Anti-Drone Protesters Gather for Weekend March into Waziristan | Common Dreams
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Former US Army Colonel Ann Wright leads US delegation
Former US ambassador and peace activist Ann Wright – who has arrived in Islamabad to participate in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s peace march to South Waziristan. Wright and Imran Khan spoke to the media in Islamabad on Sunday, September 30, 2012.
US drone attacks have targeted the tribal areas of South Waziristan and North Waziristan on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan. Anti-drone protesters from across Pakistan and around the world are gathering in Islamabad this week in preparation for a weekend march into the tribal areas of South Waziristan.
Ignoring a travel warning issued by the U.S. State Department for Pakistan, a delegation of 30 US activists and parents of U.S. Army soldiers has arrived in Islamabad, where they plan to join the October 6 and 7th march and rally.
The march is being organized and led by Imran Khan, the former Pakistani national cricket captain and now head of the polical party Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Khan and his party have emerged as the leading critics of America’s covert program of lethal drone strikes.
Khan has said that he expects up to 100,000 to join this weekend’s march.
When Khan announced plans for the march this summer the Pakistani Taliban said they would stop the march by killing Khan, the former cricket star turned politician Imran.
“If he comes, our suicide bombers will target him,” the Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan told the Associated Press during an interview in a remote compound in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), a mountainous and lawless region on the Afghan border.
Now, the Taliban have reversed themselves and say that will allow safe passage for Khan and the marchers. A spokesmen said:
“We are ready to provide them security if they need. We endorses Imran Khan’s plea that drone strikes are against our sovereignty… The anti-drone rallies should have been taken out by the religious leaders long ago but Imran had taken the lead and we wouldn’t harm him or his followers.”
On Sunday Khan accused the Pakistan government of refusing visas to several international journalists who were traveling to Pakistan to cover the march.
Ann Wright, a former U.S. Army colonel and former U.S. ambassador, is leading the US delegation. Wright had resigned from the Army when U.S. started its war against Iraq in 2003. She is now an anti-war activist and a member of CODEPINK.
Sunday afternoon Wright and Imran Khan held a press conference in Islamabad. Pakistan’s Express Tribune reports:
“We came from U.S. for this historic march against drone attacks. We also went the places in U.S. from where the drones are operated and we registered our protest. We are also protesting U.S. war policies and we are telling you that American people are also against these attacks,” she said.
Wright said U.S. is violating the sovereignty of Pakistan by carrying out drone strikes.
“The US president has a hit-list on his desk and he looks at it every day to know who will be killed in Pakistan. This is criminal… We believe that travel warning is issued because the U.S. government does not want us to see what they are doing. We believe the President of the US is killing innocent people in Pakistan, that is wrong… We as Americans stand up against our government and you [have to] stand up against yours,” Wright said.
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myrakhan #Pakistani #Taliban offer #security for #ImranKhan‘s #Waziristan rally tribune.com.pk/story/445709/p… 41 seconds ago · reply · retweet · favorite
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VoteForPTI Daily Nai Baat coverage of Codepink in #Pakistan for #PTIPeaceMarch (Urdu) naibaat.net/naibaat/ePaper… naibaat.net/naibaat/ePaper… naibaat.net/naibaat/ePaper… 3 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
VoteForPTI Daily Nai Baat forum with Codepink activists (Urdu) naibaat.net/naibaat/ePaper… #Pakistan #PTIPeaceMarch #stopdrones #endwars 7 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
studnts4Imran #PTI Rally Support for #PTIPeaceMarch [Official Hashtag] & also by changing your Twitter DP > pic.twitter.com/5TpkKsIk” 14 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
mgregueiro #TheNewArmsRace A dangerous new world of #drones edition.cnn.com/2012/10/01/opi… 21 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
VoteForPTI Why the PTI march matters by Malik Amin Aslam Khan [The News] thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-9-… #Pakistan #PTIPeaceMarch #StopDrones #StopWars 31 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
glynmoody Are These The #Drones We’re Looking For? – bit.ly/PJE2La “What is going to happen when #paparazzi start to use drones?”; coming soon 34 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
mrcruizy Govt officials denied #PTIPeaceMarch because according to them, it’s impossible to provide security. #Morons it shows how failed/weak u r. 42 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
JustinSalhani A dangerous new world of #drones bit.ly/O1SAZ7 11 yrs ago #USA had less than 50 drones. today it has around 7,500 #china #iran 57 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
anglerstar RT @/BriciusYwainSilence of the Drones by Ray McGovern original.antiwar.com/mcgovern/2012/… #drones 57 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
ArabianGazette A dangerous new world of drones. #drones | sco.lt/5vTUfZ 58 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
BriciusYwain Silence of the Drones by Ray McGovern original.antiwar.com/mcgovern/2012/… #drones about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
AurangzebH Drone Terrorism: The Human Cost Of Drones (WATCH) huff.to/Rvr0Du via @HuffPostWorld #Drones #Terrorism about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
SyedAhsan__ I support isb to #Waziristan Peach March,I want to raise voice for unjust, I want to make them feel, we are all humans not a #Drone Target about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
AurangzebH Warning! This article is not about drones: The Drone Unknowns motherjones.com/mojo/2012/10/w… #Pakistan #terrorism #drones about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
AnjumKiani Any Human Rights activist from #Pakistan who does not endorse #PTIPeaceMarch against drones will prove themselves a “Fake & Opportunist” about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
AnjumKiani Respect & Prayers for the Worldwide peace lovers who are arriving in #Pakistan to show their concern at US Murderous #Drones. #PTIPeaceMarch about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
kkramster Gov denies permits 4 #PTIPeaceMarch. A way around is 2 go 2 Hussain Haq, declare urself CIA agents & ask 4 4000 passes at a time @ArifAlvi about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
AnjumKiani #PTIPeaceMarch : If #Pakistan‘s other parties can not join this national cause then they should atleast send representatives to Endorse it. about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
AnjumKiani “Why I’m Going to Pakistan: Under Scrutiny, the Drone Strike Policy Will Fall” huff.to/UU8yaG #PtiPeaceMarch #IdentifyDroneVictims about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
PkLion01 Former US deputy envoy assails drone attacks shar.es/5tfWw via @sharethis #PTIPeaceMarch about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
AnjumKiani #AgentHaqqani & #Zardari‘s ghost writers ready and prepared to derail #PTIPeaceMarch to Waziristan with Hoax articles. #PTI #Pakistan about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
MalaikzZ #PTIPeaceMarch : @FauziaKasuri hosts tea for #CodePink peace activists joined us from the #US. Int peace activists arriving for #Waziristan about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
isratine RT @AyeshaBNafees International Day of NonViolence? So today no #Palestine #Kashmir #Waziristan civili… bit.ly/V9PYvd #isratine about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
AnjumKiani #PTIPeaceMarch: Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. —Dr Martin Luther King thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-9-… #IdentifyDroneVictims about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
AyeshaBNafees International Day of NonViolence? So today no #Palestine #Kashmir #Waziristan civilians die? #Israel #India #USA hold off? #Bullshit!! about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
Usamaa_K The drone campaign has been proved to only been effective against only 2% of its victims, the so called “high-value” targets. #PTIPeaceMarch about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
Usamaa_K #PTIPeaceMarch aims to lift the shrouds of secrecy surrounding the drone wars & highlight the suffering of the tribal people. #StopDrones about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
studnts4Imran #PTI youth set up camp to motivate masses for SWA march | The Nation nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-… #PTIPeaceMarch @ISFPakistan” about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
afi_alikhan RT @ArsalanGhumman: RT @ArsalanGhumman: #PTIPeaceMarch #StopDrones RT @Drone_Wars_UK: It’s time we faced up to the failures of drone warfare | The Independe … about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
afi_alikhan RT @DrAwab: RT @DrAwab: INDEPENDENT.CO.UK: It’s time we faced up to the failures of drone warfare #PTIPeaceMarch ind.pn/RvuQwy #PTI about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
stevekuriigamba #US #Drones Attack Terrorists Based on “Behaviour Patterns”, Not Hard Intelligence defenseworld.net/go/defensenews… about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
Ows_Casper RT @soit_goes: RT @soit_goes: “The return of Droney”, #drones for kids pic.twitter.com/LdoeUUVU” 2 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite
occupy_now Calling U.S. Drone Strikes ‘Surgical’ Is Orwellian Propaganda m.theatlantic.com/politics/archi… #drones #SURVEILLANCE 2 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite
AyeshaBNafees Would love to see how Jinnah Institute does for Jinnah’s Pakistan, against CIA attacking sovreignty by #Drones, #PeaceMarch @AQpk @Razarumi 2 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite
radicalahmad From the Pakistani press: Why the PTI march matters – Malik Amin Aslam Khan thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-9-… #PTIpeacemarch #NoDrones Thank u @codepink! 2 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite
isleofmandan RT @PaulbernalUK: RT @PaulbernalUK: OK, so Gove is specifying the design of all school buildings, Damien Green is mandating #Drones. 1984 really IS the go … 2 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite
PTI_Raheel People of #Baluchistan are geared up to join #PTIPeaceMarch on 6th and 7th Oct 2 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite
studnts4Imran #PTI Protest against Drone attacks in front of White House insaf.pk/News/tabid/60/… #PTIPeaceMarch 2 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite
YouTwittter RT @ahsanwarsi: RT @ahsanwarsi: #TTP offers IK security for #Waziristan. This doesn’t show IK is terrorist but shows that his view point of neutralizing … 2 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite
RaniaKhalek RT @MegRobertson: Coming Up: What is the Human Cost Of #Drones in Pakistan? With @ASE @ShazadAkbar @PakhtunZmaray huff.lv/UyThaK 2 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite
billrosethorn A good article about the dangers of pragmatism and #drones from @kgosztola 2 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite
DonCapriccioso Will we be the people who let #MONSANTO poison us, and let our govt fill our skys with #drones and track our every move? The time is now 3 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite
oakleaves10 they shud themselves be ‘droned’ “@Sahr_M: Shame on all thoz who r opposing #PTIPeaceMarch. some humanity guys! this is for drone victims 3 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite
debragood RT @spiral_one: RT @spiral_one: Anti-Drone Protesters Gather for Weekend March into #Waziristan | Common Dreams commondreams.org/headline/2012/… 3 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite
AlliMcCrack Shahzad: this delegation is a good wake-up call for think tanks in #Pakistan who think all Americans are ok with #drones @WarDronesOn 3 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite
Sahr_M Shame on all thoz who r opposing #PTIPeaceMarch show some humanity guys! this is for thousands of innocent people who died in drone attacks 3 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite
UsmanGikian RT @Sohaib_Nehal: RT @Sohaib_Nehal: #PTIPeaceMarch and #stopdrones will be the hashtags we would be using. Please trend them worldwide to project our cau … 3 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite
DrJohnsonMD Calling U.S. Drone Strikes ‘Surgical’ Is Orwellian Propaganda – theatlantic.com/politics/archi… #Drones take murder to a new level of disconnect. 3 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite
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PTI’s Waziristan Peace March Promo
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Anti-Drone Protesters Gather for Weekend March into Waziristan | Common Dreams.
Filed under: General News 
As posted by Laura Tyco on http://2012indyinfo.com/
Also of interest from Laura Tyco: http://galacticlauratyco.blogspot.ie/
2012-10-02 07:59:50
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