The United States is at war. Again. Still. Always? At this point, no matter what our elected officials are calling the insurgent groups, the rhetoric certainly sounds familiar. Even FoxNews has stated more than once that President Obama is sounding a lot like George W. Bush.

With Congress off campaigning for the midterms, there’s no direct action linked to funding or supporting military action in Iraq and Syria — other than the always encouraged action of calling your reps to tell them you’ll be considering their position on continuing intervention on November 4th.

You can, however, stand united with a world community in opposition to the president’s primary tool for intervention in the “war on terror” which now includes ISIS/ISIL. October 4th is the first Global Action Day Against the Use of Drones for Surveillance & Killing, organized by “Know Drones” and supported by Veterans for Peace and Code Pink.

Actions are planned in the US, England, South Korea, Germany, India, and Canada just to name a few. You can find the event in your area at KnowDrones.com and if you are planning one where you live, you can submit it to the calendar by email via [email protected].

If you glaze over at the use of the word “drone” because it’s part of punchlines about Amazon, the Olympics and our overreaching surveillance state, I urge you to read the story of Brandon Bryant as told to GQ a year ago. The article “Confessions of a Drone Warrior” is candid, emotional and cuts through the clinical rhetoric used by news outlets and on the floor of Congress.

The article itself describes why Bryant’s bravery in coming forward is so important:

"Since its inception, the drone program has been largely hidden, its operational details gathered piecemeal from heavily redacted classified reports or stage-managed media tours by military public-affairs flacks. Bryant is one of very few people with firsthand experience as an operator who has been willing to talk openly, to describe his experience from the inside.”

Bryant’s description of the moments after his first fired shot is chilling:

"The smoke clears, and there’s pieces of the two guys around the crater. And there’s this guy over here, and he’s missing his right leg above his knee. He’s holding it, and he’s rolling around, and the blood is squirting out of his leg, and it’s hitting the ground, and it’s hot. His blood is hot. But when it hits the ground, it starts to cool off; the pool cools fast. It took him a long time to die. I just watched him. I watched him become the same color as the ground he was lying on.”

Drones kill. That’s their purpose. The rhetoric out of the White House and Congress that we “aren’t sending troops” or that we're “just providing tactical air support" shouldn’t comfort those concerned about ending war and supporting peace. Get involved. Make your voice heard. Stand with Veterans For Peace and Know Drones.

TAKE ACTION:

Find the event near you: Global Action Day Calendar

Submit your event to Anastasia of CODEPINK via [email protected]

Sources/further reading:

"Veterans Group in Response to President Obama’s Plan to Confront ISIL Says They are Disappointed But Not Surprised” via Veterans For Peace

”Veterans For Peace: Six Steps Short of War to Confront ISIL”

""Ban Weaponized Drones!": Anti-Drone Movement Spreads in Europe” via Truthout

"Confessions of a Drone Warrior” by Matthew Power at GQ

"Race is on to perfect solar-powered drones” by Hiawatha Bray at The Boston Globe

"Domestic Drones” via ACLU National

"Warrant for Drones Veto Was the Wrong Decision” via ACLU of Northern California

Hear the segment in context:

Episode #864 "The definition of insanity (Foreign Policy)"

Written by BOTL social media/activism director Katie Klabusich