Ohio Congressman Kucinich: Drones Hearings

Congressman Dennis Kucinich has announced that he will hold hearings on U.S. drone killings:

Friday, November 16, 2012
Location: Room 2253, Rayburn House Office Building

According to the Kucinich website:

[T]he targeted killing of suspects by the United States is becoming a permanent feature of our counterterrorism strategy. . . . Yet the program has thus far been conducted with virtually no oversight from Congress or any other judicial body and absolutely no due process. . . . The battlefield has been stretched to include nearly anywhere in the world, making it easier to justify the flouting of international law and the laws of war. . . . Congress cannot stand idly by as these actions are being taken in the name of the American people.

(See: Kucinich Announces Congressional Briefing on U.S. Combat Drone Program; Massive Death Toll Belies Claim that Drone Strikes are only used in Cases of an “Imminent Threat” and Congress Hears Expert Testimony About Combat Drone Program .)

Congressman Kucinich and several dozen other members of Congress from across the country wrote to President Obama in June to demand answers on the U.S. drone killing program.

Drone Jobs, Drone Bubble, Drone Distraction

The reflections below on the penetration of drones activity into Ohio by business and government is excerpted from Challenging Dronotopia, by Nick Mottern, director of the Know Drones project. The report followed a tour of Dayton/Springfield and Columbus in September, 2012. (Download the full "Challenging Dronotopia" report.)

by Nick Mottern

Classified ads for UAV (drone) positions in the
Dayton/Springfield area. (Indeed.com - retrieved 10/24/12)

Drones are being promoted by the Dayton Development Coalition and the State of Ohio as jobs makers. But, as we pointed out on the tour, a 2009 report from the University of Massachusetts (Amherst) finds that spending on weapons produces fewer jobs than spending on green energy, health, education and other non-military work.

As indicated in the statement of [Ohio] Congressman [Michael] Turner, the prospect of drone jobs is a big deal in the Miami Valley. The Examiner.com of July 30, 2012 estimated that 30,000 people in the Dayton area lost their jobs between 2006 and 2012 because of the closing of the General Motors Moraine assembly plant and other business and public-sector layoffs.

We found that Miami Valley people with whom we spoke were willing to consider our arguments about better alternatives for job spending. But the reality is that there are about 29,000 people employed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base with more in drone and aerospace businesses clustered around the base. Criticism of the drone attacks was most often rejected because of the view that drones are keeping Americans and America safe, but one suspects that this was also a surrogate argument for keeping jobs safe.

At the same time, it is very possible, if not probable, that the hype for drone business and drone jobs is generating an unsustainable bubble of drone expectation.

The Stanford/NYU study finds that drone attacks are almost certainly creating more enemies for the US. It is also becoming very obvious that drone warfare in Afghanistan and Pakistan are not curbing attacks against US military forces or helping to “win” the war for the US in Afghanistan.

The weapons-loaded surveillance drone can be an extremely powerful weapon of threat and intimidation, but it can quickly become, it has become, a hated symbol of the desire by the US for dominance. Moreover, drones cannot seize and hold ground or control populations. So while the drone may lead the US into war with the expectation of easy victory at minimal cost, it appears that, as in Afghanistan, it can create fantasies of easy triumph that are militarily and politically impossible. Libya is also a case in point. Drones are said to have contributed mightily to the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, but Libya remains in conflict, and US drones are going back into play there.

Alberto Munoz from the AFSC
Windows and Mirrors exhibit

US military action is directed at securing zones of safety and profit for US and other western corporations in resource-rich parts of the world where there is little government or where governments have been destroyed. But people in these lands are knowledgeable and resistant. Drones will not cow these people. In addition, the movement for an international ban on weaponized drones and drone surveillance will grow. As this becomes clear, and the military limitations of drones become clear, enthusiasm for drone investment may dim and with it, the prospect of a surge in drone jobs.

Drone business on the US domestic side may also be less than anticipated. We found that the overwhelming majority of people with whom we spoke do not want drone surveillance or weaponized drones in US airspace, nor do they feel comfortable with drones flying in the company of airliners.

Talking about alternatives to drones at Wright:
(l-r) Philip Logan; Steve Fryburg (Veterans for Peace, Dayton);
George Guerci and Nick Mottern (Know Drones)

Phillip Logan, a political science major at Wright State University, just outside of Dayton, who arranged for us to speak there, told us that rather than look to drones to “save” the local economy, attention should be focused on basic issues like: the need for a major jobs program (high tech jobs like work on drones is likely to leave out many in the African-American and Hispanic communities); the need to move away from property taxes as the main support for local education to make education more equal among neighborhoods and districts; national health care; reducing student debt; development of a high-speed rail link between Cincinnati and Cleveland (a project killed by Governor John Kasich); development of green technology.


To read the rest of the report, download "Challenging Dronotopia: A report of the 2012 Know Drones Tour to Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia and suggestions for further action" from the Know Drones website.

Additional excerpts available at:
No Drones Network: Challenging Dronotopia: Part One - What We Experienced On the Road
No Drones Virginia: Discussing the Deep Issues of Drones in Charlottesville with Nick Mottern from Know Drones

Read more about the 2012 Know Drones tour in Ohio:
Know Drones Tour to Visit Dayton and Springfield Sept. 13-16
Know Drones Tour to Highlight Choice: Green Energy or Non-Stop War for Resources?
Ohio Congressman Michael Turner: Stop the Drones!
Wittenberg to Perform Gilroy's "The Predator" September 16
Wright State, Wittenberg to Participate in No Drones Education
Columbus: Saying No Drones at Ohio Legislature, Ohio State, Columbus Law - AND to BARACK OBAMA!

* * * * *

Image by Alfonso Munoz, from Windows and Mirrors: Reflections on the War in Afghanistan: The aftermath of war is rarely envisioned by the powers that trigger such events. Such views are usually blinded by greed and massive egos. Those who survive will continue to live with a lifetime's worth of emotional damage beyond the healing of physical wounds. Photography has captured more images than I can mentally handle (and I am the lucky one living removed from such places). I wanted to convey the atrocities like an investigator who outlines the bodies on the scene of a crime, leaving behind a silhouette on the ground where the horrific events have taken place.

Columbus: Saying No Drones at Ohio Legislature, Ohio State, Columbus Law - AND to BARACK OBAMA!

Attendees at the Obama 2012 campaign rally in Columbus on September 17
got a reminder of what the Obama presidency is all about --
in the form of a 1/5-actual size Reaper drone model.

The Know Drones tour proceeded from a series of appearances in the Dayton/Springfield area to take the No Drones! message to Columbus. In addition to visiting the Ohio Legislature, Ohio State, Columbus Law, and other locations in the Columbus area September 17-19, the tour was present at the campaign event for President Obama on Monday, September 17 to remind Obama supporters what they will be voting for!


MONDAY - September 17

11:00 a.m. - Northern Lights Shopping Center (Cleveland & Innis)
Display drone replica and distribute information

1:00 p.m. - Schiller Park
Display drone replica and distribute information

Know Drones tour director Nick Mottern
with two emblems of how Empire deals
death to ordinary people (past and present).

(In advance of President Obama's 2:00 p.m. appearance at Schiller Park. The entrance to the event at Schiller Park will be on the corner of 3rd Street and East Whittier Street.)

7:00 p.m. - Presentation – Central Ohioans for Peace, Columbus Mennonite Church, 35 Oakland Park Avenue.

TUESDAY - September 18

8:30 a.m. – State Legislature offices

11:00 a.m. – Ohio State University campus

WEDNESDAY - September 19

8:30 a.m. – Columbus School of Law


At the conclusion of the Columbus events, the tour will continue in Pennsylvania.

Know Drones Tour to Visit Dayton and Springfield Sept. 13-16

PHOTO UPDATES
OVERVIEW
SCHEDULE
PRESS COVERAGE
ENDORSING ORGANIZATIONS


PHOTO UPDATES

Talking with students at Wright State (September 13, 2012)

At the Wright State Student Union (September 13, 2012) -- Unidentified representative of Young Democratic Socialist Campus organization at Wright State, with Steve Fryburg (Veterans for Peace) and George Guerci and Nick Mottern (Know Drones).









OVERVIEW


The Know Drones Tour, a national sidewalk education project aimed at informing the public on impacts of drone war and drone surveillance, will visit the Dayton and Springfield areas September 13 – 16, 2012.

“People in Dayton-Springfield are being asked to be part of more and more drone development,” said Nick Mottern, director of the tour. “We will be raising questions about where drones are taking us as a nation, as communities and individuals and whether we want to go there.”

“Drone attacks by the US have killed, mostly in Pakistan, over 2,000 people, including women and children,” said Jim Lucas, a member of Daytonians Against War Now (DAWN). “These attacks are violations of international law, they infringe on the national sovereignty of other nations and are intended to target any military-age males in a strike zone,” he said. “This fuels more anti-American sentiment and increases rather than decreases the likelihood of terrorism against the US. The US should be a role model for the rest of the world, rather than a bully trying to subjugate it.”

“Dayton and the surrounding area is becoming home to drone technologies that are being used to carry out executions in faraway countries and to spy on U.S. citizens,” said Steve Fryburg, a local member of Veterans for Peace. “We should be honoring the creative legacies of the Wright Brothers and Paul Laurence Dunbar by creating a future for Dayton that provides jobs in life-giving technologies like renewable energy systems rather than in drones and other weapons that create new enemies, all of whom we will seek to kill in never-ending wars.”

Phillip Logan, president of the Young Democratic Socialists of America – Wright State University Chapter, said: “I think it’s another sign of our nation’s decline that they would accept the continued use of this highly controversial technology because of the false promise of jobs. Have we truly become this desperate?”

The tour visit to Dayton-Springfield is endorsed by: Daytonians Against War Now (DAWN); Unitarian Fellowship for World Peace; Missing Peace Art Space; Wright State Chapter of Young Democratic Socialists of America; and local members of Veterans for Peace.

Contacts:
Nick Mottern - nickmottern [at] earthlink.net
Steve Fryburg – steve [at] missingpeaceart.org
Phillip Logan - phillip.logan [at] gmail.com



TOUR SCHEDULE

This is the tour schedule in the Dayton and Springfield area:

Thursday - Sept. 13 - Wright State University

10:30 am - 1 pm – Set up a drone replica and conduct a teach-in in the Wright State University (WSU) Student Union.

2:00 – 4:00 pm – Set up on WSU Quad for sidewalk education.

Friday - Sept. 14 - Dayton

9:30 am – Drone replica set-up and visit to the office of Congressman Michael Turner (R- OH), 120 W. 3rd St. Suite 305, asking Cong. Turner to stop accepting campaign contributions from the drone industry, to send the $147,525 in such contributions he has already received to organizations aiding drone strike victims and to publicly call on President Obama to end drone killings and drone spying, as well as other steps. [READ FULL LETTER TO REP. TURNER]

11:30 am – Set up drone replicas at the campus of Sinclair Community College, 444 W. 3rd Street and do informal education.

3:00 pm - Visit University of Dayton for a drone replica set-up and sidewalk education.

Saturday - Sept. 15 - Green Energy Information Center

10:30 am. Set up drone replicas for an 11 am press conference at the Green Energy Information Center, 10404 National Road, Brookville, OH, near the Dull Homestead Farm to address the choice between developing renewable energy and materials versus non-stop war to control non-renewable resources, such as oil and minerals.

Remain at the energy center through the afternoon to talk with visitors to the Center.

Sunday - Sept. 16 - Wittenberg University

10:30 am – Set up a drone replica at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio at student union for informal drone education.

1:00 pm - Formal presentation on current and future drone use, particularly as drones relate to controlling resources, labor and populations.

2:00 pm – Presentation of a reading of the play The Predator, by Jack Gilroy, followed by discussion.

4:00 pm – Informal discussion.

The tour will travel to Columbus September 17-19 and then to Bethlehem, PA for Sept. 20 – 22.


PRESS COVERAGE

Dayton Daily News, September 7, 2012, Anti-war drone tour to make local stops: " 'The current militarization of the world, and especially the United States, is just not the way to solve problems,' said Steve Fryburg, 58, of Bellbrook, a member of the Dayton chapter of Veterans for Peace. The group will be among several taking part in the tour. 'The drone program is only making the United States more enemies, not solving our problems.' The Miami Valley was chosen for the tour because Wright-Patterson Air Force Base manages Air Force UAV programs and the drones are flown remotely from Springfield Air National Guard Base, said Fryburg, an Army veteran and a retired police officer."

WDTN News, September 14, 2012 , Know Drones Tour lands in Dayton: "This area has a lot invested in the technology for both military and non-military uses, but a handful of protesters questioned the decision Friday. ... Drone research continues here in the Miami Valley, so stakes are high in the area for their success."

ENDORSING ORGANIZATIONS

The tour is endorsed by:

American Civil Liberties Union (Philadelphia)
American Friends Service Committee
Brandywine Peace Committee
Brooklyn For Peace
Bryn Mawr Peace Coalition
Catholic Peace Fellowship (Philadelphia)
Central Ohioans for Peace
Central Ohio Peace Network
Coalition for Peace and Justice (Southern New Jersey)
Code Pink
Columbus (Ohio) Campaign for Arms Control
Daytonians Against War Now
Delaware Pacem in Terrris
Free Press
Faith Communities United for Peace (Coumbus, Ohio)
Franklin County (Ohio) Green Party
Interfaith Peace Network of Western New York
Granny Peace Brigade (Philadelphia)
International Action Center
LEPOCO Peace Center (Bethlehem, PA)
Missing Peace Art Space – Dayton, Ohio
National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance
Occupy Fredrick (MD)
Occupy Wall Street – Anti-War
Pakistan Solidarity Network
Pax Christi – Greensburg, PA
Peace Action New York
Peace Center of Delaware County (PA)
Peace Resource Center (Frederick, MD)
Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore
Progressive Peace Coaltion (Columbus, Ohio)
Unitarian Fellowship for World Peace – Dayton, Ohio
United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC)
Upstate NY Coalition to Ground the Drones & End the Wars
Veterans for Peace Chapter #128 (Buffalo, NY)
Veterans for Peace – Dayton, Ohio
Veterans for Peace (Philadelphia)
Voices for Creative Non-Violence
War Resisters League
WESPAC Foundation
Western New York Peace Center
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (Philadelphia)
World Can’t Wait
Wright State University (Ohio) Chapter of Young Democratic Socialists of America

* * * * *

Top Image: Know Drones drone replica during a recent event in Chicago.

Know Drones Tour to Highlight Choice: Green Energy or Non-Stop War for Resources?

As part of the No Drones! education tour in Ohio in September, representatives of New York State-based Know Drones held an event at the Green Energy Information Center in Brookville on Saturday, September 15, 2012. They were joined by other tour sponsors: members of Dayton Anti-War Now (DAWN), Veterans for Peace, and others.

There was a press conference to address the choice between developing renewable energy and materials versus non-stop war to control non-renewable resources, such as oil and minerals. (Read more below.)

Members of the tour displayed a 1/5 actual size model of a Reaper drone, and stayed through the afternoon to talk with visitors to the Center.

Green Energy Information Center
10404 National Road
Brookville, OH
(near the Dull Homestead Farm)

For information, contact Steve Fryberg at steve [at] missingpeaceart.org .

More information on the entire No Drones! education tour in Ohio.

THE CHOICE: ENDLESS WAR FOR RESOURCES? OR RENEWABLE ENERGY?

The Race for What's Left by Michael Klare describes the increasing struggle among industrialized nations for access to oil with the full intention of burning up as much of it as possible. Klare calls for a crash plan to develop renewable energy sources and other basic materials. Clearly a dramatically urgent program to cut burning of fossil fuels is needed.

In spite of this, the US is bent on using its military to gain and hold access to oil resources worldwide. The drone has a unique role in this drive for control because unlike any other weapon, it can monitor the lives of individuals and groups for days on end and kill at a moment's notice. Government and business leaders around the world are well aware of this and must certainly be influenced in their decisions by the knowledge they can be easily assassinated by drones.

If we are to begin a serious, effective mobilization to get off fossil fuels, we must close the door to the use of the military to "capture" oil. The military option for access to oil must no longer be an option.

The removal of the military option for acquiring resources would, of course, be revolutionary in the history of the world. A ban on drone surveillance and weaponized drones worldwide can be and must be the first step in that direction, and by describing the ban as such, we may be able to encourage people to think about the existential choices that we are now making on a daily basis, at this point by default. The advent of the drone may help us to understand where we are headed and where we want to go.

* * * * *

Image: American Legacy by Steve Fryburg: "The cloud of an atomic bomb in the background, a weapon that allows the near annihilation of an enemy without exposure to the horror and suffering inflicted. The Predator Drones flying in the forefront, today’s latest way of extending the distance between us and the 'enemy'; so that the horrors of war can be isolated to those who we inflict it upon.

"It has been said that the A-Bomb saved the lives of 50,000 or more soldiers and today the killer drone is said to keep soldiers out of harm’s way. If we can impose our wrath without exposure or apparent risk, the easier it is for war and state terrorism to continue with the blessings of the citizens.

"The oil rig is an icon for the resources US corporations have, and are still pillaging from other countries under the shadow of America’s military might. And the cross for the pseudo-Christians that wallow in self-righteousness in the US, but fail miserably to live up to the ideals of the man who died on that cross after teaching such things as 'Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God' …"

Wittenberg to Perform Gilroy's "The Predator" September 16

Members of the Wittenberg University community will perform Jack Gilroy's play, The Predator, as part of a series of events about drones on September 16. (For performance details, see Wright State, Wittenberg to Participate in No Drones Education.)

Jack Gilroy is a full time human rights/peace activist and former Prisoner of Conscience for the School of the Americas Watch. Gilroy’s two novels of young men who refused to be part of the United States military, "Absolute Flanigan" and "The Wisdom Box", received gold medal awards by OMNI Center for Peace & Justice.

The Predator is part of a dramatic trilogy about moral challenges and conscience, especially related to war and violence. The Pax Christi website (where the full plays can be downloaded) provides brief summaries of the three plays:

The Predator: A Jesuit college junior is being encouraged to serve the country in the military by her mother, an Air Force Major Drone Pilot, and a US Senator. Her mother pushes for an Air Force career path and her Senator visualizes drones as an economic answer to unemployment. Is there a relevant moral question?

Sentenced to Death For Not Killing: The Ben Salmon Story: Ben Salmon, a WWI, Denver, Colorado Catholic, refused to partake in the killing of another human being. He was arrested, sentenced to death (reduced to 25 yrs hard labor) and tortured for his humanitarian and religious belief that killing is immoral.

Render to Caesar? The Story of Franz Jagerstatter: Franz Jagerstatter, an Austrian Catholic peasant was the only person in his village who, in 1938, refused to support Nazi annexation. When he said no to induction into the German Army in 1943, Franz knew the justice of his conscience would be challenged by the power of the state.

Past performances of The Predator have included:

Georgetown University, Washington, DC - during November, 2011, Ignatian Family Teach In
Pebble Hill Presbyterian Church, Syracuse, NY
St Lucy's Church, Syracuse, NY - a performance in which Kathy Kelly took a reading role, since she was in town facing charges for an anti-drones action at the Syracuse drone base
Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY - part of a Spring, 2012, workshop in a peace studies conference.

The Predator will be performed at the Wittenberg Student Union on Sunday afternoon, September 16, time TBA. (For performance details, see Wright State, Wittenberg to Participate in No Drones Education.)

Wright State, Wittenberg to Participate in No Drones Education

As part of the No Drones! education tour in Ohio in September, to be carried out by Know Drones, members of Dayton Anti-War Now (DAWN), Veterans for Peace, and others, there will be several events on Ohio college campuses.

WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY - Thursday, September 13, 2012

In collaboration with Occupy Wright State, Know Drones will display their 1/5-actual size Reaper drone replica and do a teach-in.

Time: 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Venue: Wright State Student Union

Join the Facebook event page for the drone day at Wright State and invite your friends!



WITTENBERG UNIVERSITY - Sunday, September 16, 2012

Display and informal discussion: Know Drones will display their 1/5-actual size Reaper drone replica and answer questions about drones, drone warfare, and the movement to stop the drones.
Time: 11:00 a.m.
Venue: Wittenberg Student Union



Presentation: Current and future drone use, particularly as drones relate to controlling resources, labor and populations.
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Venue: Wittenberg Student Union

Performance: The Predator, a play by Jack Gilroy. Discussion to follow.
Time: TBA
Venue: Wittenberg Student Union
Read more about Jack Gilroy and The Predator.

Note: Just a few miles from Wittenberg University is the Springfield National Guard Air Base, one of bases from which Predator drones are controlled.

Join the Facebook event page for the drone day at Wittenberg and invite your friends!

Contact Peggy Hanna (phanna [at] wittenberg.edu) for more information on the Wittenberg events.

To get involved with either of these events, contact Steve Fryberg at steve [at] missingpeaceart.org .

Support No Drones Ohio As We Procure a Drone Replica

No Drones Ohio plans to acquire a drone replica from Know Drones to support our September campaign of public education and protests about drones in Columbus, Cincinnati, and Dayton/Springfield . The replica is 8' long, has an 11' wingspan, and is displayed on a heavy-duty lifter that makes it widely visible. You can see an example of a Know Drones drone model in use by No Drones Wisconsin at the EAA Airventure 2012 in Oshkosh and by Mr. Robert Rast in Indiana. Drone replicas from Know Drones are also in use by drone opponents in Illinois, New York, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and soon in Delaware, Oregon, and Hawaii.

We need your support to help us defray the cost of buying and transporting this important part of our public education effort. We need to cover costs of $500 we will incur in procuring the model and transporting it to Dayton. (In fact, that only covers about half of the actual costs; Know Drones itself helps cover a portion of the cost through its own funding sources.) We welcome your contribution in any amount. If you or your organization wants to support resistance to drones in Ohio, you can make a donation direct via Unitarian Fellowship for World Peace on PayPal or email Steve Fryberg at steve [at] missingpeaceart.org .

Thanks for your support!

Dayton Drones Protest Features AFSC Art

Members of Dayton Against War Now (DAWN) demonstrating on Saturday, August 4, adapted images from a recent gallery exhibition to dramatize the nightmare of drone warfare.

The exhibition -- Windows and Mirrors: Reflections on the War in Afghanistan, a project of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), was held April 2 through June 29 at Quaker Heritage Center on the Campus of Wilmington College in Wilmington, OH, and then from July 6 through July 29 at Missing Peace Art Space in Dayton. The exhibition is a traveling mural exhibit that "makes a powerful statement on a nearly invisible reality." The exhibit consists of more than 45 large scale paintings by artists from all over the country that memorialize Afghan civilian casualties. The exhibit also includes images collected from Afghan high school students by Dr. Zahir Wahab, a professor at Lewis and Clark College, who asked young Afghans to draw images from their daily reality.

The picture at left shows a member of DAWN with a placard bearing the words "When Drones fly the Innocent Die" and using the image by Chicago artist Lillian Moats entitled Foreshadowing. As Moats explains in the exhibition catalog, "In Afghanistan and Pakistan, unmanned drones have become the weapons of choice of the U.S. military and C.I.A. Operators, who sit at computer screens thousands of miles from their targets. An appalling number of civilian men, women and children have become unintended casualties of such "targeted killings" in this one-sided robotic warfare. The painting grew out of the artist's efforts to imagine what the presence of unmanned drones must be like for people on the ground."

DAWN holds monthly demonstrations against the war and the use of drones.

A Drone Tragedy Revealed in Indiana

On July 15, anti-drones activists from Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Indiana met up in Dayton. Representatives from Know Drones delivered drone replicas for use in drone resistance work throughout the Midwest. (Read more at No Drones Illinois, No Drones Wisconsin, and the new No Drones Michigan websites.)

One of the drones delivered was for Mr. Robert Rast, and it is now on display at his home in Indiana (see picture above). Mr. Rast's son, Navy corpsman Benjamin Rast, was killed accidentally in a Reaper drone strike in Afghanistan in April 2011; that strike also killed Marine Staff Sergeant Jeremy Smith. Robert Rast has set the replica up in his front yard and sits with it, telling those who stop what happened to his son.

It is important to note that for all the vaunted accuracy and great care in killing enabled by the Reaper and Predator drones, Benjamin Rast and Jeremy Smith were killed because of misidentification by the drone "pilots" sitting at consols in the United States. Mr. Rast told me that he has seen the video tape of the combat scene in which his son was killed as viewed by the "eye" of the Reaper that killed his son, and there is no way that anyone could tell friend from foe in what the Reaper "saw".

As one person commented about this story on Facebook, "Drones have been hailed as being capable of surgical precision death to the target. They are considered the "no risk," "clean" war weapon ...AND they are being used on victims in countries the US is not at war with, on people who cannot be actually identified beyond doubt, and who are even US citizens."

End the drone killings! (What are you prepared to do?)

Tell Congress: STOP THE DRONES!

Nearly every member of Congress from Ohio can be reached on Twitter. Below are their Twitter addresses. If they really represent us, now is the time for them to become responsive to our message: STOP THE DRONES!

OHIO CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION

1st District - Steve Chabot: @RepSteveChabot
2nd District - Jean Schmidt: NOT ON TWITTER!
3rdDistrict - Michael Turner: @RepMikeTurner (CUSC caucus member*)
4th District - Jim Jordan: @jim_jordan
5th District - Robert E .Latta: @boblatta
6th District - Bill Johnson: @RepBillJohnson
7th District - Steve Austria: @SteveAustria (CUSC caucus member*)
8th District - John A. Boehner: @johnboehner
9th District - Marcy Kaptur: NOT ON TWITTER!
10th District - Dennis J. Kucinich: @repkucinich
11th District - Marcia L. Fudge: @marciafudge
12th District - Patrick J. Tiberi: NOT ON TWITTER!
13th District - BettySuttonNOT ON TWITTER!
14th District - Steven C. LaTourette: @SteveLaTourette
15th District - Steve Stivers: @RepSteveStivers
16th District - James B. Renacci: @repjimrenacci
17th District - Tim Ryan: @timryan
18th District - Bob Gibbs: @RepBobGibbs

*CUSC caucus members - Learn more about the Congressional drones advocates in Ohio and other states -- the members of the Congressional Unmanned Systems Caucus.

Ohio Prepares to Protest Drones!

We met with representatives of Know Drones, as well as our counterparts from No Drones Illinois and No Drones Wisconsin, on Saturday and Sunday, July 14/15, to discuss educational and protest events in Columbus, Dayton, and other Ohio cities concerning drones killing and drones surveillance.

Drone activity has already started in Ohio: a July 10 report describes drone testing at Wilmington Air Park. In addition, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton is likely to be a key link in the plans to expand drone activity in the United States.

But public questioning of the U.S. drones program has already started in Ohio, too. For instance, read the editorial in the June 10, 2012, Akron Beacon Journal, "Drone Warrior".

To learn how you can help spread the word in Ohio about the need to stop drone killing and drone surveillance, please email us at nodronesohio [at] gmail.com.

UPDATE: July 22, 2012
According to the Department of Defense Report to Congress on Future Unmanned Aircraft Systems Training, Operations, and Sustainability (April 2012), Ohio has two locations that have been designated as potential basing locations for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) [i.e. drones] (p. 8 ff.): Lacarne (for the RQ-11B Raven) and Wright Patterson Air Force Base (for the RQ-11B Raven and the Wasp).