By Noor Mir and Rooj Alwazir Noor is the Pakistani-American anti-drone campaign coordinator at CODEPINK. She tweets @thedronalisa. Rooj is a Yemeni-American activist and organizer with SupportYemen. She tweets @rooj129. Originally published on Muftah We are not here to proffer an analysis. We aren’t academics. We are here as a Pakistani and a Yemeni, as [...]
Friday, November 16, 2012
November 16, 2012 I recently returned from leading a US delegation of 34 Americans to Pakistan, looking at the results of US drone attacks. We found that drones are actually jeopardizing our security by spreading hatred of Americans and sowing the seeds of violence for decades to come. Drones help extremists recruit more discontented youth. In the tribal society of Waziristan where the drones are attacking, we learned that people who have lost their family members in these deadly attacks are bound by the Pashtun honor code -- Pashtunwali -- to retaliate and seek revenge.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Having recently returned from Pakistan meeting with drone victims, on November 4 my partner Tighe Barry and I were having a leisurely Sunday morning breakfast. The discussion turned to John Brennan, Obama’s counterterrorism chief and the key person making decisions about drone strikes. We wondered if Brennan ever had a chance to meet innocent drone victims, as we did, and feel their pain. “Maybe we should go to his house and talk to him,” quipped Tighe. We laughed at the absurdity of the idea but decided to do a little bit of research. Fifteen minutes later, we were out the door, driving to a Virginia suburb an hour south of Washington DC. I had no idea if it was really John’s address, but it was a lovely day for a drive—and Tighe was willing to indulge me.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
by Medea Benjamin and Robert Naiman The US peace delegation photographed in Islamabad, Pakistan on October 4th, 2012. (Photo: Flickr / 23rdstudios.com) ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Many Americans have an image of Pakistan and its people as “teeming with anti-Americanism.” Americans see images on TV of angry Pakistani demonstrators burning American flags. Indeed, polls say three [...]
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Counterterrorism adviser John Brennan spoke at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington DC on April 30 to mark the one-year anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden. It was the first time a high level member of the Obama Administration spoke at length about the U.S. drone strikes that the CIA and the [...]
Friday, May 20, 2011
This post was written by Sharon Miller, San Francisco intern for CODEPINK On May 11, 2011, the House Armed Services Committee voted to approve the Fiscal Year 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This bill includes, among other things, an expansion of the legal basis for the so-called War on Terror. It passed the committee [...]
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
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