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Page 18 The Portland Observer Black History Month February 19, 2014 New Prices Effective May 1,2010 Martin Cleaning Service Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning Residential & Commercial Services Minimum Service CHG $45.00 A sm all distance/travel charge m ay be applied CARPET CLEANING 2 Cleaning Areas or more $30.00 Each Area Pre-Spray Traffic Areas (Includes: 1 sm all H allway) 1 Cleaning Area (only) $40.00 Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area (Hallway Extra) Stairs (12-16 stairs - With Other Services): $25.00 Area/Oriental Rugs: $25.00 Minimum Area/Oriental Rugs (Wool): $40.00Minimum The Dangerous Seduction of Drones Heavily Soiled Area: They don’t just kill, they terrorize Additional $10.00 each area by (Requiring Extensive Pre-Spaying) UPHOLSTERY CLEANING Sofa: $69.00 Loveseat: $49.00 Sectional: $ 109 - $ 139 Chair or Recliner: $25 - $49 Throw Pillows (With Other Services): $5.00 % ADDITIONAL SERVICES • Area & Oriental Rug Cleaning • Auto/Boat/RV Cleaning • Deodorizing & Pet Odor Treatment Spot & Stain Removal Service Scotchguard Protection Minor Water Damage Services SEE CURRENT FLYER FOR ADDITIONAL PRICES & SERVICES Call for Appointment (503) 281-3949 M adea B enjamin Senior Obama adminis tration officials say our gov ernment is sharply scaling back its drone strikes in Pakistan. That’s a step in the right direc tion. It would be even better if the entire U.S. program of targeted killings in Paki stan, Yemen, and Somalia were scrapped. By embracing drones as a primary for eign policy tool, President Barack Obama has taken on the role of prosecutor, judge, jury, and executioner. Without declaring a war there, U.S. forces have hit Palÿstan with more than 350 drones strikes since 2004. These U.S.- engineered operations have left a death toll of somewhere between 2,500 and 3,500 people, including almost 200 children. Despite being billed as a weapon of precision, only 2 percent of those killed in these drone strikes have been high-level Taliban or al-Qaeda operatives. Most have been either innocent people or low-level militants. Simply put, our drones have killed young men with scant ability — or intent — to attack Americans. And drones don’t just kill people, they terrorize entire communi ties with their constant buzzing and hover ing overhead. A Stanford and New York University Law School study called Living Under Dennis Blair has called drones “danger Drones shows how the mere presence of ously seductive” because they make the drones disrupts community life. Parents government feel it has a strategy for com grow too afraid to send their children to bating terrorism yet really only move the school or remain in their own homes. They’re focal point from one place to another and afraid — with good reason — to attend guarantee a perpetual state of war. community gatherings, or go to weddings or Finally, drones are dangerous because funerals. they are fueling a new arms race. As of “Your government is terrifying 250,000 today, only the United States, the UK, people in my province to get one or two and Israel have used weaponized drones, individuals, who could easily be captured,” but there is already a multi-billion-dollar a young woman leader named Entisar Ali arms race going on. Israel is the No. 1 told me in Yemen during my trip there last drones exporter, followed by the United year. “In your fight against terrorism, you States and China. Over 80 nations pos are terrorizing us.” sess some form of drones, mostly for By fueling anti-U.S. sentiment, drones surveillance purposes. Between 10 and also act as a recruiting tool for extremists. 15 nations are working on weaponizing In Yemen, when the Obama administration their drones. started drone attacks in 2009, there were Another factor fueling the proliferation perhaps 200 people who identified as mem of armed drones is a global push to make bers of extremist groups. Today, there are smaller weapons that can be tailored to fit over 1,000. smaller aircraft. This will make it easier for With every drone strike, more and more non-state actors like al-Qaeda to get their join the ranks of al-Qaeda to seek revenge. hands on these types of weapons. Worldwide, a decade of drone strikes hasn’t After 10 years of an unsuccessful policy wiped out al-Qaeda. In fact, al-Qaeda has of remote-control killing, it’s time to seek grown. It now has a larger presence in effective solutions that adhere to interna Syria and Iraq, as well as in several coun tional law and promote democratic ideals. tries in North and West Africa. These include peace talks, alliance-build If other states were to claim this broad- * ing, treating terrorists as criminals who are based authority to kill people anywhere, arrested and tried, targeted development anytime, using drones “the result would be aid, and empowering women. The drone chaos,” explained Philip Alston, a former wars are making us less safe by simply UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial creating new enemies abroad. Executions. Medea Benjamin is the founder of Former Director of National Intelligence Codepink and Global Exchange.
