August 2013 Archives
Human rights
supporters opposed to U.S., NATO or Israeli intervention in Syria rallied July
10 in San Francisco's Hallidie Plaza. The speakers and activists attending the
rally organized by the ANSWER Coalition vigorously oppose the Obama
administration's plan, as announced by the White House on June 13, to directly
supply arms to Syrian opposition forces. Protesters also oppose any
intervention in Syria by NATO or Israel and any imposition of a "no fly
zone," which they fear could ultimately prolong the violence and further
destabilize the country. Many believe Washington's real aim is to carry out a
regime change as part of its drive to create a new Middle East.
"The
main thing to understand is that no matter what the conflict is within
Syria--and there are many factions--this is something that the Syrian people
will have to solve on their own," Sharat G. Lin of the San Jose Peace and
Justice Center told the crowd. "It is our responsibility as peace
activists to support the Syrian people, but if the U.S. government plays any
role, it will be destabilizing, will cause resentment among the Syrian people
and it will not promote democracy, that's for sure. That is why we call for no
U.S. or NATO intervention in Syria or anywhere in the Middle East. We should encourage
a dialogue within Syria, and also in Egypt, so the people within these
countries can, over a period of time, develop their democratic institutions and
choose leaders that represent their interests alone, not the interests of world
capitals or U.S. hegemony."
In addition
to calling for the U.S. to stay out of Syria, Stephanie Tang of World Can't
Wait urged the crowd to support Edward Snowden for his courageous action in
revealing the U.S. government's vast, unlawful surveillance programs.
"Because of Edward Snowden, the entire world knows that the U.S. has an
extensive, unbelievably universal system of political surveillance," she
said. "It is intolerable; it is morally unacceptable and it's just a piece
of the bigger problem--torture, drones, and the Bush Doctrine that has been
expanded and refined by Obama."
Other speakers
included Gloria La Riva of the Party for Socialism and Liberation and Richard
Becker of ANSWER, among others.
..by drawing the most extreme form of violent punishment into the open and challenging its legitimacy, it creates an opportunity for people to see the bigger picture and challenge the much larger culture of violence in many other ways as well. See Torture by Design89289
1300 N Warehouse Rd
Ft Leavenworth KS 66027-2304
Look at the kinds of weapons created and used by the U.S.--poison gas in World War I, nukes in World War II, napalm against the Vietnamese people, white phosphorus in the Gulf War. And now we have killer drones--the Reaper, the Predator--murder by drone is a strategy and it is make in America. Tourists passing through Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco February 23rd were intrigued by a one-fifth-scale replica of a Reaper drone, created by knowdrones.com, which provides drone replicas and educational materials to support citizen action to achieve an international ban on weaponized and surveillance drones.
A 1/5 scale replica of an MQ-9 Reaper drone crafted by knowdrones.com, which provides drone replicas and educational materials to support citizen action to achieve an international ban on weaponized and surveillance drones. (photo Phil Pasquini)
see Decoding Drones
The Bureau's new study focused mainly on strikes around a single village in North Waziristan -- attacks that were aimed at one of al Qaeda's few remaining senior figures, Yahya al-Libi. He was finally killed by a CIA drone strike on June 4 2012.
Cenk Uygur breaks it down.
