PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Activists protest killer robots
by Becky Franz Sunday, Sep. 01, 2002 at 1:31 PM

Activists gathered last week to protest killer robots in the works at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Wrenched and trembling in fear, panic-stricken, they ran through their once-beautiful, now-dilapidated home. In the midst of the terror, they hit upon their old bedroom, the only room left with any remnants of security and familiarity. Closing the door behind them, they begin to amass in front of the door all their possessions that had enslaved their lives. After this futile attempt to postpone the inevitable, they huddle over to the farthest corner where they hold each other; images of their lives flashing through their minds. Mr. Patterson re-envisioned the moment when he had been approached to be the director of a new project where he and a select team would design new battlefield robots for the expanded war on terrorism. He had never felt such pride knowing he would be helping his country combat the ever-lurking dangers of terrorism. Now he only felt great sorrow and shame. Tears began to swell down his face as he the excruciating reality swept over him: his family would be dead in a matter of moments, then hundreds possibly thousands of others would be slaughtered. He had unleashed this monster, and there was no begging for life because this monster was essentially a computer on wheels. There was a bashing at the door, and in a matter of seconds, blood was spattered on the walls, and phase four had just begun.

All right, so this story is quite the exaggeration; however, there is a scary reality within the sensationalized plot. Carnegie Mellon University has implicated itself with the next generation of warfare, which ultimately casts robots on battlefields. These robots could create unmanned vehicles that supposedly would have a pinpoint accuracy of 80,000 feet; however, it is important to keep in mind that 75 percent of smart bombs used in the Persian Gulf War missed their targets, and realizing it is now some 11 years later and technology has progressed, the bombing crusade in Afghanistan continue to miss
their targets killing civilians. CMU was one of eight selected contractor teams by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and was awarded $1,000,000 to help develop an unmanned ground vehicle. Not only was CMU selected as a contractor, but it also is a team member for Lockheed Martin, Battelle Memorial Institute, and General Dynamics Robotic Systems, Inc, who were all selected as team contractors as well. The teams were chosen in February and will all take part in an eight-month design effort. After this period one or two will be selected to build prototypes. It seems CMU will no doubt play some sort of role in the development of "a multimission combat system that will be overwhelmingly lethal, strategically deployable, self-sustaining, and highly survivable in combat.

While strong opposition within CMU has yet to develop, there are those adamantly opposed to the production of these robots and involvement of CMU in the design and possible production of what essentially are killing machines, and those people came together on Wednesday, March 27, 2002 in front of Doherty Hall on CMU's campus for a press conference. Speakers included Vincent Scotti Eirene, Dennis Brutus, Tim Vining, and Stephan Donahue.

Vining, director of the Thomas Merton Center, spoke out, "So much of your talents and resources are being diverted to kill when instead it could be used for health care, education, social services, that will bring us the security we want."

Donahue, of the socialist group Solidarity, remarked, "I'm a taxpayer, and I don't like my money being used for more high tech weapons that we don't need. I want it to be used for the common good, not the destruction of humanity."

Without a doubt the most energetic and passionate speaker was Dennis Brutus, a poet and activist from South Africa who spoke out against apartheid there, and is now speaking out against the injustices within America. He argued against the expanded war on terrorism and the system that had created such a world where terrorists would hi-jack two planes and crash them into buildings where innocent civilians lay and where a nation would then seek justice by bombing a desperately impoverished country and then expanding that war to countless other countries. A pertinent question he raised was "Who benefits?" His only answer was "manufacturers of these weapons are the ones who benefit. They build weapons that are blown up and then new ones are built. They are simply making stuff in order to destroy it." He also commented, "What troubles me profoundly are the people in the media who are betraying their roles. We rely on them for the truth, and what we are getting from the media are a bunch of cheerleaders for the military." He concluded that we must speak out against those institutions that are benefiting from this war on terrorism.

While the number of people who participated was small, it was nonetheless a beginning in what will hopefully become a much stronger and united front against the ever-expanding war on terrorism, which is hitting ever closer to home.

www.indypgh.org

add your comments