May 9 in Chicago: Drones, Dirty Wars, & Guantanamo

Join the event on Facebook and invite friends!

When: 4:30 PM, Fri., May 9
Where: Federal Plaza, Adams & Dearborn, Chicago

Around the country, people are speaking out against - and acting to stop - drone wars and surveillance. Over 80 actions have been announced, from Hawaii to Maine, during the Spring Days of Action 2014. Here in Chicago, we will add our voices Friday, May 9.

We will have a model drone (as pictured here) and we will have photos and read the names of some of the thousands of innocent civilians killed in the US war OF terror in Pakistan, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Somali.

Moazzam Begg, a British citizen held for years without charge or trial at Guantanamo and since released, has noted that Obama seems to prefer assassination over indefinite detention, moving to directly terrorize whole areas of countries with which the US is not officially at war.

World Can't Wait, Voices for Creative Non-Violence, and the Chicago Coalition to Shut Down Guantanamo are joining together to take this message to the public. Drones, indefinite detention, and the dirty wars they are integral to are immoral and illegitimate!

Join the event on Facebook and invite friends!

Related posts

Today, people in Illinois protesting drones are contacting their representatives to encourage support for H.R.4372: the Targeted Lethal Force Transparency Act.

For example: see An Open Letter to Congressman Mike Quigley on H.R.4372: the Targeted Lethal Force Transparency Act . Mike Quigley representatives the 5th Congressional district, on the north side of Chicago.

If passed, the bill will require the Obama administration to come clean about the killings it has carried out using drones -- killings that, up until now, the administration has been able to pretend don't exist.

(See Write or Call Your Member of Congress Today: Make the U.S. Come Clean on Drone Killings )

Voices for Creative Nonviolence is making preparations to set off on a 160-mile protest walk from Chicago to Michigan Air National Guard Base in Battle Creek between June 3 and 14, 2014. 

(See June 3-14 - Join Voices for Creative Nonviolence - On the Road to Ground the Drones!)

On May 23rd of last year, President Obama again promised to close the detention facility at Guantánamo. His pledge came in response to the mass hunger strike by men protesting their indefinite detention and to the renewed, global condemnation of the prison. One year later, far too little has changed: few detained men have left the prison and hunger strikes and forced feeding continue. 



(See May 23 - Not Another Broken Promise! Not Another Day in Guantanamo! )

Activists Challenge Boeing to Disinvest from Drone Research

As reported on local TV news, at Fight Back News, and by Progress Illinois, Dozens of activists came to the Field Museum in Chicago last Monday (4/28) to speak out against Boeing's involvement in developing the next generation of killer drone.  

You're looking at the next incarnation of
 drone terror: Boeing's Phantom Ray.

They braved cold and rain to stand on the steps of the Museum and hold a press conference admonishing Boeing for its involvement in drone terror. 

"The U.S.'s use of drone warfare has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of children, many of whom live in countries where we have not declared war, yet Boeing has decided to pursue a Navy contract for the prototype for the next combat drone. This is unacceptable", said Kait McIntyre of the Chicago Anti-War Committee (AWC). 

McIntyre had applied for a spot on Boeing's board of directors but was pronounced ineligible due to a paperwork technicality. Several who had purchased Boeing stock then entered the meeting to address shareholders directly.

 Newland Smith proclaimed: “Drone strikes as conducted by our government, according to the Geneva conventions, are illegal and immoral and inflict terror on civilian populations.”  

Kait Mcintyre and Richard Berg also spoke out at the meeting. Also present were members of the 8th Day Center for Justice, veterans of the Vietnam-era Students for a Democratic Society, and members of Voices for Creative Nonviolence.

The death of innocent people is a viable investment
 strategy for Boeing CEO James Mcnerney.

 CEO James Mcnerney reportedly responded to the statements of stockholders with the expression of a belief that there is some common ground between their views and the current goals of the company. While patently absurd, this statement showed Mcnerney to have felt himself in a defensive posture when confronted with the unavoidable consequences of his company's investments.

While several took the opportunity to speak truth directly
 to the rich and powerful gathered inside, others
 addressed the public, bearing witness to the consequences of
 Boeing's policy of killer drone R&D.

To see video regarding the Boeing campaign, and to purchase t-shirts in support of the actions against it, visit the Chicago AWC here.

The Spring Days of Drone Action are in full swing!
 CLICK HERE to learn more about actions nationwide.