Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013
6:30 – 8 pm UH Hilo
Science & Technology Bldg (STB) Room 108
(new building on Lanikaula St. across from the Church of the Holy Cross)
free street parking and in parking lot near STB after 4PM
This free presentation will be followed by Q&A and the public is invited
Sponsored by UHH Sociology, Philosophy, and Women's Studies Dept., and Malu 'Aina
Well-known and outspoken Ann Wright, a citizen activist with extensive experience standing up for peace, human rights and the rights of war resisters and other veterans and government whistle-blowers, will give a slide-talk on US drone strikes: their increasing use, the dire effects on civilian populations, and implications for US domestic and foreign policy.
In October, November, and December, 2012, Wright made separate trips to Pakistan, Gaza and Afghanistan. She will talk about her experiences concerning the use of drones in all three countries. She will also talk about being a witness in a court hearing in Istanbul on the indictment of 4 senior Israeli officials for the murder of 9 activists and the wounding of 50 more on the ship Mavi Marmara in the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla.
Background about our speaker: Ann Wright holds a Master’s and a law degree from the University of Arkansas and a master’s degree in national security affairs from the U.S. Naval War College. She spent 13 years in the U.S. Army and 16 additional years in the Army Reserves, retiring as a Colonel.
In 1987, Col. Ann Wright joined the Foreign Service and served as U.S. Deputy Ambassador in Sierra Leone, Micronesia, Afghanistan, and Mongolia. She received the State Department’s Award for Heroism for her actions during the evacuation of 2,500 people from the civil war in Sierra Leone, the largest evacuation since Saigon. She was on the first State Department team to go into Afghanistan and reopen the Embassy there in December 2001. Her other overseas assignments include Mongolia, Somalia, Kyrgyzstan, Grenada, Micronesia, and Nicaragua.
After her distinguished 16 years in the Foreign Service, on March 19, 2003, the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Ann Wright cabled a letter of resignation to Secretary of State Colin Powell, stating that without the authorization of the UN Security Council, the invasion and occupation of a Muslim, Arab, oil-rich country would be a disaster.
Since then, she has been writing and speaking out for peace. She fasted for a month, picketed at Guantánamo, served as a juror in impeachment hearings, and has been arrested numerous times for peaceful, nonviolent protest. She is an activist for peace and human rights who participated in the Gaza Freedom March and the the Gaza aid flotillas of 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Ann's home is in Honolulu. She is the co-author of the book "Dissent: Voices of Conscience" (www.voicesofconscience.com).
Contact: Malu `Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box AB Kurtistown, Hawai`i 96760.
Phone Emai http://www.malu-aina.org
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