THERE'S SOMETHING REALLY CREEPY ABOUT DRONES
By Sally Jones
April 25, 2010
They don't call the drones used by the Air Force names like "Predators" or
"Reapers" for nothing. These unmanned aircraft, such as the MQ-9 Reaper, are
sophisticated, highly maneuverable, lethal instruments of death that have killed an untold
number of fighters and civilians in the mountains ofr Afghanistan and Pakistan. Drones
are the "perfect" tool for the Af-Pak Theater because the U.S. is fighting insurgents
there who have no air defense. The ethical and moral questions that arise from using a
video game to kill defenseless human beings from a distance have been pushed aside by the U.S. military. It is just too tempting to use drones in a situation where the population
being targeted has no way of fighting back.
Unknown to many New Yorkers, drones are being flown out of our home state. Members of the 174th Fighter Wing at the Hancock Air National Guard Base in Mattydale, just north of Syracuse, are operating 14 MQ-9 Reapers and training up to 200 military personnel on how to keep them flying. Last summer, the Syracuse Post-Standard conducted a tour of the facilities and you can see for yourself what these planes look like and what they can do. The base hosts showing around the Post-Standard reporter are proud of their new equipment and are looking forward to the next generation of even more lethal jet-propelled drones that will be coming out before long. Check out the Post-Standard video.
New Yorkers in Peace Action and their many allied groups are very aware of the presence of the drones near Syracuse. They are doing their darnedest to get the word out to their neighbors. Two solemn marches have brought hundreds of protestors to the front gates of Hancock Field with a strong message to remove drones from the base and prohibit its use as a weapon of war.
lethThe latest march was organized by Peace Action of Central New York and the Syracuse Peace Council on Sunday, April 25th and was joined by veterans, students, religious leaders, and concerned citizens from Rochester to Albany to Binghamton, Norwich, Utica, Cortland, Staten Island, and places in between. There were several model drones, including 2 models that escaped the march and headed into the skies on helium balloons. Eddie of Chenango County created a drone costume complete with aircraft, representations of victims, and dangling signs asking "WHY?" Each sign was a lesson on drones in one way or another: "Drone Bombing is Terrorism with a Bigger Budget," "Collateral Murder by Remote," "Drones: Illegal and Immoral," and "The Wars Continue: Iraq.Afghanistan.Pakistan." As the marchers wound through the residential streets of Mattydale, a sad drum beat rang out down the line.
This is a war that has become impersonal, technical, and remote. The question remains if condoning killing at a distance at no risk to pilots makes the war more palatable to the tax-paying public that funds the American military. We heard from one of the speakers at the rally in front of Hancock Field that the military is finding out that the operators of these lethal video games are suffering post-traumatic stress disorder, too. Unlike pilots who fly in cockpits and zoom away after dropping their bombs, the drone operators hover over their targets and witness the deaths in minute detail. Imagine, after a long day of playing with a drone joystick, going home to the spouse and the kids. If that doesn't give you the creeps, I don't know what to say.
See pictures of the April 25th march to Hancock Field.
Sally Jones is Chair of Peace Action of New York State.
By Sally Jones
April 25, 2010
They don't call the drones used by the Air Force names like "Predators" or
"Reapers" for nothing. These unmanned aircraft, such as the MQ-9 Reaper, are
sophisticated, highly maneuverable, lethal instruments of death that have killed an untold
number of fighters and civilians in the mountains ofr Afghanistan and Pakistan. Drones
are the "perfect" tool for the Af-Pak Theater because the U.S. is fighting insurgents
there who have no air defense. The ethical and moral questions that arise from using a
video game to kill defenseless human beings from a distance have been pushed aside by the U.S. military. It is just too tempting to use drones in a situation where the population
being targeted has no way of fighting back.Unknown to many New Yorkers, drones are being flown out of our home state. Members of the 174th Fighter Wing at the Hancock Air National Guard Base in Mattydale, just north of Syracuse, are operating 14 MQ-9 Reapers and training up to 200 military personnel on how to keep them flying. Last summer, the Syracuse Post-Standard conducted a tour of the facilities and you can see for yourself what these planes look like and what they can do. The base hosts showing around the Post-Standard reporter are proud of their new equipment and are looking forward to the next generation of even more lethal jet-propelled drones that will be coming out before long. Check out the Post-Standard video.
New Yorkers in Peace Action and their many allied groups are very aware of the presence of the drones near Syracuse. They are doing their darnedest to get the word out to their neighbors. Two solemn marches have brought hundreds of protestors to the front gates of Hancock Field with a strong message to remove drones from the base and prohibit its use as a weapon of war.
lethThe latest march was organized by Peace Action of Central New York and the Syracuse Peace Council on Sunday, April 25th and was joined by veterans, students, religious leaders, and concerned citizens from Rochester to Albany to Binghamton, Norwich, Utica, Cortland, Staten Island, and places in between. There were several model drones, including 2 models that escaped the march and headed into the skies on helium balloons. Eddie of Chenango County created a drone costume complete with aircraft, representations of victims, and dangling signs asking "WHY?" Each sign was a lesson on drones in one way or another: "Drone Bombing is Terrorism with a Bigger Budget," "Collateral Murder by Remote," "Drones: Illegal and Immoral," and "The Wars Continue: Iraq.Afghanistan.Pakistan." As the marchers wound through the residential streets of Mattydale, a sad drum beat rang out down the line.
This is a war that has become impersonal, technical, and remote. The question remains if condoning killing at a distance at no risk to pilots makes the war more palatable to the tax-paying public that funds the American military. We heard from one of the speakers at the rally in front of Hancock Field that the military is finding out that the operators of these lethal video games are suffering post-traumatic stress disorder, too. Unlike pilots who fly in cockpits and zoom away after dropping their bombs, the drone operators hover over their targets and witness the deaths in minute detail. Imagine, after a long day of playing with a drone joystick, going home to the spouse and the kids. If that doesn't give you the creeps, I don't know what to say.
See pictures of the April 25th march to Hancock Field.
Sally Jones is Chair of Peace Action of New York State.