Medea Benjamin's Powerpoint presentation on research and action on drones, part of the November 20, 2012 Webinar sponsored by Fellowship of Reconciliation. See http://forusa.org/militarism-watch

1. Predator/Reaper/Avenger
drones
SOURCES:
Google ‚Drones‛ and make yourself a ‚drones‛
google alert
Wikipedia (general atomics, predator, reaper, avenger)
US Airforce Official Site www.af.mil
AUVSI www.auvsi.org

2. AeroVironment
(http://www.avinc.com/)
and
AeroVironment in
wikipedia
Miniature UAV and
Micro air vehicle in
wikipedia

3. Non-military uses:
• Drug interdiction
• Forest fires
• Finding illegal
loggers/whalers
• Search and rescue
missions
• Commercial purposes
• DIY Drones hobbyists
www.diydrones.com
www.auvsi.com

4. Remote control pilots

5. USAF Report

6. Where has the US conducted drone strikes?
• Iraq
• Afghanistan
• Libya
• Pakistan
• Yemen
• Somalia
• Philippines
• Mali?
Where does the US have overseas drone bases?
Afghanistan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia (for
Yemen), Djbouti (for Somalia), Seychelles (off coast of E
Africa), Ethiopia, Uganda, Burundi, Turkey, Australia (Cocos
Islands)

7. Some US Overseas Drone Bases

8. Best statistics for Drone Strikes:
Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia
 Bureau of Investigative Journalism
 New America Foundation
 The Long War Journal
*Be cautious about the usage of the word ‘militant’

9. Maezol Khan, 8 years old,
killed Feb 14, 2009
Ground Zero of Drone War- Pictures (http://tinyurl.com/c7coz25)

10. August 23, 2010
Syed Wali
• 5 houses targeted believed
to be of Haqqani network
• Killed mostly woman and
children
• No prominent Taliban/AQ
leader was killed

11. Bismillah family, killed by drone strike on
August 23, 2010

12. Nasir Khan (left), Naeem Khan

13. List of photos/victims’ names
Pictures of Drone Victims
List of names from Drone
Strike that killed many
civilians
We will be providing link
for a list of names of the
victims from several
countries at
droneswatch.org

14. ‘I was made an orphan by drones’

15. Legal Issues
Issues:
• Self-defense is limited to imminent threat
• Non-military organization (CIA) cannot legally employ lethal force
Drones are illegal outside combat zones
• Targets must be directly participating in hostilities
• Nations cannot violate another nation’s sovereignty
• 2001 AUMF is for those “associated with 9/11”
Other sources:
Mary Ellen O’Connell is on the front lines in the battle against the legality
of drone strikes. Article
Madea Benjamin’s book Drone Warfare
Living Under Drones: http://livingunderdrones.org

16. Global Proliferation
• 76 countries possess drones
(GAO report)
• Main producers
US, Israel, China
• Israel is number 1
exporter, exporting 85% of
drones to 50 countries
• Iran has US spy drone; helping
Venezuela build drones
• Unprecedented growth in
market: projected value over
the next 10 years is over $70
billion.

17. GAO Report : http://tinyurl.com/bodpq73

18. Some 300 Permits given to: Homeland
Security, Border
Patrol, FBI, Universities, Companies, Police
FAA Drone Authorizations (Red: active; Blue: expired; Yellow: disapproved )

19. ShadowHawk drone with Montgomery
County, Texas SWAT team members

20. Drones Invade Campus
Link to Map

21. Congressional Unmanned Vehicle Systems Caucus
Mission statement of the drone caucus: to address “The urgent need
to rapidly develop and deploy more unmanned systems in support of
ongoing civil, military and law enforcement operations.”
 Feb. 14, 2012 new legislation passed, signed by Obama
Leadership:
Donations from drone companies to
drone caucus members from border
states, 2009-2012
Representative Amount
Buck McKeon (R-CA) $124,500
Jerry Lewis (R-CA) $108,000
Ken Calvert (R-CA) $106,500
Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) $97,000
Duncan Hunter (R-CA) $96,225
Henry Cuellar (TX-28)McKeon Co-ChairBilbray (R-CA)
Buck Brian $54,500
(CA-25) Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) $52,500
Co-Chair Darrell Issa (R-CA) $45,000
Contact your congressperson Source: http://tinyurl.com/d3fan8p
here : www.opensecrets.org

22. www.knowdrones.com
For $350 you can get your own model of a drone
Contact: nickmottern@earthlink.net

23. What can we do
about drones?
• Educate yourself—
buy Drone Warefare book  CODEPINK
• Educate others- get Occucards
• Protests at bases, manufacturers
• Contact police departments and pass
Drone-Free Zones resolutions
• Outreach to Faith Community
Check Out:
Drones Watch
No Drones Network
Upstate Drone Action
Knowdrones
Veterans For Peace
CODEPINK
World Can’t Wait