re: #34 Renaissance_Man

I am no supporter of Cindy Sheehan, nor do I believe in the Peace at All Costs ethos. However, that article attributes motives that are not in evidence, which is an insidious aspect of activism journalism.

The article strongly suggests that the motive for opposing drone warfare is just as you say - hoping for more US deaths so that the anti-war message will carry more weight. That sounds pretty evil. So evil, in fact, that it made me wonder if that’s what they were actually saying. What made me even more suspicious was that the article didn’t in fact include any statements or references to the people in question, just statements about their supposed beliefs from their opponents.

According to the Hood River Conference itself, their intent is to ‘expose the accelerating arrival of robotic weapons and social control technologies’, because ‘some of the military’s own experts have complained about the high civilian death toll from US drone strikes’.

I don’t know if that’s true. I doubt very much that this conference will have anything intelligent to say. I suspect very strongly that it is more or less what it sounds like - a bunch of unrealistic peaceniks talking about scary Terminatoresque fantasies about evil government robots being used to kill us and control our very lives. In other words, a fantasy not altogether different from what you might find at an average Tea Party. But I very much doubt that they are in fact holding a talk about how much they desperately want more Americans to die, as the article suggests.

From an earlier protest she attended on drones

She called the use of drones “cowardly” and “immoral.” She says she’s concerned about all military uses of drones but specifically about their use by the CIA in Pakistan. She says drones have killed about 700 civilians.

“They are actually making themselves judge, jury and executioner,” Ms. Sheehan said of the government officials who decide whether to fire missiles from the drones.

Among the protesters was a woman who held a sign that read “Drone bombing is terrorism with a bigger budget” and two Buddhist nuns from Massachusetts who beat drums and chanted a prayer for peace.

Also in the crowd were approximately two dozen people from the group Witness Against Torture, who wore orange jumpsuits and black hoods. The group has been in Washington all week for demonstrations.

Stephen Peterson of North Carolina, a 26-year Navy veteran, said Saturday’s protest was his first.

“A drone attack is an execution without a trial,” said Mr. Peterson, who wore a T-shirt with his message: “Drones are for cowards.”

Without using drones, we would have to put troops on the ground to do their jobs. Putting more troops on the ground would put them in more danger. They’re not coming right out and saying it, but thats exactly what they want.