Thursday, August 26, 2010

"Drones on Trial" - First-hand Account from Afghanistan and Pakistan

Drones on Trial", a presentation featuring a first-hand account from Afghanistan and Pakistan by Kathy Kelly, a three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee, will be presented at 7:00 p.m. September 1 at McHenry County College, 8900 U.S. Highway 14, Crystal Lake. The Student Peace Action Network (SPAN) at McHenry County College will host the presentation.

Kelly, co-founder of Voices for Creative Nonviolence in Chicago and three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee, will speak about her recent visit to Pakistan and Afghanistan where she met with victims of U.S. drone (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) attacks. On Sept. 14, she will stand trial in Las Vegas with 13 other peace activists for trespassing at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada. Their nonviolent act of civil disobedience followed a 10-day peace vigil outside the gates. Creech AFB is headquarters for the U.S. Air Force drone warfare program and includes training and the actual control for drones used in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq that do surveillance and shoot “Hellfire” missiles that challenge the international rule of law.

The event is part of the Current American Issues Series and is also a fundraiser for the “Creech 14” trial, which will emphasize the injustice of the military’s use of drones that attack civilian homes and have killed so many innocent families while increasing the hatred and violence of war.

“Human interaction, negotiations, diplomacy and dialogue, not surveillance and bombing by robots, will ensure a more peaceful future at home and abroad,” Kelly said.

A question and answer session will follow. The lecture will take place on campus at 8900 U.S. Highway 14 in Crystal Lake.

The seminar is sponsored by MCC Student Peace Action Network, which is made up of students promoting peace nationally and locally through action and education.

Admission is free, but donations are accepted. Refreshments will be served. For more information, email lib4paz@comcast.net or call the MCC Student Life Office at (815) 455-8772.

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