An open letter on the proposed drone aircraft facility

An Open Letter to the Governor, President of the State Senate, Speaker of the State Assembly, Members of the State Legislature, Chair of the State Building Commission, the Adjutant General of the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs and the Wisconsin Air National Guard at Volk Field:

We the Undersigned strongly object to the proposed $8 million, 10,298-square-foot building at Volk Field to provide training, maintenance, operations and storage space for the RQ-7 Shadow 200 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). While the Shadow 200's payload is a camera, it is used to put innocent people under surveillance and to identify targets for the armed Predator drones being used in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as Yemen and Gaza.

We object to the targeted killing by the CIA of those who are suspected of being militants or insurgents. Under the Law of Armed Conflict there has to be a way of distinguishing between combatants and non-combatants and the destruction of civilian property must be proportional to the military advantage gained. Furthermore, the use of targeted killing is legally justified only if there is an imminent threat. We believe the continuing and indiscriminate use of drone attacks is not justified under international law.

We object to the killing of innocent victims by these drones. In the six years that drone strikes have been used, researchers at the New America Foundation estimate that between 1,283 and 1,971 people have been killed. Many more are wounded including children. In July 2009, the Brookings Institution released a report stating that in the United States-led drone attacks in Pakistan, ten civilians died for every militant killed. Thus the use of drones is not only ineffective but it results in the creation of more militants. And it may destabilize the government of our current ally, Pakistan.

We also object to the waste of our state and federal tax dollars on weapons that are illegal, immoral and ineffective. We need that money here at home to feed the one in five Wisconsin children who are hungry; to house the homeless -- one-quarter of whom are veterans; and to create jobs with living wages for the almost eight percent of our citizens who are unemployed and the many more who are underemployed or have stopped even looking for work.

Therefore we ask that you not allow construction of this 8 million dollar military boondoggle here in Wisconsin. The state’s share of the cost is $415,000 at a time when we have a budget shortfall. This is a weapons system that we can’t afford and that undermines U.S. diplomatic and security goals around the world.

Sincerely,

Mike Miles and Barb Kass, Co-Farmers
Anathoth Community Farm
Luck, WI

Susan Becker, Coordinator
Church Women United - Madison
Madison, WI

Annie Waitzman, Member
Code Pink - Boscobel
Boscobel, WI

Cecilia Zarate, Program Director
Colombia Support Network
Madison, WI

Hiroshi Kanno, Organizer
Concerned Citizens of Newport
Wisconsin Dells, WI

Eric Piotrowski, Coordinator
East Timor Action Network-Madison
Madison, WI

Dena Eakles, President
Echo Valley Hope, Inc.
Ontario, WI

John E. Peck, Director
Family Farm Defenders
Madison, WI

Jane H. Kavaloski, Coordinator
Grassroots Citizens for Peace
Dodgeville, WI

Liz Bruno, Collective Member
Groundwork White Anti-Racist Collective
Madison, WI

Sue Nelson, Director
Habiba Foundation
Janesville, WI

Mary Pat Hill, Coordinator
Hill Connections
Chaseburg, WI

Joe Elder, President
International Committee for the Peace Council
Madison, WI

Luke Wilcox, Development and Communications Director
Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project
Minneapolis, MN

Sister Jean Verber, Chairperson
Justice and Rights Commission Council
Racine Dominicans
Racine, WI

Marcia Halligan, Coordinator
Kickapoo Peace Circle
Viroqua, WI

Greg Boertje-Obed and Michele Naar-Obed, Committee Members
Loaves and Fishes Catholic Worker
Duluth, MN

Barbara Smith, Coordinating Committee
Madison Area Peace Coalition
Madison, WI

Jacob Boehr, Peace and Justice Committee
Madison Mennonite Church
Madison, WI

Joy First, Coordinator
Madison Pledge of Resistance
Madison, WI

Barbara Olson, Coordinator
Madison-Rafah Sister City Project
Madison, WI

Phyllis Noble, Member
Madison Raging Grannies
Madison, WI

Ellie Connolly, Organizer
Northland Anti-War Coalition
Duluth, MN

Wix Covey, Co-Founder
Northwoods Peace Fellowship
Wausau, WI

Bonnie Urfer and John La Forge, Co-directors
Nukewatch
Luck, WI

Drew Mueske, Owner
Offbeat Press
Oshkosh, WI

Trudi Jenny, Coordinator
Pax Christi-Madison
Madison, WI

Liz Klainot, Program Director
Peace Action-Wisconsin
Milwaukee, WI

Drew Mueske, Owner
PROGRESS Media
Oshkosh, WI

Wayne Johnson, Chairperson
Racine Coalition for Peace and Justice
Racine, WI

Donald J. Hoffman, Chairperson
Rapids Citizens for Peace
Wisconsin Rapids, WI

Sue Nelson, Coordinator
Rock Valley Fellowship of Reconciliation
Janesville, WI

Maureen McDonnell, O.P.
School of the Americas Watch-Madison
Madison, WI

Joy Peterson, PBVM
Office of Peace and Justice
Sinsinawa Dominicans
Sinsinawa, WI

Vicki Berenson, Coordinator
Truth and Alternatives to Militarism in Education
Madison, WI

Steve Books, Chapter Secretary
Veterans for Peace Chapter 25
Madison, WI

Diane Farsetta, Executive Director
Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice
Madison, WI

Al Gedicks, Executive Secretary
Wisconsin Resources Protection Council
Tomahawk, WI

Mary Sanderson, Member
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom - Madison
Madison, WI

Deborah Buffton, Member
Wisconsin United Methodist Federation for Social Action
Madison, WI