Signs-of-Dissension-in-the-Ranks Department: Anti-Drone Ad in Air Force Times

On Monday, the Air Force Times, a weekly newspaper with a circulation of over 65,000 subscribers who include active, reserve and retired U.S. Air Force, Air National Guard and general military personnel and their families, published the advertisement below, carrying a message from 54 veterans urging U.S. drone pilots to refuse to follow orders to fly surveillance and attack missions, citing international law.

KnowDrones.com reports:

In addition to Iraq Veterans Against the War, KnowDrones.com, Veterans for Peace and World Can’t Wait, the ad is supported by: Code Pink; Mennonite 1040 for Peace Committee; War Is a Crime.com and WorldBeyondWar.com and many people who contributed on GoFundMe and in response to appeals at the annual Kateri and Veterans for Peace conferences. …

The ad comes at a time of increasing drone surveillance and attack missions, which are now underway in Syria as well as Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.

A Bureau of Investigative Journalism report indicates that other areas under drone surveillance and potential places of attack include: “Iran, North Africa, the Trans-Sahel (West Africa), Levant region (includes Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey as well as Syria), Gulf States and territorial waters.”