Monday, August 9, 2021

 

 

National Mobilization to Peacefully Stop U.S. Drone Wars
   Fall Action:  September 26 - October 2, 2021
(Sunday through Saturday)
 
Our Fall Action is dedicated to The Ahmadi Family, who lost 10 beloved family members, including 7 young children, by a reckless U.S. drone attack on August 29, 2021. We stand with all Defenseless Drone Victims living under and terrorized daily by U.S. Drones. We thank all the courageous drone whistleblowers, whose actions helped give a voice for the voiceless drone victims around the globe. Drone whistleblower Daniel Hale is currently serving 45 months in jail for unveiling the truth about the covert and brutal U.S. Drone Assassination Program. Learn more and support Daniel Hale at:  StandWithDanielHale.org. 

OUR DEMAND: Prosecute all drone base commanders and higher up U.S. officials most responsible for drone war crimes. Pardon Daniel Hale, who exposed the drone war crimes!  FREE DANIEL HALE NOW!

Our 2021 weeklong fall convergence to resist U.S. killer drones in the Nevada desert has been scheduled for September 26th-October 2nd! We can't wait to work together again to nonviolently oppose the barbaric and deadly U.S. drone assassination program at Creech AFB that terrorizes communities around the world. 

Shut Down Creech, (SDC) co-sponsored by CODEPINK and Veterans For Peace, is a national campaign to "shut down" the criminal U.S. drone terror program. The campaign is a call for coast to coast mobilization for bi-annual week-long resistance in the spring and fall, at Creech Air Force Base, a principal drone control base in Indian Springs, Nevada, an hour north of Las Vegas. Using the powerful tool of nonviolent Gandhian resistance and peaceful protest, we uncover the lies and misinformation, educate, break the silence and put our bodies on the line for the global defenseless living under the daily terror of  remotely controlled U.S. militarized drones. We invite other organizations to join this important campaign.

The Registration Form is available here. Please fill out this form even if you are not yet sure about coming in the fall. A transportation form, asking about your travel plans to/from SDC, will be available in early September. A pledge to nonviolence guidelines and participation in nonviolence training, if needed, is required for full participation. We are committed to a full week of nonviolent resistance, in a united front to oppose U.S. killer drones. 

(watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXTt1Nz9kEI)

Please come for part or all of this amazing Peace Convergence to nonviolently resist the terror of the illegal U.S. drone assassination program, and the global domination policies of the U.S. that cause severe suffering and death of millions around the world. 

WEEK OF ACTION: SEPT 26 - OCT 2ND

This October marks the 20th Anniversary of the War on Afghanistan, one of the very poorest countries on earth. Despite Biden's promises to withdraw from Afghanistan, we are skeptical that any meaningful change in US policy will occur. Hence, we will continue to stand in solidarity with the Afghan people (and all victims living under drones) and their right to live without U.S. occupiers and drone attacks. 

Activists who can only participate in part of the week's activities are urged to arrive by the evening on Monday, September 27, so we will all be together on Tuesday to make preparations for a large peaceful civil resistance action tentatively planned for later in the week. Participation in activities that include risk of arrest are optional, and low-risk "support roles" are equally needed. 
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The scheduled program will be available by mid-September. If you can only participate for a few days, we recommend arriving by late Mon. night and departing in the morning or afternoon on Thurs, (September 27 - 30). However, we welcome participation on whichever days one is able.


DAILY ACTIONS: Peaceful Daily Vigils during rush hour commute times, Monday-Friday, September 26-October 2nd, 6:30-8:30am and 3:30-5:30pm. On Friday, there will only be a morning vigil, and we will have closing activities in the afternoon. 


Thousands of cars enter and exit at commute times, and we will stretch ourselves out along Highway 95 with large signs, banners and other visuals/props throughout the week. We are developing vigil themes that will vary each day and we welcome any creative ideas for themes or offerings of help to make visuals & props. 


Creative and fun optional activities happen between the vigils and after dinner. They include informal walks in the beautiful desert, visits to see the "wild horses," trips to local hot springs, visits to nearby nature preserves and more. If you have something special to offer during the action week, please register and we will contact you.

Let's make this SHUT DOWN CREECH fall action a very powerful stance against the brutality of covert U.S. drone killing. Please join us, and help spread the word.


CAMP JUSTICE 
Camp Justice is a Creecher community, and we depend on each other for its overall success. Please be prepared to take on some tasks that you are most comfortable with, through the week, to help us in our overall success. Together we are modeling a healthy peace community. We can’t wait to see you at Camp Justice! 

The Goddess Temple (also called "Temple of Goddess Spirituality") is located 3 miles north on highway 95, from where we vigil daily at Creech AFB. This welcoming refuge offers us shade trees, running water, showers, cooking facilities and much more. The Peace Pavilion provides a perfect outdoor meeting place, and our sacred "Goddess Temple to Sekhmet" offers a unique place to seek solace, healing, and meditation. 

The Guest House will not be available for sleeping/beds due to COVID-19 upsurge. (Beds will not be available this fall.) More info: Camping, Guest House and other accommodation options

COVID SAFETY 
Due to the persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic, we will continue to take the necessary precautions to minimize health risks for everyone participating at Shut Down Creech. Both vaccinated and un-vaccinated participants will be participating, as the organizers respect an individual's right to choose. Please review our COVID guidelines, which we are requiring all participants to read and agree upon too before arriving to Shut Down Creech. Read our COVID guidelines. 

All activities will take place outdoors. We plan to wear face masks as needed, observe social distancing, require tent camping for overnight sleeping at Camp Justice and take other precautions to keep everyone safe. We will open the event to those who must fly or take other public transportation to Las Vegas to attend, but we ask those who do fly to be extra diligent in abiding by safety precautions. We ask that all Creechers weigh the risks carefully, and assume full responsibility for their health.

TRAVEL
We will offer assistance with transportation from/to Las Vegas/airport and to/from Camp Justice/Goddess Temple in a COVID safe manner. For further details please check the Housing & Transportation page, and await the final transportation form, which will be emailed to all registered participants.  All departures must take place by on October 2nd if you want assistance to the airport for your flight out of Las Vegas.

MEALS 
All meals will be provided at Camp Justice. We ask that you fill out the registration form so that we can get a headcount for meal preparation. Please also let us know of any dietary restrictions. We are asking for a donation of $10/day to help cover our food costs. Nobody will be turned away for inability to pay.  

#SHUTDOWNCREECH

WHY DO WE PROTEST DRONE WARFARE?

We protest drone warfare to stand in solidarity with all civilians living under drones and their right to live without U.S. occupiers and drone attacks. We stand in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan. We stand in solidarity of the people of Yemen who have been under the worst humanitarian crisis in the world for years, exacerbated by U.S. support for the ongoing Saudi and UAE's massive bombing campaign. We stand in support of the people of Iran and China who are forever threatened by an aggressive U.S. foreign policy. We stand in support of Somalia, and other African nations who are are constantly battling U.S. hegemony and secret U.S. military interventionism. 

Thanks to excellent journalism, it has been revealed that there are over 900 drone pilots operating out of Creech Air Force Base. That means that there is a disturbing amount of remote murder on a daily basis happening at Creech alone. A recent military official reported in 2018 that over 80% of all U.S. air strikes involve U.S. drones, either for surveillance and targeting, and/or for direct strikes, and approximately 80% of all drone strikes go UNREPORTED. These are mostly strikes off any "battlefield," killing people as they are eating dinner in their homes, sleeping in their beds, driving their cars on the highway, worshipping in a mosque, attending wedding parties or funerals....living their lives.  

Unarmed civilians, including women and children, are being slaughtered by these weapons of destruction. This is unconscionable!  

PAST RESISTANCE: INSPIRATIONAL VIDEOS FROM SDC


SPONSORED BY: 

CODEPINK: Women For Peace, San Francisco Bay Area 
Veterans For Peace, National


WHY WE PROTEST AT CREECH:

In 2005, Creech Air Force Base secretly became the first U.S. base in the country to carry out illegal, remotely controlled assassinations using the MQ-1 Predator drones, and in 2006, the more advanced Reaper drones were added to its arsenal. Creech drone personnel sit behind computers in the desert north of Las Vegas and kill "suspects" thousands of miles away. The more primitive Predators have been mostly phased out. Independent research indicates that the identity of only one out of 28 victims of U.S. drone strikes is known beforehand. Though officials deny it, the majority killed by drones are unknown civilians.

In 2014, it was leaked that the CIA's criminal drone assassination program, officially a separate operation from the Air Force's, has been piloted all along by Creech's super-secret Squadron 17. In November 2015, four Air Force drone veterans (3 of whom were based at Creech) wrote to President Obama, “We came to the realization that the innocent civilians we were killing only fueled the feelings of hatred that ignited terrorism and groups like ISIS, while also serving as a fundamental recruitment tool similar to Guantanamo Bay. This administration and its predecessors have built a drone program that is one of the most devastating driving forces for terrorism and destabilization around the world.”

Since 2009 dozens of activists have been arrested for allegedly trespassing at Creech, while attempting to peacefully interrupt the indiscriminate killing and burning of innocent people by drones.

The US drone program is rapidly proliferating as air bases are being converted to drone bases across the U.S. and abroad, but Creech remains a key drone base in U.S. state-sponsored global terrorism. Creech is where the killer drone program started--it is where we shall end it.
  • We must put an end to this desecration of our Mother Earth and all creatures who inhabit it.
  • We must put an end to the dehumanization of lives from Ferguson to Palestine to Syria and Yemen.
  • We must close all foreign U.S. military bases. Money should be prioritized for human needs, not war profiteering. 
  • We must put an end to drone murder, drone surveillance and global militarization.

We organize two Shut Down Creech weeklong anti-drone mobilizations every year, spring and fall.  We are promoting a bigger mobilization for our fall actions because the weather tends to be a bit more welcoming in the fall.  Springtime can be beautiful in the Nevada desert too, so please consider joining us for either weeks. Encourage friends and family to join also to help make our fall mobilization a huge success.  




   (Shut Down Creech, Creech AFB, Fall Action, 2020)
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