From: i...@zcommunications.org [mailto:i...@zcommunications.org] Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2013 2:50 AM
<http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz TFczw65YAHq4GrY51RffDdHS9qISlz1P1C7_bB6M0LVB79UMmudOl1CO1YGRQ9X69BaullWvACOv nkgfEBnmGBy4RaKDlgTBbmLp3cZzoXKjV53IHOj-2BUNu98B9USt3tjAp20-2BGb6Q3e7mjxoNoC -2BTNqClSFiqPNGEpXOjgFutjbbBi7ony4ESGyw4TTnvw6Sm4YLlnseD9MM9k-3D> zspace John Brennan vs. A 16-Year-Old January 9, 2013 By Medea Benjamin Medea <http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz TFczw65YAHq4GpKey4ur2TbE95PgWHlIKD2ZQIsXzgbHslWdZCv5eME1w-3D-3D_bB6M0LVB79UM mudOl1CO1YGRQ9X69BaullWvACOvnkgfEBnmGBy4RaKDlgTBbmLpWtIZ4Z6X-2F0i-2FGbx6qrQW 9ymkwigCA8V5li1veopiuBQppz-2F-2FVHYU0g7Wc9lTKqgqhv6irxQE57VVCoSYxUklU-2F-2BU Pa-2FHrAzws-2B2AIS6N2l0-3D> Benjamin's ZSpace Page / ZSpace <http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz TFczw65YAHq4GrCDUxswLSep3PDl641KChV_bB6M0LVB79UMmudOl1CO1YGRQ9X69BaullWvACOv nkgfEBnmGBy4RaKDlgTBbmLpbYzt8CmkFuuWBEeoHhV1DjYuyfbySzCoXVgfxHjd4T1seG6HWMqL zj-2FO-2FMjqMovBxRuyQlcs89C-2FsC9GkxXIRZ4yDvYaeZkS-2FTcE8hf-2B8nU-3D> In October 2011, 16-year-old Tariq Aziz attended a gathering in Islamabad where he was taught how to use a video camera so he could document the drones that were constantly circling over his Pakistani village, terrorizing and killing his family and neighbors. Two days later, when Aziz was driving with his 12-year-old cousin to a village near his home in Waziristan to pick up his aunt, his car was struck by a Hellfire missile. With the push of a button by a pilot at a US base thousands of miles away, both boys were instantly vaporizedonly a few chunks of flesh remained. Afterwards, the US government refused to acknowledge the boys deaths or explain why they were targeted. Why should they? This is a covert program where no one is held accountable for their actions. The main architect of this drone policy that has killed hundreds, if not thousands, of innocents, including 176 children in Pakistan alone, is President Obamas counterterrorism chief and his pick for the next director of the CIA: John Brennan. On my recent trip to Pakistan, I met with people whose loved ones had been blown to bits by drone attacks, people who have been maimed for life, young victims with no hope for the future and aching for revenge. For all of them, there has been no apology, no compensation, not even an acknowledgement of their losses. Nothing. Thats why when John Brennan spoke at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington DC last April and described our policies as ethical, wise and in compliance with international law, <http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKW89Lq-2F- 2BGFRxPe2rfqxUSnQ26gkNseuhNV7viuhiUONejfffcmiRzosk4XF8ZIxhb0uxcxI-2Fz4uV8wTQ 0nQrBYnTvJ55OEqUd2fYO9JRRy5kd_bB6M0LVB79UMmudOl1CO1YGRQ9X69BaullWvACOvnkgfEB nmGBy4RaKDlgTBbmLpiE0kPtbLr8kLutH1lLMEPu-2F-2FqS-2Fh-2FHAvDPG-2B27fOhTx0feaC BZF217aRFbAGV9OxXFua-2B0yHgR7pNSpGpmVOpZHCr47nw4a1mWZwsp0BUBs-3D> I felt compelled to stand up and speak out on behalf of Tariq Aziz and so many others. As they dragged me out of the room, my parting words were: I love the rule of law and I love my country. You are making us less safe by killing so many innocent people. Shame on you, John Brennan. Rather than expressing remorse for any civilian deaths, John Brennan made the extraordinary statement in 2011 that during the preceding year, there hadnt been a single collateral death because of the exceptional proficiency, precision of the capabilities weve been able to develop. Brennan later adjusted his statement somewhat, saying, Fortunately, for more than a year, due to our discretion and precision, the U.S. government has not found credible evidence of collateral deaths resulting from U.S. counterterrorism operations outside of Afghanistan or Iraq. We later learned why Brennans count was so low: the administration had come up with a semantic solution of simply counting all military-age males in a strike zone as combatants. The UK-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism <http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKW4SpmB-2F Ves9y63XwQ6p71V2tknjDbPnvlq-2FTH5QlRQPL_bB6M0LVB79UMmudOl1CO1YGRQ9X69BaullWv ACOvnkgfEBnmGBy4RaKDlgTBbmLp-2FSrY6JhVcgTB2KxgXDGmvhlu5rCqRBItwpMXVdBot-2F0w 5iyfEpyVGFFau-2FCh8VAQcHZk5vvW4z6BO-2BjMR-2Fl3KR45OHXE2hw3HmPYZAdj0D4-3D> has documented over 350 drones strikes in Pakistan that have killed 2,600-3,400 people since 2004. Drone strikes in Yemen have been on the rise, with at least 42 strikes carried out in 2012 <http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKW4SpmB-2F Ves9y63XwQ6p71V19-2BnPFpmhzrsYfg34kPplPaihMl1NkSboZ8ZD58EjW7-2F60vj-2FAiumBT BLe6QS39PQy-2FHSB5E-2Bwwel6T293t1Y3_bB6M0LVB79UMmudOl1CO1YGRQ9X69BaullWvACOv nkgfEBnmGBy4RaKDlgTBbmLpJDu-2BkzS9vRnZGf-2BXDWaIRBf-2Bg9fVZdpvPuBCHAnW4-2FWh pr2gluQHMSfnELYXJl6oc4BtvFsUqUq2TFGUVPAbFOv8xbG6R1TSN6oRFjOxb4A-3D> , including one just hours after President Obama's reelection. The first strike in 2013 took place just four days into the new year. A May 29, 2011 New York Times exposé <mailto:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/world/obamas-leadership-in-war-on- al-qaeda.html%3Fpagewanted=all> showed John Brennan as President Obamas top advisor in formulating a kill list for drone strikes. The people Brennan recommends for the hit list are given no chance to surrender, and certainly no chance to be tried in a court of law. The kind of intelligence Brennan uses to put people on drone hit lists is the same kind of intelligence that put people in Guantanamo. Remember how the American public was assured that the prisoners locked up in Guantanamo were the worst of the worst, only to find out that hundreds were innocent people who had been sold to the US military by bounty hunters? In addition to kill lists, Brennan pushed for the CIA to have the authority to kill with even greater ease using "signature strikes," also known as "crowd killing," which are strikes based solely on suspicious behavior. When President Obama announced his nomination of John Brennan, he talked about Brennans integrity and commitment to the values that define us as Americans. He said Brennan has worked to embed our efforts in a strong legal framework and that he "understands we are a nation of laws." A nation of laws? Really? Going around the world killing anyone we want, whenever we want, based on secret information? Just think of the precedent John Brennan is setting for a world of lawlessness and chaos, now that 76 countries have dronesmostly surveillance drones but many in the process of weaponizing them. Why shouldnt China declare an ethnic Uighur activist living in New York City as an enemy combatant and send a missile into Manhattan, or Russia launch a drone attack against a Chechen living in London? Or why shouldnt a relative of a drone victim retaliate against us here at home? Its not so far-fetched. In 2011, 26-year-old Rezwan Ferdaus, a Massachusetts-based graduate with a degree in physics, was recently sentenced to 17 years in prison for plotting to attack the Pentagon and US Capitol with small drones filled with explosives. In his search for a new CIA chief, Obama said he looked at who is going to do the best job in securing America. Yet the blowback from Brennans drone attacks is creating enemies far faster than we can kill them. Three out of four Pakistanis now see the US as their enemythats about 133 million people, which certainly cant be good for US security. When Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar was asked the source of US enmity, she had a one word answer: drones. In Yemen, escalating U.S. drones strikes are radicalizing the local population and stirring increasing sympathy for al-Qaeda-linked militants. Since the January 4, 2013 attack in Yemen, militants in the tribal areas have gained more recruits and supporters in their war against the Yemeni government and its key backer, the United States. According to <http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKW-2FTaOiJ Bdcrtw6kiHHmF7-2Fxe2BxKNnChbrHFjvceIr0PZvSrPTfdYenhLHpLJJHHB-2B6HWN2SeSY4cli 0Hk9uL6FHIxGXE8V29tzoHxgHFV1KrbB8W7X5G9h2JBteZuG776QMtibJqIEh755328NwhktdMfW Gk-2FPWL07JnsR7yuKNBivjq3Q6RpxQ5qkn-2BG8s0i5r-2FDBCcxJgd7Sx57xW-2BmgnMqJDL06 4WNFrfXLBy2-2BV_bB6M0LVB79UMmudOl1CO1YGRQ9X69BaullWvACOvnkgfEBnmGBy4RaKDlgTB bmLpqTQrKDwvrMOcPq7PGXXgppWilyoOy8pMiJyrLfdIdAvZWfr15DfGZ5DYgYURSi2U2Kr7oeA3 vIp4DUcp-2FBz5ksKTzu2hYdHJXW15v3aUjEk-3D> Abduh Rahman Berman, executive director of a Yemeni National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms, the drone war is failing. If the Americans kill 10, al-Qaeda will recruit 100, he said. Around the world, the drone program constructed by John Brennan has become a provocative symbol of American hubris, showing contempt for national sovereignty and innocent lives. If Obama thinks John Brennan is a good choice to head the CIA and secure America, he should contemplate the tragic deaths of victims like 16-year-old Tariq Aziz, and think again. Medea Benjamin, cofounder of www.codepink.org <http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKW7xhQN3rM WOipwc-2BA1oN4D8-3D_bB6M0LVB79UMmudOl1CO1YGRQ9X69BaullWvACOvnkgfEBnmGBy4RaKD lgTBbmLpw-2F8HiP2RgFon3FGNW7ytid8d6GddXpqfQ9l6RAkd7s0FEq14ev-2FttKKlGxtJMvCK pmKIlGwwE5ZQdaKgUigU4Rlmr7XVUrzCsWNpJrUZiqM-3D> and www.globalexchange.org <http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKW9xTlg6Pl 4VPX3xHvnyJFade9HwnCyoUZCrLWcueDU0e_bB6M0LVB79UMmudOl1CO1YGRQ9X69BaullWvACOv nkgfEBnmGBy4RaKDlgTBbmLp-2B2W1LJLi9CJwRVPn4azdAUB9pT9-2FAQ9UgNsDGDXG8i462dS- 2F8vHdB2YqBwgbDXf4AdMPDNiOPwfFcFj0hPlWuggOe9c-2B85H0DmPGSAg3Dx8-3D> , is author of the book Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control <http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=9M0C8K9w4YGxPojBYmoRa9cI2cGI5EJAp gVZcID9KCM5-2BVNESqVF2jAc-2BYXknAUR_bB6M0LVB79UMmudOl1CO1YGRQ9X69BaullWvACOv nkgfEBnmGBy4RaKDlgTBbmLpbV8ooyX67bm139QBLuu-2FiJoKT6gh7Wp-2FlOnAE-2FQkPnbvCH jhtDxQGTMzCtFciMgKeVD7WK3aFhSGPW8ajuDzt-2FYK6r69QeLKw9gcPtqDI4E-3D> . _____ From: Z <http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz TFczw65YAHq4GpH-2FNw1Z5juZZPvNJxNZTHJ_bB6M0LVB79UMmudOl1CO1YGRQ9X69BaullWvAC OvnkgfEBnmGBy4RaKDlgTBbmLpbV8ooyX67bm139QBLuu-2FiEaupUzHsVBXXYbNq563oJCF3DXN IUYy5NhR6JBx6AmsATn7rAsiE86wGQGjoUz-2FHG1LVQaGdlcDo-2BJmkvIusxQ-3D> Net - The Spirit Of Resistance Lives URL: http://www.zcommunications.org/john-brennan-vs-a-16-year-old-by-medea-benjam in <http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz TFczw65YAHq4GpJXcVcS3-2BShYqfcK7f1KVuKbSgYnq-2FTJvfcef4Dirw0sgom9ULTAt8A18vb zsXdBoX4-2B-2B-2FMMZQ4JI3f25ffX9v_bB6M0LVB79UMmudOl1CO1YGRQ9X69BaullWvACOvnk gfEBnmGBy4RaKDlgTBbmLpbV8ooyX67bm139QBLuu-2FiCLeCXUOUNmln29s5fuLQS4kDce00R-2 Fz5bagMpALD3L5Ih0nl6eccrbC8qzc2pMzSk53o7r7brAORkinj1gsflo-3D> The tool to turn commentary mailings off or on can be found in "My Account" -> "Preferences/Edit My Details" option (Receives commentaries). To view commentaries online go here: http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/commentaries/ <http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz TFczw65YAHq4Gqo-2BVHfPSzcoDj0hiPSckJ0Lk51g-2FoW57VMSjxxD7KOFw-3D-3D_bB6M0LVB 79UMmudOl1CO1YGRQ9X69BaullWvACOvnkgfEBnmGBy4RaKDlgTBbmLpbV8ooyX67bm139QBLuu- 2FiM76-2BzDVGeXz0rrK2g8zCzdH05oUyOJn-2BjMnNV83iCwI-2B-2BaEoZUgOvJp-2FwO-2FaK 8jW4UMq9wJ5i91Md4sHmiS6Gs-3D> Comment on this commentary: http://www.zcommunications.org/john-brennan-vs-a-16-year-old-by-medea-benjam in <http://email.zsustainers.org/wf/click?upn=xrLDuKs9E-2FW2gJyS-2BCwKWwqejxOUz TFczw65YAHq4GpJXcVcS3-2BShYqfcK7f1KVuKbSgYnq-2FTJvfcef4Dirw0sgom9ULTAt8A18vb zsXdBoX4-2B-2B-2FMMZQ4JI3f25ffX9v_bB6M0LVB79UMmudOl1CO1YGRQ9X69BaullWvACOvnk gfEBnmGBy4RaKDlgTBbmLpbV8ooyX67bm139QBLuu-2FiM0PfZXd8BovwxVWZ-2FNSUXyMKGg6yR bU43a5jFX7-2FGXoY5yofuZNkk15htEeOrdlLwmRqaw8-2B0b1gRW-2Fxp6oqUg-3D> _____ No virus found in this message. 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