domination. Most people are simply going along or being forced along for the ride. But increasing numbers of people around the world are choosing to get off the main road, to walk to the side and off the pavement to find another path, one that leads toward a global future of equity, justice, ecological and cultural diversity, and peace through mutual respect and cooperation. People are defending or changing their lifestyles, working within their communities, and creating alternative institutions. Some are even hiking back up to the main road and blocking it with their bodies, linking arms with others, trying to prevent the tragic consequences of a world given over to greed.

Who will decide which road will be taken? We will. We must. This is our right and our responsibility as human beings. We can refuse to take on the responsibility and allow the institutional Powers to make these decisions by default. Or we can exercise our freedom by refusing to collude, by resisting the Powers that would lead us to destruction, and by embodying life-giving alternatives here and now. This is a profound spiritual choice, since it involves shaking off spiritual domination by the Powers.

At this critical moment in earth’s history each of us is called to exercise our human freedom, to choose whether to go along the broad road that leads to destruction or the narrow path that leads to life. As we open ourselves to the Spirit, we create an opening through which change can happen in the world. As we choose, we are part of humanity’s choosing. We are a part of the earth’s passion for life.

This is an excerpt from the Introduction to Shaking the Gates of Hell:  Faith-led Resistance to Corporate Globalization by Sharon Delgado.  Order the book from your local bookstore, directly from Sharon, or from online distributors.

Catching Up With Myself

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I am catching up with myself on this Monday morning, after sharing the weekend with several of our beloved grandchildren.  Our time together included roasting marshmallows over our backyard campfire, storytelling and songs at bedtime, French Toast for breakfast,  craft projects, juice-making, an excursion to Deer Creek, lots of indoor and outdoor play, and a big Sunday School rock-painting project at church.

On Sunday afternoon, after the last of our grandkids got picked up, Guari and I ate lunch on the deck, while listening to the chirping of the cicadas and marveling at how quiet and still it was.  Then we took a long, luscious nap.  By evening I was energized enough to finish writing the Earth Justice Ministries “May Projects and Campaigns”  web page, which Guari then edited, formatted, and published, working late into the night.

Today, for me, is a catch-up day.  Thank God catching up with myself  and getting back to a sense of order isn’t the kind of ordeal it used to be.  I don’t have to peel myself up and start all over from scratch.  It’s not such a long way back.

What helps is having a clear sense of priorities, regardless of what is going on around me.  My first and most important priority is my foundation in God, the Source, who has many names but is indefinable, the One “in whom we live and move and have our being.”  To nurture this connection, I regularly practice meditation and contemplative prayer.

Although I am a follower of Christ, I continue to gain insights from other intellectual, spiritual, and faith traditions, including Buddhism.  In Joyful Wisdom, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche talks about practicing “stable awareness” and explains how we can use anything as a “support for meditation.”  I love this idea, and I’m using it on a daily basis.  These Buddhist teachings ring true to my experience and translate for me into Christian terms, such as “practicing the presence of God.”

Cultivating “stable awareness” and “practicing the presence of God” creates an order in my life even in the midst of apparent disorder and enables me to discern the next thing I can do to bring love, harmony, and order out of chaos.  This morning I spent time in prayer and meditation.  I took a walk with Guari.  We shared our dreams, prayed in the four directions, and did Tai Chi.  My plan now is to catch up on some of the things that didn’t get done over the weekend, including household chores.  I’ll post this blog and make a nice lunch.  Oh, and yes, I’ll take another nap.

In Court for Anti-Drone Action

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drones make enemies

I appeared in federal court again yesterday for engaging in civil disobedience with four others during an anti-drone action at Beale Air Force Base last October.  This time we were in court  facing Judge Katherine K. Delaney in order to set a new trial date.  This is no small effort, since so many people will need to be there for the trial:  government prosecutors, witnesses from the base, five defendants (including me), and five defense lawyers, one for each of us.  It took some juggling of schedules to arrive at a date that would work for all of us.

The date finally agreed upon is August 12.  Several motions will be filed before then, by both the defense and the prosecution.

A prosecutor stated that he will put forth a motion to bar “the necessity defense.”  If the judge rules in his favor on this motion, it will be more difficult for us to build the case that we risked arrest because it was necessary in order to prevent a greater harm (that is, the deaths of thousands in drone strikes).

Our defense lawyers plan to request a jury trial.  The judge could agree to this, but since our charge, misdemeanor trespass, carries a penalty of no more than six months of jail time, she is under no obligation to do so.  Our lawyers are also hoping to call expert witnesses to testify about the threat posed by drones.  We were heartened to hear that on April 24th, the judge in the Transform Now Plowshares case allowed expert testimony from former Attorney General Ramsey Clark.  Read the remarkable transcript of his testimony here.

It seems to me that people are waking up to the reality that there’s something cowardly, inhuman, and just plain wrong with illegal targeted assassinations by remote-control killer drones.  U.S. drones have killed thousands of people, mostly civilians, including hundreds of children. We are creating enemies, making our world less secure.  Over fifty countries now have drones.  If we use drones for targeted killings, other countries will be emboldened to follow our example and use them, too.

I trust that the tide of public opinion is turning against support for the U.S. drone warfare program.  I’m grateful for the opportunity to be a small wave in the larger ocean, filled with wave upon wave of people working together to change the direction of the tide.

Courtrooms can be boring, dry, and depressing, but as I sat in court yesterday, I experienced the presence of God.  We have no idea what God can do when we take a stand for justice, big or small.  As I sat there in the courtroom there was no place I would rather be.