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Showing posts with label Unmanned Drones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Unmanned Drones. Show all posts
‘Not bug splats’: Artists use poster-child in Pakistan drone protest
Published time: April 07, 2014 13:29
A
poster of a young child has appeared in north-west Pakistan to raise
awareness of the numerous drone attacks the region suffered. Artists who
created the image hope military commanders will think twice about
shooting after seeing the portrait.
More than 200 children are
believed to have died in the heavily-bombed Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa
according to the website notabugsplat.com. ‘Bug splat’ is the name given
by the military to a person who has been killed by a drone. Viewing the
body through a grainy computer image gives the impression that an
insect has been crushed.
Now a giant portrait of a young child has
been produced to try and raise awareness of civilian casualties in the
region. The hope is now the drone operator will see a child’s face on
his or her computer screen, rather than just a small white dot and may
think twice before attacking indiscriminately.
The child featured
in the poster is nameless, but according to the Foundation for
Fundamental Rights, who helped to launch the project in collaboration
with a number of artists, both parents were lost to a drone attack.
Drone
raids in Pakistan started in 2004 under George W. Bush’s administration
as part of the US War on Terror. The vast majority of strikes have
focused on the Federally Administered Tribal Area’s and the Khyber
Pukhtoonkhwa area due to their proximity to Afghanistan, which the
country invaded following the September 11 terrorist attacks.
disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only
The
promise of tens of thousands of jobs has U.S. states jockeying to
become hosts for testing before drones are introduced alongside civil
aviation in U.S. airspace.
A vast network of unmanned aircraft
manufacturers, marketeers and promoters that descended on Washington for
a conference pressed home a point made in a March report: Growth in
civilian drones can create up to 100,000 jobs nationwide.
States
that encourage drone testing on their soil stand to gain more jobs than
states that remain skeptical about the new technology, drone promoters
say.
As excitement over drone-related job prospects grows, the
industry has gone to great lengths to separate -- in public
consciousness -- civilian craft from the military types that provoked
controversy, debate and protests.
Protesters from the Code Pink
anti-war group used pink mock-drones to protest outside the venue of a
mid-August conference of the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems
International.
AUVSI is rated the largest lobby group supporting promotion of unmanned aircraft, which it insists shouldn't be called drones.
AUVSI's
annual gathering at the Washington Convention Center brought together
about 8,000 participants from 40 different countries. Most delegates
said they were focused on generating new business from unmanned
technology systems, promoting diverse use on farms, firefighting and law
enforcement, security and surveillance.
Despite
protests elsewhere, many locals in the township of Soweto have been
looking forward to the arrival of Barack Obama, who was due to visit the
nearby University of Johannesburg on Saturday to meet with South
African students and entrepreneurs.
The
noise is deafening, the smell of burnt food overpowering. It is 10 am
on Saturday, June 29, and already Bara, Soweto township’s largest
market, is in full swing.
Just a few hundred metres away lies the Soweto campus of the University of Johannesburg, where US President Barack Obama is expected to make an appearance later in the day as part of his first ever visit to South Africa.
The voice of James Blunt rings out from an old CD player sitting on the pavement and resonates around the market stalls.
"An American singer for the arrival of an American," says the CD player’s owner, Edward, though Blunt is actually British.
"I
know that the US president comes to us today, I'm happy," he says as he
sits cross-legged in front of a pile of clothes which he sells for 20
rand (1.50 euros) apiece. ‘He is an African’
Edward is just one of many locals looking forward to Obama’s arrival and the economic rewards it could bring for the region.
"If
you see him, tell him to come here with even more business," says
Stanley, a 78-year-old South African wearing a black cap to shield
himself from the sun as the day begins to warm up.
Standing next to him, his friend Eva is also looking forward to the President’s visit.
"We need jobs, and that’s something he can provide," she says with a laugh.
There is also a sense of pride among some South Africans at welcoming the first ever black US president to their country.
"He
is an African" says Petruce enthusiastically, speaking in Zulu while
handing out flyers for his stall where he sells DVDs at 10 rand (75
cents) each.
"I think he treats people well, he is a man of peace
like Mandela. Economics is fine, but respect for human beings is
better," he adds. Mandela has spent the past three weeks in a Pretoria hospital
where his health is said to be in a critical condition. But for both
Petruce and Eva, there is no sense that the timing of Obama’s visit is
in any way disrespectful.
"Life must go on," says Eva, "I do not
think Mandela would have wanted us not to give him a warm welcome, he
wouldn’t have liked that.”
Barack
Obama, then a rising Democrat senator, meets Desmond Tutu during a
visit to South Africa in 2006. Photograph: Obed Zilwa/AP
Symbolism will hang heavy this weekend when Barack Obama visits Soweto, the cradle of South Africa's black liberation struggle, and Robben Island, the prison where Nelson Mandela, who remained in critical condition in hospital last night, languished for years, plotting his nation's rebirth.
Obama
should not expect red-carpet treatment from all South Africans, despite
the historic affinity between the civil rights and anti-apartheid
movements. Workers, students and Muslim groups are among those
determined to give Obama a bumpy landing when he descends on Africa's biggest economy.
"NObama"
is the cry from the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and
the South African Communist party, which have called for "all workers"
to join mass protests including a march on the US embassy in Pretoria on Friday.
Academics and students have vowed to boycott the University of Johannesburg's award of an honorary law doctorate to Obama. The Muslim Lawyers' Association has called for the president to be arrested as a war criminal.
While these may appear fringe group stunts that US presidents face all over the world, South Africa
is an unusual case. Cosatu and the Communist party form a "tripartite
alliance" with the governing African National Congress (ANC) and expect
to be heard. Cosatu in particular, with 2.2 million members, is central
to the ANC's election machinery and well rehearsed in mobilising
demonstrations that have been known to turn violent. The secretary general of the Communist party, Blade Nzimande, doubles as the country's higher education minister and the ANC has plenty of self-professed communists and Marxists with a flair for anti-western rhetoric.
Obama
is a target for those who prefer to blame South Africa's malaise of
inequality and joblessness on global capitalism rather than the ruling
ANC.
Bongani Masuku, Cosatu's international relations secretary,
said: "Obama is perpetuating American foreign policy. The US is an
empire run on behalf of multinational companies and the ruling class of
America. US foreign policy is militarising international relations to sponsor and make their own weapons."
Many
in Africa had impossibly high hopes for Obama, the son of a Kenyan. But
Masuku added: "I'm not disappointed because I didn't expect anything.
It's not about the individual; it's not about the race he came from.
It's about the class he represents. It's like he's the gatekeeper for
white monopoly capital. He promised things we knew he wouldn't be able
to do."
Guantánamo
That view is not confined to militant union organisers but extends to some members of the revered struggle generation. Denis Goldberg, who
stood trial with Mandela in 1963-64 and was sentenced to life in prison
by the apartheid regime, said: "I don't like the idea of Guantánamo
Bay; I think this is reprehensible.
"The unending assumption of
depending on Chinese credits to finance your wars elsewhere – I think
it's outrageous what's going on. I don't have final answers but we need
to ask questions of the big powers – all of them."
Such is
Cosatu's influence on the ANC that its attacks on the US – from
Palestine and Guantánamo Bay to the "ruthless and savage looting of our
natural resources" – have sparked warnings of a diplomatic rift.
Ian Davidson, shadow international relations minister for the opposition Democratic Alliance, said:
"This is President Obama's first state visit to South Africa and is a
significant event for the country to further our relations with the United States. It should not be blighted by Cosatu's cheap political-point scoring. This move by Cosatu is an embarrassment to South Africa."
On
the surface, US-South African relations are cordial and have improved
since the presidencies of George Bush and Thabo Mbeki, though
Washington's intervention in Libya alienated many here. But while many
young South Africans were caught up in "Obama-mania" five years ago, those with longer memories bitterly recall Ronald Reagan's failure to oppose apartheid. Tom Wheeler,
a former South African diplomat who began work in Washington just
before the Kennedy assassination 50 years ago, said: "There's a gut
anti-Americanism and anti-westernism that lurks in some of the
communities. It may be a hangover from the days when a lot of ANC people
travelled to the Soviet Union, and America was regarded as the great
colonialist."
A demonstration is planned for the University of
Johannesburg's Soweto campus on Saturday, where the president will meet
young African leaders in a "town hall" event.
With first lady
Michelle and their daughters, he will then travel to Cape Town to visit
Robben Island and meet retired archbishop Desmond Tutu, never shy of speaking his mind on western warmongering.
Mandela
Perhaps the only living South African more famous than Tutu is Mandela. Obama has met him once, in a Washington hotel in 2005.
The prospect of the first black US and South African presidents coming
face to face is a spin doctor's dream, but could backfire if the ailing
Mandela is seen to be exploited.
Goldberg, 80, said: "I think it
would be such an intrusion on an old man who's ill. We exploit Nelson
Mandela and I object to that. We need to respect this great man's
privacy because people go to see Nelson Mandela not to support Nelson but to gain support for themselves, and this is exploitation."
Speaking from Washington, Ben Rhodes, the White House deputy national security adviser
for strategic communications, said: "While we're in South Africa, we
are going to be very deferential to the Mandela family in terms of any
interaction that the president may have with the Mandela family or with
Nelson Mandela.
"Ultimately, we want whatever is in the best
interest of his health and the peace of mind of the Mandela family. And
so we'll be driven by their own determinations in that regard.
Anti-Obama protests dispersed by South Africa police
Anti-American demonstrators march through the streets while
protesting against the official visit of U.S. President Barack Obama
June 28, 2013 in Pretoria, South Africa. Organized by the Congress of
South African Trade Unions, about 800 people marched through Pretoria to
voice their opposition to Obama and U.S. policy in South Africa and
around the world. / Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Anti-American demonstrators march through the streets while
protesting against the official visit of President Barack Obama June 28,
2013 in Pretoria, South Africa. / Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
JOHANNESBURG — Police fired rubber bullets and a
stun grenade into a crowd of hundreds of protesters waiting for
President Obama to arrive at the University of Johannesburg on Saturday.
The crowd quickly scattered as police officers walked up the street pushing protesters away with shot guns.
“I
feel my rights are being infringed,” said 24-year-old Bilaal Qibr, who
was at the protest. “We can’t protest anymore. Personally, I feel like
this is an extension of the U.S.”
Protests have been planned at
the university over Obama’s visit and the news that he is expected to
receive an honorary doctorate when he speaks later Saturday.
“They
don’t believe Obama deserves that award. The U.S. position and its
relationship with Israel has created a problem,” said Levy Masete,
president of the Student Representative Council. “The students say,
‘Stop the oppression in Palestine,’ and you want to honor this man who
is making this oppression possible.”
“He’s here for our African
resources,” said Nomagugu Hloma, 19, a student at what she called the
“sell out” university. “Hands off our gold, oil, diamonds and land,” she
said.
South Africa’s biggest trade union, the Congress of South
African Trade Unions (COSATU) also said they would be protesting, while
the Muslim Lawyers Association called for the president’s arrest for war
crimes.
“I’m disappointed with President Obama,” said Putase
Tseki, the COSATU chairman of Gauteng province in Johannesburg. “He
promised he would (change) his foreign policy, he was going to resolve
Palestine and close Guantanamo. I would say I was positive four years
ago, but now I don’t know.”
The “feeling of being let down” helped
stem the protests, says William Beinart, an African studies professor
at Britain’s University of Oxford.
Anti-American demonstrators dance and sing before marching through
the streets to protest against the official visit of U.S. President
Barack Obama June 28, 2013 in Pretoria, South Africa. Organized by the
Congress of South African Trade Unions, about 800 people marched through
Pretoria to voice their opposition to Obama and U.S. policy in South
Africa and around the world. / Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
