Wheatland Gate Drone Protest

 Carol and I drove from Chico. Others came from Nevada City, Yuba City, the Bay Area, Sacramento and Stockton to stand up on this comfortable sunny day. A long and seemingly unending stream of vehicles poured out of the Wheatland gate at Beale AFB and we met them with peace signs and our messages about the harmful effects of drone warfare.

 Barbara had a suitcase filled with children's shoes illustrating the figure 176 children killed. I wonder though how many children and non-combatants have been killed in these isolated areas? Who is actually making an honest tally and how could they since no one is on the ground to see and hear the reports? It's a cowards war and that's for sure...

 And what all of us believe, along with General McChrystal, is that drone warfare fosters hatred. I quote:

"What scares me about drone strikes is how they are perceived around the world," he said in an interview. "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."

McChrystal said the use of drones exacerbates a "perception of American arrogance that says, 'Well we can fly where we want, we can shoot where we want, because we can.'"

 Besides some new signs and new people we also had people stop to talk with us. The mom on the right didn't agree with us on a lot of things but she joined us for the group shot with her boys holding the sign, "President Obama, you're a Nobel Prize Recipient, Act Like One!"