UAV TEST BASE IN MAINE?

UAV preparing for flight in Afghanistan
This photo is of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) pilot likely sitting inside a trailer in Nevada, New Mexico, or Arizona where they "fly" these drones that are firing missiles at folks in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They are linked to the the UAV's by military satellites. Often times it is innocent civilians that are killed.

We've learned that Maine's Commissioner of Economic and Community Development, John Richardson, is trying to get the closing Brunswick Naval Air Station (set to shut down in 2011) to be turned into the Brunswick Unmanned Flight Center. At presentations before the redevelopment agency it's been stated that the drones would take off from Brunswick and would be flying up and down the Maine coast peering at boats and people for "homeland security" reasons.

Yesterday our local group PeaceWorks had a letter to the editor in the paper that was signed by a bunch of us alerting the community to the possibility of this UAV training base. Then today we got a call from the statewide public radio station wanting more information so things are coming out into the open a bit.

The folks who are promoting this have asked our Congresswoman to get them $12,750,000 so they could do a feasibility study. So there are some serious hands stirring this stew.

It is now up to the peace community in our state to create awareness about this plan and to build opposition against this crazy idea while there is still time.

We must insist that our local community does not become a training base for the maddening US war in Central Asia. It just goes to show once again that the industrial base the government is trying to build in the US is primarily to make weapons for endless war. We've got to keep pushing back hard against this drift to militarization of our culture.