Editing and commentary by
Carolyn Bennett
Carolyn Bennett
Alan Grayson, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
In relying on remote technology (unmanned aerial vehicles, UAVs,
drones), the United States of America has chosen “unilaterally to kill from the
skies within the borders of other states with whom we are not at war….
It is wrong. It is just too
dangerous.
“The death of innocents, of an adult and a child, should
never be acceptable as collateral damage.
“The unintended
consequences of these strikes and the public opinion that has mobilized
against us in every victim-nation demand greater [care].”
To survivors, Grayson
said:
“I wish you did not have to take
this trip to America due to the loss of someone you loved”
In a Congressional hearing this week affording survivors of
U.S. drones on foreign lands to give evidence of their experience, Congressman
Grayson introduced the issues.
“When it comes to national (U.S.) security matters like
drone strikes, he said, “it is important that we hear not only from the
proponents of these attacks; but also from the victims.” His job, he said, “is
to make sure that [Americans] do not hear just one side of the argument. In the
case of the drone attacks,” he said, “there is a side of the story ─ that never
gets told.”
Grayson urged the Obama government to adopt an alternative to these “miniature acts of war.”
Grayson urged the Obama government to adopt an alternative to these “miniature acts of war.”
Of course the whole truth is that these drone attacks are full
out warfare, global and endless wars undeclared by the legislative branch of
U.S. government and unsupported by vast numbers of people and governments across the world including
the United States of America.
T
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he hearing was attended by only five members of the U.S. House
of Representatives
HON. ALAN GRAYSON
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| Nabila Rehman 9 alongside her brother Zubair (left) and father Rafiq (right) and Member of the U.S. House of Representative Alan Grayson |
Representing the state of Florida and the Democratic Party,
Alan Grayson has been a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in the One
Hundred Eleventh Congress (January 3, 2009-January 3, 2011) and the One Hundred
Thirteenth Congress (January 3, 2013-present). Before entering the Congress
Grayson was an assistant with the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (Washington,
D.C.) and a lawyer in private practice and a businessman. A native of the Bronx,
(Bronx County, New York, b. 1958), he took his academic credentials at Harvard
University (A.B., 1978, Cambridge, Massachusetts) and Harvard University (M.P.P
and J.D., 1983, Cambridge)
HON. RUSH HOLT
Representing the state of New Jersey and the Democratic
Party, Rush Holt has been a member of the U.S. House of Representatives since
the One Hundred Sixth Congress and seven succeeding Congresses (January 3,
1999-present). Before entering the Congress, Holt was on the faculty of
Swarthmore College (Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 1980-1988), acting chief of the Nuclear
and Scientific Division Office of Strategic Forces, United States Department of
State (1987-1989), assistant director of the Princeton Plasma Physics
Laboratory (1989-1997). A native of Weston, Lewis County, West Virginia (b. October
15, 1948), Holt took his academic credentials at Carleton College (B.A., 1970, Northfield,
Minnesota), New York University (M.S., 1974, New York City), New York
University (Ph.D., 1981).
HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY
Representing the state of Illinois and the Democratic Party,
Janice (Jan) D. Schakowsky has been a member of the U.S. House of
Representatives since the One Hundred Sixth and to the seven succeeding
Congresses (January 3, 1999-present). Before entering the Congress, she was director
of the Illinois State Council of Senior Citizens (1985-1990) and member of the
Illinois State House of Representatives (1990-1998). A native of Chicago (b. May
26, 1944), Schakowsky took her academic credentials at the University of
Illinois-Urbana Champaign (B.S., 1965).
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HON. RICHARD MICHAEL NOLAN
Representing the state of Minnesota and the Democratic
Party, Richard Michael Nolan has been a member of the U.S. House of
Representatives in the Ninety-fourth Congress and two succeeding Congresses
(January 3, 1975-January 3, 1981) then in the One Hundred Thirteenth Congress
(January 3, 2013-present). Before and between his years in the Congress, Nolan
was a social studies teacher (Royalton, Minnesota, 1968-1972), a member of the
Minnesota State House of Representatives (1969-1973), president of the U.S.
Export Corporation (1981-1986), president of the Minnesota World Trade Center (St.
Paul, Minnesota, 1987-1994), and business owner and executive. A native of Brainerd,
Crow Wing County, Minnesota (b. December 17, 1943), Nolan took his academic
credentials at St. John’s University and the University of Minnesota (B.A.
1962, 1966), University of Maryland (1966, postgraduate work in public
administration and policy formation, St. Cloud State College, St. Cloud, Minnesota
(postgraduate work in education).
HON. JOHN CONYERS JR.
Representing the state of Michigan and the Democratic Party,
John Conyers Jr has been a member of the U.S. House of Representatives since the
Eighty-ninth and twenty-four succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1965-present). He
has been involved in bringing impeachment proceedings and had chaired
committees on Government Operations (One Hundred First through One Hundred
Third Congresses) and the Judiciary (One Hundred Tenth and One Hundred Eleventh
Congresses).
[It is way
past time for Conyers to leave the Congress]
Before entering the Congress, Conyers was a lawyer in
private practice, a member of the National Guard (1948-1950), the United States
Army (1950-1954), the United States Army Reserves (1954-1957); general counsel
for three labor locals (Detroit, 1959-1964); executive board member of the
Detroit, Michigan American Civil Liberties Union (1964- present); executive
board member of the Detroit NAACP (1963- present); and referee for Michigan
workmen’s compensation department (1961-1963). A native of Detroit, Wayne
County, Michigan (b. May 16, 1929), Conyers took his academic credentials at Wayne
State University (B.A., Detroit, 1957) and Wayne State Law School (LL.B.,
Detroit, 1958).
G
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rayson appeals to the U.S. President to end the carnage. A
survivor is quoted saying, “If I had the opportunity to meet with him, I would
say to President Obama:
‘What happened to me and my family
was wrong’
I would ask him to find an end ─ a
peaceful end ─ to what is happening.
Clearly the Obama government’s model of foreign relations can
only be described as unspeakably cruel.
In his appearance with his children, Zubair, 13, and Nabila,
9, before the five members of the U.S. Congress, the Pakistani primary school
teacher, Rafiq ur Rehman, said his slain mother had been gathering okra with
her grandchildren when they were attacked by a UAV. The children were injured physically
ans. d psychologically in the attack. The grandmother was blown to bits in front
of their eyes. Rehman described his mother, Momina Bibi, in words that you and I
might have used to describe our mothers: she was the “string that held our
family together.”
We are the deaths we cause, the wounded we wound. We are
the people we slaughter. Why is that so hard to see, to feel; so easy to ignore?
U.S. government officials have said repeatedly that very few
civilians have been killed by U.S. drones and have argued that the U.S.
campaign is conducted “consistent with all applicable domestic and
international law”. Of course we know this is a flagrant lie. But unofficial
reports, time and again, have said that HUNDREDS of people HAVE BEEN KILLED ─ in
Pakistan alone, “with up to 200 children killed”, slaughtered on the ground of this undeclared,
illegal, callous U.S. war on the world.
Try to swallow that one without choking. Try to sleep easy
at night. I find it hard, indeed; and you should too.
Sources and notes
“Victims recount horror of drone strikes” (Anwar Iqbal), published
Octoer 30, 2013, http://www.dawn.com/news/1052803/victims-recount-horror-of-drone-strikes
“Drone strikes: tears in Congress as Pakistani family tells
of mother’s death: Translator brought to tears by family’s plea as Congress
hears from civilian victims of alleged U.S. drone strike for the first time” by
Karen McVeigh in New York, theguardian.com, Tuesday October 29, 2013 15.24 EDT,
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/29/pakistan-family-drone-victim-testimony-congress
“U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson stages briefing to attack drone
strikes” By Mark K. Matthews, Washington Bureau October 29, 2013, http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2013-10-29/news/os-grayson-drones-inquiry-20131029_1_drone-attacks-u-s-rep-grayson
Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire http://www.facebook.com/#!/bennetts2ndstudy
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