Anti-Drone Protests To Escalate

Anti-Drones Activists Plan Month Of Protest Over Obama's 'Kill' Policy -- The Guardian

Organisers keen to build on renewed focus of president's targeted killing programme by holding series of protests in April

Military bases, universities and companies involved in Barack Obama's drones programme are to be targeted in a month-long series of protests by activists keen to build on the renewed public focus over the president's controversial policy.

Dubbed "April Days of Action" by participants, organisers are hoping to capitalise on a series of recent controversies that have thrust the use of drones – especially when it comes to targeted killings of suspected terrorists – into the heart of American political debate.

The protests will begin on April 3 with a rally in New York, followed by three days of protest outside the facilities of companies that make drones, including at San Diego-based General Atomics which makes Predator and Reaper drones.

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My Comment: The anti-war movement has been very quiet for the past few years .... I guess this is their new cause.

Iraq And Afghan Vets To Return Medals During The Chicago/NATO Summit

Iraq War veteran Steven Acheson at his home in Platteville, Wis., on May 14, 2012. Narayan Mahon for msnbc.com

Iraq, Afghanistan Vets To Hand Back Medals At NATO Summit -- USA Today

Thirty to 50 veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars may have fought hard for or suffered for their medals, but this weekend, they plan to hand those medals back during the NATO summit in Chicago, MSNBC reports.

The group will stage the demonstration in protest of the war on terror, according to the itinerary for Sunday published on the blog Iraq Veterans Against the War.

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More News On Iraqi And Afghan Vets Returning Their Medals During The Chicago/NATO Summit

US veterans to return war medals in protest -- MSNBC
Veterans Plan To Return Medals During NATO Summit Protest -- CBS
Iraq War vet talks about why he wants to return his medals during NATO summit -- Chicago Tribune
Veterans Will Return Medals During Anti-War NATO Protests (VIDEO) -- Huffington Post

My Comment: It is never a good thing to see decorated and brave soldiers returning their medals. But we live in a democracy, and it is their right to do what they want to do.

Where Are the Anti-War Protestors

HOLLYWOOD - MARCH 21: Anti-war demonstrators carry model coffins in a protest march on Hollywood Boulevard to mark the sixth anniversary of the Iraq war ground invasion on March 21, 2009 in Hollywood, California.

Where Did All the Anti-War Protestors Go? -- John Stossel, FOX News

The anti-war movement was all over the news before President Obama was elected. But apparently they weren’t really anti-war ... they were just anti-President Bush. Two college professors just released a study of national protests between 2007 and 2009. What did they find?

… After January 2007, the attendance at antiwar rallies [measured in] roughly the tens of thousands, or thousands, through the end of 2008.

… After the election of Barack Obama as president, the order of magnitude of antiwar protests dropped [...] Organizers were hard pressed to stage a rally with participation in the thousands, or even in the hundreds. For example, we counted exactly 107 participants at a Chicago rally on October 7, 2009.

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My Comment: John Stossel answers his own question in the first paragraph ....

..... But apparently they weren’t really anti-war ... they were just anti-President Bush. ....

Indeed.

My prediction .... if President Obama is defeated in 2012 and the wars are continuing in Afghanistan and elsewhere under a Republican President .... expect the anti-war protestors returning.

A Homecoming That Some (If Not All) Of These British Soldiers Did Not Expect

Clashes: Police hold back Muslim protesters as they trade insults with English Defence League members while soldiers take part in a homecoming parade in Barking, Essex

Muslim Protesters Brand War Heroes 'Murderers' As Homecoming Parade Turns Violent -- The Daily Mail

A group of extremist Muslims prompted violent clashes at a homecoming parade for British troops today after they heckled soldiers and called them 'murderers.'

Members of the Muslim Against the Crusade group clashed with far right protesters as they shouted 'murderers, murderers, murderers' and 'British troops go to hell' as members of the 1st Battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment paraded down the streets of Barking, Essex.

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My Comment: To come home and be witnessed to this .... not the homecoming that many of these British soldiers expected. But who are we to judge .... the U.S. has protesters at the funerals of soldiers who were KIA in Iraq or Afghanistan .... something that I would argue is more disgusting than a few Muslims hurling insults at marching British soldiers.