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I
spent Martin Luther King, Jr's birthday in Washington, D.C. as part of
the Witness Against Torture fast, which campaigns to end all forms of
torture and has worked steadily for an end to indefinite detention of
people imprisoned in Guantanamo, Bagram, and other secret sites where
the U.S. has held and tortured prisoners. We're on day 9 of a twelve day fast to shut down Guantanmo, end torture, and build justice.
I
spent Martin Luther King, Jr's birthday in Washington, D.C. as part of
the Witness Against Torture fast, which campaigns to end all forms of
torture and has worked steadily for an end to indefinite detention of
people imprisoned in Guantanamo, Bagram, and other secret sites where
the U.S. has held and tortured prisoners. We're on day 9 of a twelve day fast to shut down Guantanmo, end torture, and build justice.
The
community gathered for the fast has grown over the past week. This
means, however, that as more people sleep on the floor of St. Stephen's
church, there is a rising cacophony of snoring. Our good friend, Fr.
Bill Pickard, suggested trying to hear the snores as an orchestra, when
I told him I'd slept fitfully last night.
There
is a young boy in Mir Ali, a town in North Waziristan, in Pakistan, who
also lies awake at night, unable to sleep. Israr Khan Dawar is 17
years old. He told an AP reporter, on January 14th, that he
and his family and friends had gotten used to the drones. But now, at
night, the sound grows louder and the drones are flying closer, so he
and his family realize they could be a target. He braces himself in
fear of an attack.
We're
told that we will be more secure if the CIA continually attack the
so-called lawless tribal areas and eliminates "the bad guys."
In
late May and early June of 2009, while visiting in Pakistan, a man from
the village of Khaisor, also in North Waziristan, told us about his
experience as a survivor of a drone attack. Jane Mayer, writing in The
New Yorker, mentioned that the people operating the drones and
analyzing the surveillance intelligence have a word for people like him
who managed to survive a blast and run away. They are called
"squirters." So, I suppose he would have been considered a squirter.
This
man, at some risk to himself, walked a long distance and took two buses
to meet with us. Because of travel restrictions, we would not have
been allowed to visit him in North Waziristan. His village is so remote
that there are no roads leading up to it. Five hundred people live
there. Often, western media refers to his homeland as "the lawless
tribal area." One day, three strangers entered Khaisor and went to the
home of vigil elders. For centuries, villagers have followed a code of
hospitality, which demands that when strangers come to your door, you
feed them and give them drink. It's not as though you can point them
toward a Motel 6 or a 7-11. The strangers were welcomed into the home
they approached and they left after having been served a meal. They
were long gone when, at 4:30 a.m. a U.S. drone, operated by the C.I.A.,
fired 2 Hellfire missiles into the home they had visited, killing 12
people, two of whom were village elders. Children were dismembered and
maimed.
"What
do people do?" I asked, "if you've no Emergency Medical Teams, if
you've no roads?" I was wearing a "tbutta" the long scarf that
Pakistani women traditionally wear. "You see your scarf," my friend
said. "We wrap it around the wounded person, as tightly as we can, to
stop the bleeding." I could imagine the white scarf I wore becoming
blood-soaked, in seconds.
The
CIA uses sophisticated technology, extensive education and a great deal
of money to collect intelligence. The drone surveillance produces
picture images so vivid that when the CIA targeted a Taliban leader,
Baitullah Mehsud, they knew that he was on the rooftop of his in-laws'
home. His wife's parents, both doctors, were tending him, and had
inserted an IV into his arm, giving him fluids. The drone attack
killed all of them, and Mehsud's wife.
The
CIA made fifteen attempts to kill Baitullah Mehsud. In the fourteen
previous attempts, people were killed who may not have been members of
a Taliban group. Some may have been family members of the murdered
victim. Baitullah Mehsud's successor, Hakimullah Mehsud, was known to
be more violent and unpredictable and also media savvy. According to
speculation, the Jordananian suicide bomber who killed nine CIA agents,
Dr. Al-Balawi, had gained credibility with those same agents by
providing information about drone targets. But, the information he
supplied named political rivals of Hakimullah Mehsud, or people
suspected of disloyalty or people considered to be expendable.
This
past weekend, celebrating the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's birth,
we've been guided by his words. One mantra for us, from Dr. King,
urges us to develop tough minds and tender hearts. With tough minds,
we must ask why we are being told that the drone attacks are
successful.
With
tender hearts, let us mourn for the families, friends and community
members of the nine CIA agents who were killed in the suicide bomber
attack at a CIA base in Afghanistan. Their arms will ache, longingly,
for loved ones who will never return. In the spirit that says everyone
in, nobody out, let us realize their humanity.
The CIA asks "who are the bad guys" so that they can eliminate them.
We
are fortunate to be guided by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, who
asked the same question, but Dr. King actually, earnestly wanted to
understand the humanity of his adversaries. At the time, he was
speaking of the Viet Cong. He urged his listeners to try and understand
how they are seen by their adversaries.
We
need tough minds and tender hearts to build a world wherein the United
States will not be seen as a menacing, fearful force. Let's work
toward a world wherein 17-year-old youngsters won't lie awake at night,
listening to low-flying drones and readying themselves to die.
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I
spent Martin Luther King, Jr's birthday in Washington, D.C. as part of
the Witness Against Torture fast, which campaigns to end all forms of
torture and has worked steadily for an end to indefinite detention of
people imprisoned in Guantanamo, Bagram, and other secret sites where
the U.S. has held and tortured prisoners. We're on day 9 of a twelve day fast to shut down Guantanmo, end torture, and build justice.
The
community gathered for the fast has grown over the past week. This
means, however, that as more people sleep on the floor of St. Stephen's
church, there is a rising cacophony of snoring. Our good friend, Fr.
Bill Pickard, suggested trying to hear the snores as an orchestra, when
I told him I'd slept fitfully last night.
There
is a young boy in Mir Ali, a town in North Waziristan, in Pakistan, who
also lies awake at night, unable to sleep. Israr Khan Dawar is 17
years old. He told an AP reporter, on January 14th, that he
and his family and friends had gotten used to the drones. But now, at
night, the sound grows louder and the drones are flying closer, so he
and his family realize they could be a target. He braces himself in
fear of an attack.
We're
told that we will be more secure if the CIA continually attack the
so-called lawless tribal areas and eliminates "the bad guys."
In
late May and early June of 2009, while visiting in Pakistan, a man from
the village of Khaisor, also in North Waziristan, told us about his
experience as a survivor of a drone attack. Jane Mayer, writing in The
New Yorker, mentioned that the people operating the drones and
analyzing the surveillance intelligence have a word for people like him
who managed to survive a blast and run away. They are called
"squirters." So, I suppose he would have been considered a squirter.
This
man, at some risk to himself, walked a long distance and took two buses
to meet with us. Because of travel restrictions, we would not have
been allowed to visit him in North Waziristan. His village is so remote
that there are no roads leading up to it. Five hundred people live
there. Often, western media refers to his homeland as "the lawless
tribal area." One day, three strangers entered Khaisor and went to the
home of vigil elders. For centuries, villagers have followed a code of
hospitality, which demands that when strangers come to your door, you
feed them and give them drink. It's not as though you can point them
toward a Motel 6 or a 7-11. The strangers were welcomed into the home
they approached and they left after having been served a meal. They
were long gone when, at 4:30 a.m. a U.S. drone, operated by the C.I.A.,
fired 2 Hellfire missiles into the home they had visited, killing 12
people, two of whom were village elders. Children were dismembered and
maimed.
"What
do people do?" I asked, "if you've no Emergency Medical Teams, if
you've no roads?" I was wearing a "tbutta" the long scarf that
Pakistani women traditionally wear. "You see your scarf," my friend
said. "We wrap it around the wounded person, as tightly as we can, to
stop the bleeding." I could imagine the white scarf I wore becoming
blood-soaked, in seconds.
The
CIA uses sophisticated technology, extensive education and a great deal
of money to collect intelligence. The drone surveillance produces
picture images so vivid that when the CIA targeted a Taliban leader,
Baitullah Mehsud, they knew that he was on the rooftop of his in-laws'
home. His wife's parents, both doctors, were tending him, and had
inserted an IV into his arm, giving him fluids. The drone attack
killed all of them, and Mehsud's wife.
The
CIA made fifteen attempts to kill Baitullah Mehsud. In the fourteen
previous attempts, people were killed who may not have been members of
a Taliban group. Some may have been family members of the murdered
victim. Baitullah Mehsud's successor, Hakimullah Mehsud, was known to
be more violent and unpredictable and also media savvy. According to
speculation, the Jordananian suicide bomber who killed nine CIA agents,
Dr. Al-Balawi, had gained credibility with those same agents by
providing information about drone targets. But, the information he
supplied named political rivals of Hakimullah Mehsud, or people
suspected of disloyalty or people considered to be expendable.
This
past weekend, celebrating the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's birth,
we've been guided by his words. One mantra for us, from Dr. King,
urges us to develop tough minds and tender hearts. With tough minds,
we must ask why we are being told that the drone attacks are
successful.
With
tender hearts, let us mourn for the families, friends and community
members of the nine CIA agents who were killed in the suicide bomber
attack at a CIA base in Afghanistan. Their arms will ache, longingly,
for loved ones who will never return. In the spirit that says everyone
in, nobody out, let us realize their humanity.
The CIA asks "who are the bad guys" so that they can eliminate them.
We
are fortunate to be guided by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, who
asked the same question, but Dr. King actually, earnestly wanted to
understand the humanity of his adversaries. At the time, he was
speaking of the Viet Cong. He urged his listeners to try and understand
how they are seen by their adversaries.
We
need tough minds and tender hearts to build a world wherein the United
States will not be seen as a menacing, fearful force. Let's work
toward a world wherein 17-year-old youngsters won't lie awake at night,
listening to low-flying drones and readying themselves to die.
I
spent Martin Luther King, Jr's birthday in Washington, D.C. as part of
the Witness Against Torture fast, which campaigns to end all forms of
torture and has worked steadily for an end to indefinite detention of
people imprisoned in Guantanamo, Bagram, and other secret sites where
the U.S. has held and tortured prisoners. We're on day 9 of a twelve day fast to shut down Guantanmo, end torture, and build justice.
The
community gathered for the fast has grown over the past week. This
means, however, that as more people sleep on the floor of St. Stephen's
church, there is a rising cacophony of snoring. Our good friend, Fr.
Bill Pickard, suggested trying to hear the snores as an orchestra, when
I told him I'd slept fitfully last night.
There
is a young boy in Mir Ali, a town in North Waziristan, in Pakistan, who
also lies awake at night, unable to sleep. Israr Khan Dawar is 17
years old. He told an AP reporter, on January 14th, that he
and his family and friends had gotten used to the drones. But now, at
night, the sound grows louder and the drones are flying closer, so he
and his family realize they could be a target. He braces himself in
fear of an attack.
We're
told that we will be more secure if the CIA continually attack the
so-called lawless tribal areas and eliminates "the bad guys."
In
late May and early June of 2009, while visiting in Pakistan, a man from
the village of Khaisor, also in North Waziristan, told us about his
experience as a survivor of a drone attack. Jane Mayer, writing in The
New Yorker, mentioned that the people operating the drones and
analyzing the surveillance intelligence have a word for people like him
who managed to survive a blast and run away. They are called
"squirters." So, I suppose he would have been considered a squirter.
This
man, at some risk to himself, walked a long distance and took two buses
to meet with us. Because of travel restrictions, we would not have
been allowed to visit him in North Waziristan. His village is so remote
that there are no roads leading up to it. Five hundred people live
there. Often, western media refers to his homeland as "the lawless
tribal area." One day, three strangers entered Khaisor and went to the
home of vigil elders. For centuries, villagers have followed a code of
hospitality, which demands that when strangers come to your door, you
feed them and give them drink. It's not as though you can point them
toward a Motel 6 or a 7-11. The strangers were welcomed into the home
they approached and they left after having been served a meal. They
were long gone when, at 4:30 a.m. a U.S. drone, operated by the C.I.A.,
fired 2 Hellfire missiles into the home they had visited, killing 12
people, two of whom were village elders. Children were dismembered and
maimed.
"What
do people do?" I asked, "if you've no Emergency Medical Teams, if
you've no roads?" I was wearing a "tbutta" the long scarf that
Pakistani women traditionally wear. "You see your scarf," my friend
said. "We wrap it around the wounded person, as tightly as we can, to
stop the bleeding." I could imagine the white scarf I wore becoming
blood-soaked, in seconds.
The
CIA uses sophisticated technology, extensive education and a great deal
of money to collect intelligence. The drone surveillance produces
picture images so vivid that when the CIA targeted a Taliban leader,
Baitullah Mehsud, they knew that he was on the rooftop of his in-laws'
home. His wife's parents, both doctors, were tending him, and had
inserted an IV into his arm, giving him fluids. The drone attack
killed all of them, and Mehsud's wife.
The
CIA made fifteen attempts to kill Baitullah Mehsud. In the fourteen
previous attempts, people were killed who may not have been members of
a Taliban group. Some may have been family members of the murdered
victim. Baitullah Mehsud's successor, Hakimullah Mehsud, was known to
be more violent and unpredictable and also media savvy. According to
speculation, the Jordananian suicide bomber who killed nine CIA agents,
Dr. Al-Balawi, had gained credibility with those same agents by
providing information about drone targets. But, the information he
supplied named political rivals of Hakimullah Mehsud, or people
suspected of disloyalty or people considered to be expendable.
This
past weekend, celebrating the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's birth,
we've been guided by his words. One mantra for us, from Dr. King,
urges us to develop tough minds and tender hearts. With tough minds,
we must ask why we are being told that the drone attacks are
successful.
With
tender hearts, let us mourn for the families, friends and community
members of the nine CIA agents who were killed in the suicide bomber
attack at a CIA base in Afghanistan. Their arms will ache, longingly,
for loved ones who will never return. In the spirit that says everyone
in, nobody out, let us realize their humanity.
The CIA asks "who are the bad guys" so that they can eliminate them.
We
are fortunate to be guided by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, who
asked the same question, but Dr. King actually, earnestly wanted to
understand the humanity of his adversaries. At the time, he was
speaking of the Viet Cong. He urged his listeners to try and understand
how they are seen by their adversaries.
We
need tough minds and tender hearts to build a world wherein the United
States will not be seen as a menacing, fearful force. Let's work
toward a world wherein 17-year-old youngsters won't lie awake at night,
listening to low-flying drones and readying themselves to die.