WarCriminalsWatch Events

This panel will be in Room 1.105.

More than a year into the Trump/Pence regime, we see a continuation, deepening and worsening of the militarism of previous administrations. A much larger military budget along with an intensely aggressive strategy, including the threat of nuclear war, has been made evident in an increasing role for the armed forces in the government itself, in the air and on the ground – more air strikes via both conventional bombers and drones, from Afghanistan to Somalia. Drone strikes tripled in the first year of the Trump regime as opposed to the last year of the Obama administration. The relaxation of military rules of engagement lead to increased civilian deaths, even while the very definition of who is and who is not a “civilian” remains highly questionable. Our panel will also consider how to utilize various forms of protest and advertising to bring this information known only to a small segment of people in the US, to a wider spectrum of the population.

Moderator:

Debra Sweet - World Can't Wait, Refuse Fascism.  Debra leads World Can’t Wait in its continuing efforts to stop the crimes of our government, including the unjust occupations of Iraq & Afghanistan & the torture & detention codes, as well as reversing the fascist direction of US society, from the surveillance state to the criminalization of abortion & immigrants. Since the age of 19, when she confronted Richard Nixon during a face-to-face meeting & told him to stop the war in Vietnam, she has been a leader in the opposition to U.S. wars.

Panelists:

Ed Kinane - Upstate Drone Action, Syracuse Peace Council's Beyond War & Militarism Committee.  Ed  worked with Peace Brigades International in El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti and Sri Lanka. A former SOA Watch prisoner of conscience, since 2010 he’s been active with the grassroots campaign, Upstate Drone Action, which uses direct action to expose the Reaper drone war crimes of Hancock AFB, home of the 174th Attack Wing. Ed’s sensitivity to aerial terrorism derives from surviving “shock and awe” when he was with Voices in the Wilderness in Baghdad in 2003.

Nick Mottern - kNOdrones.com.  Nick has worked as a reporter, researcher, writer and political organizer over the last 30 years. He is coordinator of kNOwDrones.com and originator of the Boycott and Divest Honeywell campaign.

More information from Left Forum website.