US-Drohnenkrieg: Die Wunden von Waziristan – weltnetzTV

A note from Rabbi Michael Lerner – STOP DRONE WARFARE

• Heather Linebaugh’s personal account of her work on the US drone program gives one set of reasons for why that program should be stopped immediately. Another reason was given by the Prime Minister of Pakistan two days ago: the use of drones in Pakistan violates the national sovereignty of that country and is protested by almost everyone there who learn to hate Americans for doing this to their country.  A third reason: unless drones are banned by an international treaty  with the same seriousness that chemical warfare was banned, we may live to see the day when powers hostile to the U.S. launch drones that kill or main you, your neighbors, your children, your friends. It could happen here–and sophisticated drones could be much harder to head off than other forms of attack. And the source of drone attacks may be hard to identify as drones start to become an accepted weapon by many countries, including small dictatorships that will eventually be ovethrown (some by people who wish to strike back at the US for supporting their repressive governments, as for example Egyptian Muslims watching as the US refuses to call the recent coup a coup so that we can still fund the military dictatorship which is every day proclaiming some new assault on freedm and democracy of the Egyptian people).
•        Warm regards,

Michael   (Rabbi Michael Lerner)

tikkun.org

Stop Drone Warfare – by Heather Linebaugh / Guardian, U.K. Dec. 29th

I worked on the US drone programme. The public should know what really goes on

Whenever I read comments by politicians defending the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Predator and Reaper program – aka drones – I wish I could ask them some questions. I’d start with: “How many women and children have you seen incinerated by a Hellfire missile?” And: “How many men have you seen crawl across a field, trying to make it to the nearest compound for help while bleeding out from severed legs?” Or even more pointedly: “How many soldiers have you seen die on the side of a road in Afghanistan because our ever-so-accurate UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicle] were unable to detect an IED [improvised explosive device] that awaited their convoy?”

Few of these politicians who so brazenly proclaim the benefits of drones have a real clue of what actually goes on. I, on the other hand, have seen these awful sights first hand.

I knew the names of some of the young soldiers I saw bleed to death on the side of a road. I watched dozens of military-aged males die in Afghanistan, in empty fields, along riversides, and some right outside the compound where their family was waiting for them to return home from mosque.

The US and British militaries insist that this is such an expert program, but it’s curious that they feel the need to deliver faulty information, few or no statistics about civilian deaths and twisted technology reports on the capabilities of our UAVs. These specific incidents are not isolated, and the civilian casualty rate has not changed, despite what our defense representatives might like to tell us.

What the public needs to understand is that the video provided by a drone is a far cry from clear enough to detect someone carrying a weapon, even on a crystal-clear day with limited clouds and perfect light. This makes it incredibly difficult for the best analysts to identify if someone has weapons for sure. One example comes to mind: “The feed is so pixelated, what if it’s a shovel, and not a weapon?” I felt this confusion constantly, as did my fellow UAV analysts. We always wonder if we killed the right people, if we endangered the wrong people, if we destroyed an innocent civilian’s life all because of a bad image or angle.

It’s also important for the public to grasp that there are human beings operating and analysing intelligence these UAVs. I know because I was one of them, and nothing can prepare you for an almost daily routine of flying combat aerial surveillance missions over a war zone. UAV proponents claim that troops who do this kind of work are not affected by observing this combat because they are never directly in danger physically.

But here’s the thing: I may not have been on the ground in Afghanistan, but I watched parts of the conflict in great detail on a screen for days on end. I know the feeling you experience when you see someone die. Horrifying barely covers it. And when you are exposed to it over and over again it becomes like a small video, embedded in your head, forever on repeat, causing psychological pain and suffering that many people will hopefully never experience. UAV troops are victim to not only the haunting memories of this work that they carry with them, but also the guilt of always being a little unsure of how accurate their confirmations of weapons or identification of hostile individuals were.

Of course, we are trained to not experience these feelings, and we fight it, and become bitter. Some troops seek help in mental health clinics provided by the military, but we are limited on who we can talk to and where, because of the secrecy of our missions. I find it interesting that the suicide statistics in this career field aren’t reported, nor are the data on how many troops working in UAV positions are heavily medicated for depression, sleep disorders and anxiety.

Recently, the Guardian ran a commentary by Britain’s secretary of state for defence Philip Hammond. I wish I could talk to him about the two friends and colleagues I lost, within one year leaving the military, to suicide. I am sure he has not been notified of that little bit of the secret UAV program, or he would surely take a closer look at the full scope of the program before defending it again.

The UAV’s in the Middle East are used as a weapon, not as protection, and as long as our public remains ignorant to this, this serious thr

Stop Drone Warfare – by Heather Linebaugh / Guardian, U.K. Dec. 29th

I worked on the US drone programme. The public should know what really goes on

Whenever I read comments by politicians defending the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Predator and Reaper program – aka drones – I wish I could ask them some questions. I’d start with: “How many women and children have you seen incinerated by a Hellfire missile?” And: “How many men have you seen crawl across a field, trying to make it to the nearest compound for help while bleeding out from severed legs?” Or even more pointedly: “How many soldiers have you seen die on the side of a road in Afghanistan because our ever-so-accurate UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicle] were unable to detect an IED [improvised explosive device] that awaited their convoy?”

Few of these politicians who so brazenly proclaim the benefits of drones have a real clue of what actually goes on. I, on the other hand, have seen these awful sights first hand.

I knew the names of some of the young soldiers I saw bleed to death on the side of a road. I watched dozens of military-aged males die in Afghanistan, in empty fields, along riversides, and some right outside the compound where their family was waiting for them to return home from mosque.

The US and British militaries insist that this is such an expert program, but it’s curious that they feel the need to deliver faulty information, few or no statistics about civilian deaths and twisted technology reports on the capabilities of our UAVs. These specific incidents are not isolated, and the civilian casualty rate has not changed, despite what our defense representatives might like to tell us.

What the public needs to understand is that the video provided by a drone is a far cry from clear enough to detect someone carrying a weapon, even on a crystal-clear day with limited clouds and perfect light. This makes it incredibly difficult for the best analysts to identify if someone has weapons for sure. One example comes to mind: “The feed is so pixelated, what if it’s a shovel, and not a weapon?” I felt this confusion constantly, as did my fellow UAV analysts. We always wonder if we killed the right people, if we endangered the wrong people, if we destroyed an innocent civilian’s life all because of a bad image or angle.

It’s also important for the public to grasp that there are human beings operating and analysing intelligence these UAVs. I know because I was one of them, and nothing can prepare you for an almost daily routine of flying combat aerial surveillance missions over a war zone. UAV proponents claim that troops who do this kind of work are not affected by observing this combat because they are never directly in danger physically.

But here’s the thing: I may not have been on the ground in Afghanistan, but I watched parts of the conflict in great detail on a screen for days on end. I know the feeling you experience when you see someone die. Horrifying barely covers it. And when you are exposed to it over and over again it becomes like a small video, embedded in your head, forever on repeat, causing psychological pain and suffering that many people will hopefully never experience. UAV troops are victim to not only the haunting memories of this work that they carry with them, but also the guilt of always being a little unsure of how accurate their confirmations of weapons or identification of hostile individuals were.

Of course, we are trained to not experience these feelings, and we fight it, and become bitter. Some troops seek help in mental health clinics provided by the military, but we are limited on who we can talk to and where, because of the secrecy of our missions. I find it interesting that the suicide statistics in this career field aren’t reported, nor are the data on how many troops working in UAV positions are heavily medicated for depression, sleep disorders and anxiety.

Recently, the Guardian ran a commentary by Britain’s secretary of state for defence Philip Hammond. I wish I could talk to him about the two friends and colleagues I lost, within one year leaving the military, to suicide. I am sure he has not been notified of that little bit of the secret UAV program, or he would surely take a closer look at the full scope of the program before defending it again.

The UAV’s in the Middle East are used as a weapon, not as protection, and as long as our public remains ignorant to this, this serious thr

Statement by the European Section – Global Anti-Drone Network

Berlin, December 12, 2013

Ban Weaponized Drones!

We oppose the use of drone technology for killing, surveillance and repression.

We oppose weaponized and surveillance drones because their deployment lowers the threshold to armed aggression,

is used for “targeted” killing of people within and outside warzones – without indictment, trial and conviction,

terrorizes the population of the targeted territories,

fuels hatred, thereby increasing the cycle of violence,

leads to the development of autonomous killer robots, thereby making even more horrifying wars likely, initiates a new round in the arms race.

We demand that all governments

cease the production and acquisition of armed drones, as well as their research and development, and work towards a worldwide ban of these weapons.

Statement approved as of December 12, 2013 by:

Althaler, Birgit        Palestine Solidarity Basel, Switzerland

Androvandi, Constanza    International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), Germany/Italy

Aune, Björn        Boycott, Sanctions, Divestment (BDS) Campaign Berlin, Germany

Benjamin, Medea        Code Pink (Co-Founder), USA

Björkmann, Rosie        Women for Peace, Sweden

Bosma, Geart        Vredes Informatie Centrum (Staff) & War Resisters Intl. (WRI), Netherlands

Braun, Reiner        IALANA (Executive Director) & International Peace Bureau (Co-President), Germany

Cole, Chris        Drone Wars UK (Founder) & Drone Campaign Network (Convener), United Kingdom

Dubrow, Niels         Staff Assistant to Dr. Ute Finckh-Krämer, Member of Bundestag (SPD), Germany

Finckh-Krämer, Ute    Member of Bundestag (MdB), Social Democratic Party (SPD)

Fuchs, Barbara        Attac  & DIE LINKE (Left Party) & Deutscher Friedensrat (German Peace Council), Germany

Fuchs-Kittowski, Klaus    Forum of Computer Scientists for Peace and Social Responsibility (FIfF), Germany

Ghannam, Doris        Boycott, Sanctions, Divestment (BDS) Campaign Berlin, Germany

Hammerschmidt, Rainer    Aktion Freiheit statt Angst e.V. (Action Freedom instead of Fear), Berlin, Germany

Hunko, Andrej        Member of Bundestag (MdB) & of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, DIE LINKE (the Left)

Javaid,Tariq        Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI), Germany

Kachel, Thomas        Parliamentary Advisor on Peace and Security Issues, DIE LINKE (the Left) in the Bundestag, Germany

Käss, Helmut        Intl. Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), Germany

Kalkman, Kees        Journalist & Researcher, VD AMOK, Netherlands

Khan, Ali Mongol        Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI), Germany

Khan, Muhammad Farooq    Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI), Germany

Krutsch, Elfriede        Intl. Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), Germany

Lammerent, Hans        Vredesactie – Peace Movement (former Chair), Belgium

Martensson, Ingela    Women for Peace & former Member of the parliament (Liberal Party), Sweden

Müller-Reiss, Brunhild    Drone Campaign & Peace Office Hannover & War Resisters Intl. (DFG-VK in WRI), Germany

Nineham, Chris        Stop the War Coalition (StWC – Vice Chair), United Kingdom

Norberg, Agneta        Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space & Women for Peace, Sweden

Paulini, Peter        Stiftung Friedensbildung (Foundation for Peace Education), Germany

Pflüger, Tobias        Drone Campaign & Info. Agency on Militarization (IMI, Founder) & former MEP (DIE LINKE), Germany

Rassbach, Elsa        Code Pink & Drone Campaign & War Resisters Intl. (DFG-VK in WRI, Board), Germany/USA

Reimers, Roland        Initiative of Natural Scientists for Peace and Future Sustainability, Germany

Schoeppe, Florian        Staff Assistant to Katja Keul, Member of the Bundestag, Green parliamentary group, Germany

Steffen, Jens-Peter        Intl. Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW, Staff Adviser on Peace Issues), Germany

Stryk, Lydia        Playwright, Germany/USA

Wijnberg, J.M.T. (Miek)    Burgerrechtenvereniging Vrijbit (President), Netherlands

Wimmersperg, Laura    Drone Campaign & Peace Coordination Berlin (Speaker), Germany

Wirl, Lucas        ICC No to NATO (Co-Chair) & Intl. Network Engineers, Scientists for Global Responsibility (INES), Germany

(Approvals verified as of December 28, 2013)

Format – Portal für Wirtschaft, Geld & Politik – Das Leben mit den Drohnen

“Das allgegenwärtige Summen der unbemannten Flugzeuge und der ständige Anblick der tödlichen Bedrohung macht die Menschen fast verrückt”

Tag und Nacht kreisten US-Kampfdrohnen über Nord-Waziristan, klagt der pakistanische Bauer Zaman. Die Menschen dort bringe das um den Verstand. Zaman hat seinen Bruder bei einem Drohnenangriff verloren. Seitdem hasst er die USA aus ganzem Herzen.

“Wenn jemand denkt, dass Drohnen nützlich dabei sind, den Krieg zu beenden oder die Taliban zu schwächen, dann ist das unrealistisch”, sagt Zaman. Jedes Drohnenopfer sorge dafür, dass sich mehr Männer den Taliban anschlössen. Für seine Söhne – der älteste ist 16 Jahre alt – wünsche er sich eine gute Ausbildung, sagt der Bauer. Dennoch: Würden sie ihn um Erlaubnis bitten, in den Jihad” gegen die Amerikaner zu ziehen, dann würde er ihnen antworten: “Geht und tut das.”

ganzen Artikel lesen

http://www.format.at/articles/1352/933/371105/das-leben-drohnen

Jemima Khan on Obama’s policy of drone assassination

US-General Walter Piatt: Drohnen über Grafenwöhr: “Die Drohnen sind unbewaffnet”

Jedes Land wacht sorgsam darüber, welche Flugkörper sich im Luftraum befinden. Das ist absolut nachvollziehbar.“ Der US-General Walter Piatt hat Verständnis für die Bedenken, die große Teile der deutschen Bevölkerung gegenüber den geplanten Drohnenflügen der Amerikaner zwischen den Truppenübungsplätzen Grafenwöhr und Hohenfels hegen. Die Aufklärungsdrohnen sind laut US-Armee unbewaffnet, sie werden vom Boden aus gelenkt.

weiterlesen

http://www.nordbayerischer-kurier.de/nachrichten/die-drohnen-sind-unbewaffnet_214608