Above photo: Fifteen peace activists from across the country temporarily blocked access through the West Gate and later through the Main Gate at Holloman Air Force Base at Alamogordo, New Mexico just after dawn on Wednesday, April 8, 2026. IndyBay.
Today, World BEYOND War and Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR-USA) join Ban Killer Drones in calling on U.S. operators of MQ-9 Reaper drones, and other drones, to refuse to fly surveillance, targeting and assault missions against Iran and against sailors in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.“U.S. drone operators are being placed intellectually and emotionally at the cutting edge of the Trump Administration’s illegal, immoral attacks against Iranian and Latin American people”, said Ban Killer Drones Co-coordinator Nick Mottern. “Today, we urge U.S. drone operators to stand up for life and for U.S. and international law and to step back from their drone control consoles and refuse to attack or to enable attacks by manned aircraft and other traditional weapons.”
The U.S. has relied on MQ-9 Reaper drones to guide numerous attacks against Iran. Since the U.S.-Israel assault against Iran began, on February 28, 2026, the Iranians have shot down more than 30 MQ-9 Reaper drones.
On March 2, 2026, the Brennan Center for Justice, of New York University School of Law, said:
“President Trump’s “massive and ongoing operation” against Iran violates the Constitution and our nation’s founding principles. The president acted unilaterally and lawlessly — without congressional authorization and absent any imminent threat to the United States.”
On March 12, 2026, a panel of U.N. experts condemned the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran as “flagrant violations of international law”. On April 13, 2026, more than 100 experts in international law said that the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran “was a clear violation of the United Nations Charter” and that “there is no evidence that Iran posed an imminent threat that could ground a self-defense claim.”
Wikipedia reports a range of Iranians killed in the U.S.-Israeli attacks from 3,482 to 6,000, with wounded at 26,500. Damage to human services has been vast. https://en.wikipedia.
On March 13, 2026, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Center for Constitutional Rights, International Crisis Group and UN human rights experts argued before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights that the U.S. must be held accountable for violations of U.S. and international law in the killing of sailors in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
“We are doing everything in our power to hold the Trump administration responsible for its egregious violations of both U.S. and international law,” said Jamil Dakwar, director of the ACLU’s Human Rights Program.
As of the date of this press release, at least 220 Latin American sailors have been reported killed, according to the New York Times. https://www.nytimes.
Ban Killer Drones has worked over the last decade with other organizations to mount protests at bases within the United States that house control centers for MQ-9 Reaper surveillance/attack drones being flown remotely over Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Afghanistan, Kurdistan, eastern Europe, and Latin America. There are 19 such centers within the U.S., notably at Creech AFB in Nevada, Holloman AFB in New Mexico and Hancock Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, NY. There are at least 16 overseas drone bases, including at Sigonella, Italy, Incirlik, Türkiye and Baledogle, Somalia. https://
Mottern, who served in the U.S. Navy, said: “I understand that it can be extremely frightening to consider refusing an unlawful order, including concern about maintaining income. The good news is that there are organizations like the Center for Conscience and War, the Military Law Task Force of the National Lawyers Guild, FOR (USA) and Pax Christi that are helping military personnel in addressing issues raised by conscience.”
Nick Mottern is co-coordinator with Kathy Kelly of BanKillerDrones.org and is an organizer of the Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal. He is a member of the national board of Veterans For Peace. He is also a reporter, whose work has appeared on Truthout, Common Dreams, Counterpunch and on other websites, and he is a researcher and organizer who has worked for the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs, Bread for the World and Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers. While with Maryknoll he coordinated, with Jerry Herman, of the American Friends Service Committee, the Africa Peace Tour, an educational tour that brought Africans to the U.S. to speak about apartheid and U.S. military involvement in Africa. Nick is a Viet Nam Navy veteran.