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UNAC STATEMENT OF SUPPORT TO
APRIL DAYS OF ANTI-DRONE ACTIONS Drones are the latest tool of warfare and repression at
home and abroad. Their use is proliferating and they pose serious threats to
human lives, national sovereignty, the right of privacy and the rule of law. We
must mobilize to stop their use by the U.S. government as it pushes for world
domination. April has been designated as the month of No Drones actions. Join
us to say: NO TO U.S. WARS IN THE INTEREST OF EMPIRE! NO TO KILLER AND SPY DRONES! Escalating war threats against Korea, Syria, Iran, Mali The Obama administration employs lethal drones for
illegal targeted attacks around the world – notably in Afghanistan, Somalia,
Pakistan and Yemen, where hundreds of civilians have been killed. The U.S.
military sends drones to spy on many other countries to establish targets to
advance U.S. corporate economic and/or strategic interests. Countries that pose
no threat are demonized by CIA- manufactured horror stories to prime public
opinion to accept the unacceptable. Today, threats are directed at the people of Korea,
Syria, Iran, and Mali. In order to thwart holding mandated elections in Korea
following the U.S.-engineered Korean War (1950-53) that killed some 4 million
North Koreans, the U.S. instead initiated a neocolonial occupation and
installed hated dictatorial regimes in the South. Today’s threats against North Korea, among the poorest
U.S.-beleaguered and sanctioned nations on earth, are unrelenting. The latest
provocation is the staging of ominous “military exercises,” including a
simulated nuclear attack. The U.S. acknowledged that the North Koreans are not
preparing for war, but not before demonizing Korea’s president whose response
was to partake in an insignificant North Korean “military exercise.”
Fundamentally, the U.S. military buildup in the North China Sea and the
militarization of the Pacific region is designed to defend U.S. economic interests
against its competitors. The U.S. is already waging war on Iran with brutal
sanctions and an embargo that cause terrible hardships for the Iranian people.
U.S. surveillance drones openly fly in Iran’s air space, a deliberate
provocation. Along with its proxy Israel, the U.S. issues threats to attack
Iran, manufacturing unproven accusations that Iran poses a nuclear threat.
Israel has attacked an Iranian site. As with the U.S.- engineered 1953 coup
that replaced Iran’s democratically-elected government with a dictatorship, the
real U.S. objective is Iran’s oil and the cessation of Iranian oil exports to
U.S. competitors. Similarly in Syria, another important oil producer, U.S.
sanctions, “indirect” military aid to Syrian opposition forces favorable to U.S.
interests and threats of military intervention are aimed at a “regime change”
that advances U.S. military and economic objectives. The U.S. is discussing
sending drones into Syria as the next step in offering direct military support
to opposition units. Israel has also attacked sites in Syria and threatens
further action. Africa, with its great mineral and other natural
resources, is seen by the West as a source of exploitation in its competition
with other countries growing in economic/political influence, and so has become
another frontier for the U.S. military. The U.S. recently sent 3,500 troops and
military supplies to 35 African countries and announced plans to build a drone
base in Niger. Mali is particularly targeted because of internal divisions
created by the colonial oppressors in the first place and the valuable
resources of gold and the discoveries of oil and natural gas. The imperialist powers tout noble motives for war.
Instead, we see exploitation, destruction, misery and the loss of self-
determination. THE U.S. MILITARY NEVER BRINGS PEACE OR DEMOCRACY. UNAC’s
position remains unchanged: No to U.S. intervention, sanctions, wars and
occupations! Self-determination for all oppressed peoples and nations! Drones used for social control at home Along with the threats of war is the necessity to quell
dissent and social movements at home. There is an increasing militarization of
police departments and use of surveillance. Stop-and-frisk and draconian drug
laws send millions of working-class youth, particularly youth of color, to the
increasingly privatized for-profit prison-industrial system. The border wars
and the criminalization of immigrants are used to divide the working class. The
targeting and demonization of Muslim communities intensifies Islamophobia,
victimization and the fake war on terror. Those who peacefully challenge the
system, like peace and civil rights activists, labor, Occupiers and others, are
spied on and accused of aiding terrorists. Laws like the National Defense Authorization Act are
introduced to normalize even the killing of U.S. citizens if the president says
they are a threat to national security. The right to due process and other
liberties are quickly being stifled. Drones are proliferating as a major tool
for surveillance along with digital spy systems. They can also be armed to kill
individuals and groups. MOBILIZE
TO STOP THE DRONES & END THE WARS AT HOME & ABROAD! UNITED NATIONAL ANTIWAR COALITION www. UNACpeace.org For more information on national anti-drone actions in April, see www.kNOwDRONES.org Click here for the Facebook UNAC group.
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