The hateful noise of these cruel machines makes anyone on the ground below wonder:
Do the parents of children playing in their gardens, on the beach or walking on the coast path know that above them, the weapons company Qinetiq is developing a machine to spy on and target victioms in Afghanistan - or wherever else our Government decides to use them?
Is the spying equipment being tried out on the people and properties in Wales?
Why were we told at the Airspace Use ' Public Consultation' that the drones would make no noise? That was patently untrue.
Over £26 million of our money has been spent on developing Parc Aberporth. Fewer than 39 people are employed there to test these offensive killing and spying machines. What a waste of money - we could invest public money in much better jobs for local people, energy efficiency measures for homes and public services.
Is this what we want for Ceredigion and Wales?
We are also told that in future these Watchkeeper drones may be armed. We are constantly reminded of how precise are drones. This means is that there is a high probability that a drone hits the target that it was aiming at. It says nothing about whether the target was the right one to begin with, even if one concedes that a government has the right to target and kill anyone it pleases - as judges jury and executioner.
Let our elected representatives in Wales think again - and think hard. There really are better, more environmentally and morally sustainable ways of investing the fruits of or precious labours on behalf of our children and grandchildren
Thanks to CND Cymru from where above article was borrowed.
http://www.cndcymru.org/cndcymru/no-drones-at-aberporth-or-anywhere
Amnesty International and my local group have been campaigning for the last few years, with others, concerning the use of Parc Aberporth near Cardian as a devlopment and testing site for inmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) commonly referred to as Drones. Drones are used by Israel against innocent civilians in Gaza and their use constitutes human rights abuse. This coming Saturday 23 June Cymdeihas y Cymod, Fellowship of Reconciliation in Wales, will hold a service of repentance by the drones testing site in the farm yard of Hendre farm, Blaenannerch, SA43 2AN, at 3 0'clock. I will be there under our group banner, join us if you want.
For further details and directions please see
http://www.cymdeithasycymod.org.uk/diary.htm
Furthermore Drones are immoral and intolerable and are vehicles for spying. As remote killing machines they represent a further and cruel devolution in human behaviour, escalating conflicts causing fear and resentment and contribute nothing towards any long term solution.
They kill innocent civilians indiscriminately and are dehumanising for the operator as well as target victims and those under surveillance. Operated by satellite, they escalate the use of space as a theatre of and platform for killing and war. They are big business across the world and are certain to herald the development (marketing & sale) of 'anti-UAV weapons'.
Military drone attacks are calculated by some to kill 50 civilians for every combatant killed. However, a senior administration official has said that the number of civilians killed in drone strikes in Pakistan under Mr Obama was in 'single digits'.. This is because the US military counts all military age males in a strike zone as combatants ... men, women and children can all be considered 'terrorists'unless 'there is explicit intelligence postumously proving them innocent'.
50,000 people live uner the new 500 sq mile UAV fly zone. Two drones crshed in the first months of flying out of Parc Aberporth so there are serious local concerns about safety. The Welsh Assembly has not carried out any public assessments drone flying over Wales. No infomation was made available about crashes or known accidental fatalities.
The type of drone flown at Parc Aberporth (Hermes?Watchkeeper) has been used by the Israeli military to target civiliands during its attacks on Gaza.
The European Convention on Human Rights makes public organisations responsible for not invading our privacy. Watckeeper drones carry powerful cameras and other tracking equipment for surveillance, monitoring and reconnaissence exercises. Welsh Assembly Government (Wag) has not given assurances that they will act within the law on this issue.
LIVING IN THE NO FLY ZONE
HEAR THE SOUND OF A DRONE
NEIGHBOURS MAKE A GROAN
BEEN LEFT ON HIS OWN
HAPPENING MORE AND MORE
LIVING ON THE FLOOR
UNDERNEATH A DOOR
THIS IS MODERN WAR
DON'T WANT NO UCAV
BOMBING YOU AND ME
DON'T WANT NO RFID
TRACKING YOU AND ME
DON'T WANT NO CTTV
WATCHING YOU AND ME
ALL WE WANT YOU SEE
IS A COUNTRY THAT IS FREE
SOLDIERS HAVE ALL GONE
BUT THIS WAR CARRIES ON
THE CEASEFIRE IS A CON
IT'S OUR ARMEGEDDON
DON'T WANT NO UCAV
BOMBING YOU AND ME
DON'T WANT NO RFID
TRACKING YOU AND ME
ALL WE WANT YOU SEE
IS A COUNTRY THAT IS FREE
Copyright:
Harry Rogers -5/6/12
An earlier post on this issue can be found here.
http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/first-minister-challenged-over-drones.html
No comments:
Post a Comment