A candlelight vigil is planned this evening (Wednesday) outside the Iowa Air National Guard base in Des Moines to protest the use of weaponized drones. Ed Flaherty of Iowa City, a member of Veterans for Peace, says the base will soon be the headquarters for pilots who will fly unmanned airships in overseas war zones. Flaherty says he and the other demonstrators oppose the U-S policy on the growing use of drones in warfare.
The Air Guard unit has shifted its focus away from flying F-16 fighter jets to piloting the M-Q-9 Reaper drones, with operations scheduled to start as soon as the end of this year. Flaherty says he is against the whole idea of making it “easier” to wage war.
Flaherty, who served in the U-S Army from 1966 to ’68, says the use of armed drones has increased substantially in recent years and it’s, in a word, “sad.”
Other groups taking part in the protest include: the Catholic Peace Ministry, Des Moines Catholic Worker Community, the Iowa Peace Network and PEACE Iowa.
