Showing posts with label drones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drones. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

President Obama: Please see this movie!

Brave New Films
 
The title is Unmasked: America's Drone Wars, and it tell the heartbreaking stories of Pakistani citizens whose lives have been forever changed by death and dismemberment of hundreds of Pakistani civilians caused by U.S. drone strikes, which the CIA and the White House deny or say is "lawful."

At the American premiere at Busboys and Poets on Fifth Street Monday night, about 100 crowded a screening room to watch the documentary and afterwards, hear three injured survivors, a schoolteacher and his two children, talk through an interpreter about the death of their mother and grandmother, tending vegetables in a field and blasted by a drone strike which injured six more children.


Film director and producer Robert Greenwald, left, poses questions to Rafiq ur Rehman, second from right, and his two children, Nabila, second from left, and Zubair, middle, at the screening of Unmasked: America's Drone Wars at Busboys and Poets. An interpreter is at right/Patricia Leslie


Nabila ur Rehman, left, describes with the assistance of an interpreter, the horror of her grandmother's death caused by a U.S. drone strike which targeted her grandmother out in a field while tending vegetables. The film,    Unmasked: America's Drone Wars, which documents multiple drone strikes and civilian deaths in Pakistan, was screened at Busboys and Poets where Nabila, her brother, Zubair, standing behind her, and her father, Rafiq ur Rahman, described the devastation to their lives and fear caused by drone strikes/Patricia Leslie

Rafiq ur Rahman, the father and teacher who also appears in the film, described the shock and sorrow of finding his mother's shoe in the field and his neighbors holding him back while they placed her body parts in a box. His mother, Mamana Bibi, was a midwife.

Mr. President, if you didn't know the NSA is spying on world leaders, why would you know that the CIA is killing civilians in Pakistan? After all, if the National Intelligence Director, James Clapper lied to Congress while under oath, why wouldn't the CIA lie to you?

Who's in charge of this house?

We treat convicted killers on Death Row better than the innocents in Pakistan who have no opportunities to present their cases in courtrooms for judges and juries to hear.

In grim detail with many photos of dead children and women, the film outlines the cavalier attacks upon Pakistanis while the U.S. military seeks to stop terrorists. A man talks about touching the skin of his dead father, taken out by a drone: "His skin broke like ashes."

The film begins with statements by a former Air Force drone operator, Brandon Bryant, who tells the anguish and turmoil he experienced after training to kill people with the push of a button.

From thousands of miles away "you can see the license tag on a car." He is quoted throughout the movie, along with attorneys, journalists, professors, a former ambassador to the U.K. from Pakistan, and Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff for Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Rather than al-Qaeda recruiting terrorists the drones are doing it for them, said one Pakistani leader. Rather than educating its young, the people are afraid to send their children to school, fearing a drone attack, said another.

The film quotes a Pakistani leader: The U.S. goes around the world and decides who to assassinate.

Killings should be the exception and not the rule.

Where is the accountability for all these deaths? someone asks. There is no investigation.

One victim was 16-year-old Tariq Aziz, on his way to play soccer, the target of a drone strike and likely fingered by an enemy who wanted the money the U.S. government offers informers whether they tell the truth or not.

Much like the fruit vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, whose self-immolation touched off the Tunisian revolution in 2010, and Khaled Mohamed Saeed, whose beaten and disfigured face by police in 2011 launched the Egyptian revolution, the face of Tariq Aziz is the symbol of the stop drone strikes movement.

Who stands to benefit from drone production and who is lobbying Congress? No surprises: Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon are a few.

Beginning today the film will be available at no charge for all to see. 


After the screening, Robert Greenwald, the film's producer and director, said: "Technology has made it easy to kill. There is no democratic process." These deaths warrant no investigations by the U.S.  There is "no transparency."

Brave New Films, which Greenwald founded, produced Outfoxed, Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, and Koch Brothers Exposed.

Rafiq ur Rahman and his children were headed to Congress today for a briefing called by Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL). The film is set for screening at the United Nations and then, the British Parliament. Islamabad was the site last Saturday night of the world premiere, and Unmasked is scheduled for broadcast on Pakistani television.

It's time to stand up, brothers and sisters, since the media is again asleep at the switch while our government allows Big Business to operate the controls.


patricialesli@gmail.com

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Drone art at the Corcoran



Drones at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum/Patricia Leslie

An art exhibit on drones closes July 7.
 
At the Corcoran Gallery of Art recently, about 100 turned out to hear Londoner James Bridle, artist, writer, and humanist, deliver a talk, “A Quiet Disposition,” about his self education on drones.  It was the launch for Mr. Bridle's exhibit on "unmanned aerial vehicles," which, among other things, are used to kill, herd livestock, help with land surveys, and assist in fire and crime prevention.
Five research-based projects form the basis of the show which include digital installations and training tools to identify drones.  Mr. Bridle, 33, coined the term new aesthetic.

With its proximity to the White House, the Corcoran makes an excellent drone art site at the corner of 17th and E where Mr. Bridle, with the aid of Corcoran staff, outlined a drone's silhouette. He is replicating drone sizes and educating people about them around the world. 
At the Corcoran's corner at 17th and E streets with a drone shadow outlined on the sidewalk.  Across the street and to the left are White House grounds/Corcoran Gallery of Art


A drone's shadow in Istanbul, 2012/James Bridle
In his talk Mr. Bridle presented drone images and information, part of his expanding knowledge about them, all of which he obtained from public sources.  
James Bridle speaking at the Corcoran Gallery of Art with a photograph he created. Public photographs of drones firing weapons are not available...unless, unless...Mr. Snowden?/Patricia Leslie
 
 
Rather than an angry mob burning an effigy at the stake, Pakistanis were pictured burning a drone in a photograph Mr. Bridle put up on the screen along with a headline from the Washington Post about America's "kill lists." [One estimate numbers drone attacks in Pakistan over nine+ years to be more than 350.  The number of deaths range from about 2,000 to 3,300.]
 
A lack of visual sense of what drones do is unsettling, Mr. Bridle said, whereas battlefield engagements are photographed and can be widely available.  This is "not a local issue," he said. "These are everywhere." 
The Smithsonian label says this one, the "Predator," flew 196 reconnaissance and attack missions over Afghanistan.  Designed for combat, it also "served" over Iraq and the Balkans/Patricia Leslie
 
 
[In the U.S. 42 state legislatures have debated their use, and six states have enacted drone laws. Click here for a report by the ACLU.]  
 
 
Before his talk Mr. Bridle visited the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum to check out its drones, a visit which he found “a deeply strange experience.” 
This drone, now an "antique," retired in 1999.  It's the RQ-3A "DarkStar," reminiscent of a giant stingray in the sky/Patricia Leslie
 
 
Mr. Bridle has initiated what he terms “dronestagrams” to record drone locations and strikes.  The results are not perfect but fairly close to reality, he said.
 
 
When the military considered honoring drone operators with a medal to be ranked higher than the Purple Heart, veterans objected.  After all, the operators guide their strikes from inside air-conditioned trailers hundreds or thousands of miles away from battlefields where troops fight, die, and are maimed.  However, Mr. Bridle said drone operators experience higher levels of stress. 
This is the X-45A, the first modern UAV, which flew 40 sorties, now at the Air and Space Museum.  Overheard at the museum:  A man said to his wife:  "Honey, come and look.  Here's what they spying on us with."/Patricia Leslie

The X-45A has two weapons bays/Patricia Leslie
Looking up at the X-45A/Patricia Leslie

“What interests the public is not necessarily in the interest of the public,” said Mr. Bridle. 
 
 
After Mr. Bridle's talk he answered questions from the audience, and then everyone walked over to a lovely reception in Gallery 31, the drone site at the Corcoran. It is not a huge show, but an enlightening one where you’ll learn something about drones. It sent me straight to the Air and Space Museum and scared me out of my wits.  What's left.
 
After a lapse of several years of dormancy while it debated mission and location, it is exciting to see the Corcoran come to life again, with an invigorated staff and events and to know it’s staying put, not to be converted to a hotel or drone landing pad at the White House.  
 
 
Welcome, Corcoran, to the new Drone World!  While you were napping, strange things were happening, and even stranger things now.  Please stand by.
 
 
Also at the Corcoran through September 29: War/Photography:  Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath.
What:  A Quiet Disposition
When:  Through July 7, Wednesday - Sunday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., with a late closing on Wednesday night at 9 p.m.
Where: Corcoran College of Art and Design and Gallery of Art, 500 17th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006
How much:  Gallery 31 is free, and the Corcoran's Gallery of Art is free on Saturday (in the summer) and on other days (the Corcoran is closed on Monday and Tuesday) admission is $10.75 for students and seniors, and $12.75 for adults via Ticketmaster
For more information: 202-639-1700
Metro stations:  Farragut North or Farragut West
patricialesli@gmail.com

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Anti-droners rally at the White House

It was another pretty day in the neighborhood yesterday, another typical day with a protest out front of the White House with about four times the customary number of police cars available to handle the cherry blossom crowd and the protesters/Patricia Leslie

About 200 marched in front of the White House April 13, protesting the use of drones worldwide by the U.S. government/Patricia Leslie
The rally was organized by the ANSWER Coalition and was one of several demonstrations against drones held in major American cities/Patricia Leslie

At the anti-drone protest in front of the White House April 13/Patricia Leslie
 
The sign says "If you see something...Hello? I'd like to report my government."  He/she holds a telephone with the rest of the phone taped to the sign/Patricia Leslie
At the anti-drone protest in front of the White House April 13/Patricia Leslie
 
At the anti-drone protest in front of the White House April 13/Patricia Leslie
At the anti-drone protest in front of the White House April 13/Patricia Leslie
A "veteran for truth" at the anti-drone protest at the White House April 13/Patricia Leslie
Representatives from the Ivory Coast participated/Patricia Leslie
At the anti-drone protest in front of the White House April 13/Patricia Leslie
 
Words and symbols on the brown cardboard sign say "Make love, not drones"/Patricia Leslie
Among the victims listed on "Obama's Kill List" are the "Constitution, Rule of Law, Due Process, Magna Carta and the 10 Commandments"/Patricia Leslie