Activists for and against Pentagon drones

KPFA Weekend News Anchor Cameron Jones:  During the month of April, activists protested against U.S. military drones, also known as"Ground the Drones" protest, Creech Air Force Base. unpiloted aerial vehicles, from the Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, where the drones are remotely piloted, to Peshawar, Pakistan, where the drones conduct aerial surveillance and bomb attacks. As these protests went on, a long list of 501(c)3 non-profit activists in this country were conducting their own campaign to use General Atomics' Predator Drones to quote "stop genocide," most of all in Africa. KPFA's Ann Garrison has more.

 

KPFA/Ann Garrison: General Atomics’ Predator Drones were designed to be unmanned surveillance aircraft, but, beginning in 2000, Bill Clinton and then George Bush, had the Predators outfitted to drop Hellfire missiles, as they have in at least five countries, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, and now Libya.  

In 2008, General Atomics began producing the much larger Reaper Drones, which carry up to 2 tons worth of bombs, 10 times more than the Predators, cruise at higher altitudes and three times the speed, and, have more surveillance capability thanks to advances in computers.
In December 2010, the military tech section of San Francisco's techno lifestyle magazine, WIRED, reported that the U.S. Air Force was phasing out the Predators in favor of the Reapers, and, accepting the last of its order of 268 Predators in the early months of this year, 2011.

Then, on February 10, 2011, WIRED published "PENTAGON: Drones Can Stop the Next Darfur," an editorial advocating the use of Predator Drones to stop genocide, like that in Darfur and Rwanda.  The editorial was then echoed or republished by a list of organizations including Invisible Children, Operation Broken Silence, Run for Congo Women, and the ENOUGH Project at the Center for American Progress.  Here to talk about this today is Keith Harmon Snow, independent journalist, human rights investigator, war correspondent, and, electrical engineer, with many years experience reporting on Africa.

Keith, do you think Predator Drones can stop genocide in Africa?

Keith Harmon Snow:  Thanks, Ann.  This “Predator Drones to stop genocide” is a psychological operation.  First, there’s the false narrative about genocide -- who is committing it, and who isn’t.  And second there’s the false narrative about the United States, Israel, and its Keith Harmon Snow allies being the “peacekeeping” policeman who, out of our moral necessity, we cannot allow “genocide” or quote “war crimes” on “our watch.”  Well, in Rwanda, Uganda, Congo and Sudan, the U.S. and its allies are the occupiers.  We’re involved in covert wars, we’re responsible for creating genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in these places. These drones will contribute to war crimes committed with the backing of ordinary American citizens. Of course, they will be used, for example, to protect oil installations, to protect AFRICOM bases, to protect Coca Cola and Ben & Jerry’s gum arabic plantations in Darfur, and they’ll be used to support covert military operations that are happening everywhere.