At Creech Air Force Base, just outside of Las Vegas – where many of the operators who fly the Predator and Reaper drones that regularly launch Hellfire missiles in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, are based – a group of Code Pink activists wrapped up a nine-day presence yesterday that included:
…a mourning mother’s costumed funeral procession with child-like coffins, a four-day fast, climate change action and civil disobedience. They were joined and supported by members of the Las Vegas faith-based, veterans and military family communities.
This action was part of a nationwide campaign by Code Pink to halt these attacks from unmanned planes. On their website, the organization says this new focus for their work was inspired by the first ever protest against the drones last April, which was organized by our friends at the Nevada Desert Experience and Voices for Creative Nonviolence.
It also follows on the heals of a much larger protest against drones that occurred last month at Hancock Field in Syracuse.
With Obama dramatically escalating the number of drone attacks since his term began, this new focus of the antiwar movement is absolutely crucial.