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CODEPINK Outraged Over Brennan Confirmation, Presses for Public Hearings and Access to Legal Opinions

March 5, 2013
Press

CODEPINK Outraged Over Brennan Confirmation, Activists Press for Public Hearings and Access to Legal Opinions

CODEPINK activists voice their concerns about John Brennan’s role in the lethal drone program at his hearing in February

The CODEPINK team expresses its deepest regrets that the Senate Intelligence Committee has proceeded to confirm John Brennan as the next director of the CIA today, given that he has been the mastermind of lethal drone warfare that has led to many civilian deaths and undermined the US reputation around the world. We applaud the successful efforts of the committee to gain access to the legal opinions regarding the targeted killing of Americans overseas for their own review, but we believe these opinions should also released to all Congressional representatives and most importantly, to the public.

CODEPINK has been vocal both on the streets and inside Senate offices, calling for public access to information regarding the CIA’s use of drone warfare. CODEPINK delivered over 5,000 signatures to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Leahy (D-VT), Attorney General Eric Holder and Chairwoman of the Intelligence Committee Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). We believe that the public is clamoring for access to the government’s legal justifications for the targeted killing of American citizens.

CODEPINK also urges the Committee to continue to hold John Brennan, the CIA and President Obama accountable not only for the strikes targeting U.S. citizens, but also those resulting in civilian casualties globally. Brennan remarked in his confirmation hearing that “American citizens by definition are due much greater due process than anybody else by dint of their citizenship.” CODEPINK believes that the Committee must not accept this reasoning as an excuse to ignore the killing of non-American civilians by drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, among other countries. While Brennan said in the hearing that the US government should publicly acknowledge when it kills civilians by mistake, he has refused to do so.

Another reason CODEPINK has opposed John Brennan’s confirmation is that he has overseen the expansion of the drone program to include drone bases throughout the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, and now Africa. Bases in countries like Saudi Arabia antagonize the Muslim community and could lead to another attack on US soil.

John Brennan’s nomination will soon go to the entire Senate for confirmation. “The confirmation of John Brennan will ensure that the US drone program—in the hands of the unaccountable CIA–will continue to wreak havoc on the lives of many innocent people overseas, recruit more extremists and foster more anti-American sentiment,” said CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin.

CODEPINK and other activists arrested during Confirmation Hearing as they call on Senate to Reject Brennan as head of the CIA

February 7, 2013
Press

For Immediate Release

February 7, 2013

CODEPINK and other activists arrested during Confirmation Hearing as they call on Senate to Reject Brennan as head of the CIA

During the Thursday Senate Intelligence Committee hearing where Senators questioned John Brennan, CODEPINK peace activists derailed the hearing by speaking out in opposition to the nomination. The activists highlighted Brennan’s atrocious record when it comes to the deadly drones, kill lists, torture and rendition. They held up red-painted hands to symbolize the blood Brennan has on his hands and signs calling for his nomination to be rejected. Brennan was forced to stop speaking several times as activists were carried out of the room by Capitol Hill police. The 8 arrestees include Toby Blome, Ann Wright, David Barrows, JoAnn Lingle, Alli McCracken, Eve Tetaz, Joan Nicholson, and Jonathan Tucker, 4 of whom had recently returned from a trip to Pakistan to meet with drone victims. Immediately after the arrests, Chairman Dianne Feinstein called for the clearing of the room, ordering everyone out of the hearing room and not allowing any protesters to return. Protesters chanted “Reject John Brennan” as police led them out of the hearing.

Alli McCracken, a 24-year-old who was a part of the delegation to Pakistan, spoke out when Brennan entered the hearing room and admonished him for his direct role in the deaths of so many innocent Pakistanis. “John Brennan has blood on his hands. He terrorizes children and families throughout the world,” McCracken said, holding a sign that read “Drones Create Enemies.”  “My generation has been at war for half my life. We deserve better!”

CODEPINK member Toby Blome, who held up bloodied hands and a rag doll representing children killed in drone strikes, flew into Washington DC from San Francisco just for this hearing. “John Brennan is responsible for the death of many innocent people and should not be rewarded for these crimes,” says Blome, “It is our responsibility to speak up and reject him, even if our elected representatives will not.”

“Brennan is unfit for office because he’s the architect of the unconstitutional and secret predator drone killings that violate due process and our moral sensibilities,” says CODEPINK cofounder Medea Benjamin, author of Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control.

CODEPINK held a demonstration outside the Senate, with an 8-foot cardboard cutout of John Brennan and a large drone replica. Members of many different peace organizations attended to speak out about the loss of innocent lives at the hands of Brennan’s deadly drone program. Photos are available on the CODEPINK Flickr site.

Also rejecting Brennan is a list of 100 religious leaders, human rights attorneys, and veterans’ groups.

CODEPINK members will be available for interview before and after the hearing.

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Veterans and Former Government Officials Sign Letter Calling for Rejection of John Brennan as Director of the CIA

February 5, 2013
Press

A Call from former Military Personnel and Government Officials to Reject Nomination of John Brennan as Director of the CIA

As former military personnel and government officials, we are deeply concerned about the nomination of John Brennan to head the CIA. As President Obama’s current counterterrorism advisor, Brennan has been the mastermind behind the administration’s lethal drone program, which is killing innocent civilians abroad and sowing strong anti-American sentiment throughout the world.

Retired General Stanley McChrystal, former commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, recently said that the resentment created by American use of unmanned strikes is much greater than the average American appreciates. “They are hated on a visceral level, even by people who’ve never seen one or seen the effects of one,” he warned. This is dangerous for our national security. Just look at the case of Pakistan, where the CIA’s profligate use of drone strikes has led 3 out of 4 Pakistanis to believe that the United States is their enemy. Unfortunately, drone strikes now serve as the primary recruiting tool for anti-American militants.

We are particularly concerned about drones in the hands of the CIA. While the military has rules of engagement, more open procedures for the use of force, and a chain of command that is supposed to ensure accountability, the CIA does not. It is a civilian organization that, with its own fleet of drones, has been engaged in lethal actions veiled in secrecy and devoid of accountability.

We urge you to use the occasion of this nomination to not only question Brennan’s qualifications for this job, but to also conduct a serious evaluation of the CIA’s drone program. The CIA should revert back to being an intelligence-gathering organization and we need a CIA director who is committed to overseeing this transition.

Signed,

Iraq Veterans Against the War
Ray McGovern, veteran Army Intelligence officer and CIA analyst
Ann Wright, US Army Colonel
Leah Bolger, CDR, USN (Ret)
Mark Foreman, PO3, USN (Ret)
Tarak Kauff, USA
Nate Goldshlag, PFC, USA
Mike Madden, Member of Veterans For Peace, Chapter 27, St. Paul, MN

2012 Pakistan Delegation Press Releases

October 10, 2012
Press

10 October 2012 | CODEPINK Delegation in Pakistan Condemns Attack on 14-year-old Pakistani Girl; Offers Grant to her School,

8 October 2012 | American Delegation will Fast in Islamabad to Atone for U.S. Drone Strikes

7 October 2012 | CODEPINK Anti-Drone Delegation Brings Message of Solidarity to Tribal Areas in Pakistan Off-Limits to Foreigners for a Decade

5 October 2012 | Americans in Pakistan Meeting Families of Victims Obama Says Don’t Exist, Veterans for Peace

3 October 2012 | CODEPINK Peace Delegation now in Pakistan, Meeting with Victims of Obama’s Drone Strikes, October 3, 2012.

26 September 2012 | US Peace Delegation Travels to Pakistan to Protest Drone Strikes. Americans Say: “We want peace with the Muslim world”

Codepink Delegation in Pakistan Condemns Attack on 14-year-old Pakistani Girl; Offers Grant to her School

October 10, 2012
Press

For Immediate Release

The struggle of 14-year-old Malala Yousufzai to ensure access to education for girls is important not just for Pakistan, but for women around the world, says the U.S.-based peace group CODEPINK and its delegation that is in Pakistan to condemn the US use of drones. A faction of the Taliban claimed credit for attacking the girl from the Swat region on October 9 in retaliation for her outspoken opposition to its attempts to keep girls home from school. The attack left the young girl in critical condition.

“We came to Pakistan to protest American drone attacks that have killed hundreds of innocent people,” said Medea Benjamin, a founder of Codepink and leader of the 31-member delegation that participated in a historic convoy to Waziristan Oct. 6 to visit with the people most affected by the drone strikes. “But we stand in solidarity with Pakistanis, especially the women, as they fight all of the forces that are working against human rights in their country. We are praying for Malala’s quick recovery and return to school.”

To show their support for Malala’s plight, Codepink is offering US$1,000 to her school. In addition, the delegation is joining other women and human rights groups in a solidarity demonstration at 5 p.m. today in front of the Islamabad Press Club.

The delegates see a connection between drone attacks and growing extremism in Pakistan. A recent report from Stanford University called drone attacks an effective “recruiting tool” for extremists. “ We oppose all forms of terrorism,” said delegate leader Tighe Barry, “and we stand with the people of Pakistan who are fighting for both national sovereignty and individual freedoms.”

American Delegation will Fast in Islamabad to Atone for U.S. Drone Strikes

October 8, 2012
Press

For Immediate Release

Contact:
Medea Benjamin, medea@codepink.org, +923.365.978.798
Alli McCracken, alli@codepink.org, +923.419.853.545

More than a dozen American peace delegates visiting Pakistan to witness the damage wrought by U.S. drone attacks will fast from sunrise to sunset Tuesday, Oct. 9, in front of the Islamabad Press Club, Sector F-6. They will sing songs of peace, display pictures of the more than 160 Pakistani children who have been killed by American drones, and extend a message of peace and solidarity to passersby.

“We are very aware that there is a deep and justified feeling among Muslims worldwide that the Western world does not understand or respect them,” said Jody Mackey, who is active with the Fellowship of Reconciliation in Olympia, WA; before traveling to Pakistan, she was in Kabul with the Afghan Peace Volunteers. “It seems only appropriate that we express our sorrow for the horrific damage we have done to innocent Pakistani people, particularly those in Waziristan, by fasting according to the Islamic tradition followed during Ramadan.”

The Americans are among a delegation of 31 who joined political leader Imran Khan and other Pakistanis at a rally against U.S. drone strikes in Hatala, Pakistan, near the border between D.I. Khan and South Waziristan. This was the first time that the Pakistani government has admitted foreigners into the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in nearly a decade.

“I have never fasted before, but I want to do this as a small, symbolic act to express my solidarity with the Pakistani people and my commitment to educate my fellow Americans upon my return home about the human impact of our foreign policy,” said Pam Bailey, a freelance journalist from Alexandria, VA. “We will do everything we can to lobby our government to stop violating Pakistani sovereignty and destroying the lives of innocents.”

Delegates are available for interviews, and updates from the trip along with multimedia content are regularly posted on http://www.droneswatch.org.

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