Ofelia Rivas: 'Oppose US/Israeli spy towers, respect O'odham burial places'

Sat., May14, 2016

Photo: Israel's Elbit Systems, responsible for apartheid
security in Palestine, has targeted Tohono O'odham
burial places with US/Israeli spy towers

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is accepting critical comments until May 16, 2016, on a project of vital concern to the Tohono O'odham Nation.  Your support is welcome and may be significant.

By Ofelia Rivas, O'odham
O'odham VOICE against the WALL

Ofelia Rivas
Photo by Brenda Norrell

Censored News

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is accepting critical comments until May 16 on a project of vital concern to the Tohono O'odham Nation. Your support is welcome and may be significant.

The CBP currently proposes building 15 surveillance towers near the United States – Mexico border on the Tohono O'odham Nation. These towers would be built by Elbit Systems, an Israeli corporation responsible for apartheid security in Palestine.

Seven of these towers would be in the district of Gu-Vo (Big Pond), the westernmost district of the Tohono O'odham Nation. The Gu-Vo Governing Council said No to the proposed construction of these Integrated Fixed Towers (IFT) in the Gu-Vo District, respecting its members desire to preserve and protect Gu-Vo District sacred burial sites and ancient community sites, as well as its current communities and future generations.

Six of the proposed towers are in or near communities. Of the two that are adjacent to the United States/Mexico International border, one is on a sacred burial place and ancient village site and the other is in Ali Jegk (Little Clearing) community.

The other five are along the western boundary of the Tohono O'odham Nation and Organ Pipe National monument which is not along the International Boundary, as can be seen from the map in this article: http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2015/09/us-israeli-pact-targets-traditional.html.

We urge you to leave comments opposing the building of these IFTs at this website: http://www.cbp.gov/about/environmental-cultural-stewardship/nepa-documents/docs-review. (Click on “Draft Environmental Assessment for Integrated Fixed Towers on the Tohono O’odham Nation in the Ajo and Casa Grande Stations’ Areas of Responsibility, U.S. Border Patrol Tucson Sector, Arizona” for directions to properly register comments.)

There are four main points to make in your comments:

Respect the Gu-Vo District position of NO IFTs whatsoever.

Respect the Gu-Vo District's actions to protect and preserve sacred places, ceremonial places and burial place and ancient village places.

Respect the authority of Gu-Vo District as O'odham authority, voice of O'odham Communities and community members.

Respect the Gu-Vo District's efforts to protect future generations.​

Remember that the deadline is May 16, so please act quickly. UPDATE 5/20/16: the deadline has not been extended but comments should continue to be submitted.

Thank you!

O'odham VOICE Against the WALL

Ofelia Rivas

http://solidarity-project.org/


Copyright Ofelia Rivas
Censored News

US Israeli pact targets traditional Tohono O'odham with 15 new spy towers

Breaking News Exclusive!

US Israeli spy tower pact targets Tohono O'odham sacred mountain and spying on traditional O'odham

By Brenda Norrell

All content copyrighted by Ofelia Rivas, Brenda Norrell, Censored News
French translation by Christine Prat
http://www.chrisp.lautre.net/wpblog/?p=3140

September 7, 2015 -- GU-VO, Tohono O'odham Nation -- The US has targeted two traditional Tohono O'odham districts, Gu-Vo District and Chukut Kuk District, with 15 new US spy towers built by the Israeli Apartheid corporation Elbit Systems, responsible for Apartheid security surrounding Palestine.

On Tohono O'odham land, the US conceals the fact the US Homeland Security gave the spy towers contract to the Israeli corporation Elbit Systems, responsible for the Apartheid security surrounding Palestine and a manufacturer of drones.

The Gu-Vo District opposes this proposal. Gu-Vo is in the western most district of the Tohono O'odham Nation.

The Gu-Vo District said in a statement, "The Gu-Vo District opposes these proposed tower sites to protect cultural sites on the holy mountain now called the Ajo Mountain Range. The mountain holds human remains of our people and also places of our cultural practices (medicine bundles) home and home of the ceremonial deer and bighorn sheep and mountain tortoises that are protected under the Endangered Species Act."

"The United States government military forces, the border patrol, have not been forthcoming with impact information, such as health effects and have deliberately misinformed the people regarding the immediate environmental impacts such as the roads they will build on the mountain and installation of electrical power lines to the sites as well as that these proposed tower sites will have a 25-year or longer impact on the mountain, the animal and plant life and the O'odham lives."

"The Gu-Vo District communities landscape have already been greatly impacted by numerous unauthorized roads and destruction of our mountains and hills of great significance to the O'odham way of life. Our future generations will face more restriction to live on our original lands as our rights as original Indigenous peoples continue to deteriorate."

"These U.S. proposed towers also are not on the border but in our communities and on the border of the Tohono O'odham Nation reiterating discrimination and deliberate attack on the O'odham," said Gu-Vo District.

While the US attempts to conceal who this contract has been granted to, the US border contract was celebrated in Israel.

Last year US Homeland Security gave the $145 million Integrated Fixed Tower to Elbit Systems, an Israeli defense contractor, instead of to a US corporation. Prior to this contract, Boeing spent $1 billion attempting to build spy towers before announcing that its spy towers on the Arizona border did not work.

US Border Patrol with spy cameras pointed into the home
of a traditional O'odham woman

The Israeli spy towers are the latest attack on the traditional O’odham, and a means of surveillance and oppression, for O'odham who live in their sovereign homeland.

The increase of US and Israeli militarization on sovereign Tohono O'odham land has resulted in widespread human rights abuses, including rapes and murders carried out by US Border Patrol agents. 

US Border Patrol agents have been arrested and convicted in every region of the US border for running drugs. A Congressional hearing revealed that hundreds of US Border Patrol and ICE agents have been arrested and convicted of drug smuggling and serving as "spotters." Spotters are look-outs for the Mexican cartels and provide safe passage for the cartels to transport large loads of drugs into the US. 

The US government has armed the Mexican cartels since 2005 by way of the US ATF's Project Gunrunner, Wide Receiver and Fast and Furious. The US media has failed to expose how US agents are involved in drug smuggling at the southern border. The US uses the excuse of this so-called war on drugs in an attempt to justify these US Israeli spy towers, which violate all laws of privacy and human rights in the US.

Meanwhile, universities have partnered with Israel to target Indigenous Peoples in the creation of drones and surveillance. 

The University of Arizona in Tucson is boycotted by O'odham human rights activists for designing drones and border surveillance which target and kill Indigenous Peoples globally. San Carlos Apache also boycott the University of Arizona for taking the lead, with the Pope, in placing massive telescopes on sacred Mount Graham in Arizona.

Above: US spy tower near Sells, Arizona, on the sovereign Tohono O'odham Nation, viewed with outrage by a delegation of Mohawks, Lakota, Dine' and Pueblo during the Indigenous Border Summit of the Americas in 2007. The spy tower was located next to the "cage," constructed of a metal fence and concrete floor where migrants were detained, including Indigenous Peoples from Mexico and Central America, walking and hoping for a better life. Large numbers of Indigenous Peoples have died on the Tohono O'odham Nation of thirst and dehydration. The Tohono O'odham Nation created a law which made it a crime to give a drink of water, or aid, to migrants. This law was opposed by Tohono O'odham human rights activists who say they have been instructed by their ancestors to carry out a spiritual way of life for all of creation, the Himdaag way of life.
.

Below is the current proposal of Aug. 2015:

In the news:
Reuters: US Homeland Security awards contract to Elbit:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/02/us-elbitsystems-arizona-contract-idUSBREA2104K20140302

Epoch Times: During the Congressional hearing on border agent crime, the US admitted that since 2004, over 130 agents of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have been arrested, charged, or otherwise prosecuted on corruption charges. The convictions include alien and drug smuggling, money laundering, and conspiracy.  
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/united-states/congressional-hearing-examines-ethics-violations-at-dhs-242766.html

Israeli newspaper Haaretz: State of Arizona used Elbit drones on Arizona border in 2004:
http://www.haaretz.com/news/israeli-drones-used-by-arizona-border-police-1.136572

Background:
The IFT systems will consist of surveillance equipment (e.g., ground surveillance radars and surveillance cameras) mounted on fixed (i.e., stationary) tower(s); all necessary power generation and communications equipment to support these tower sites; and command and control (C2) center equipment (including one or more operator workstations) that are capable of displaying information received from surveillance towers on a common operating picture (COP), based on current BP AoRs.

Copyright, Brenda Norrell, Censored News. No portion may be used without written permission.
For permission to republish: brendanorrell@gmail.com

Border Drones are Big Flop, audit says

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
English and Dutch

TUCSON -- The border drones are a big flop, says a new audit. As homeless children sleep on the streets of America on freezing nights, the US is spending millions on worthless drones and spy towers that do not work. But that doesn't discourage the United States government from wasting more money, now billions, on drones and spy towers for the southern border which are worthless.

US spy tower on sovereign
Tohono O'odham land near Sells,
Arizona

After Homeland Security realized that the first spy towers on the Arizona border didn't work, what did they do? They funded another round of worthless spy towers. This time, the US gave the contract, not to a US company, but to Elbit Systems, the Israeli defense contractor responsible for the Apartheid security surrounding Palestine.

One stretch for worthless drones is the border south of Tucson. The drones are a common sight in the Tucson skies. They are the ones that look like fake planes. Meanwhile, the US is continuing to build surveillance towers, spy towers, on sovereign Tohono O'odham land. On the western side of the Tohono O'odham Nation, those US spy towers are pointed at the homes of traditional O'odham. The Israeli Apartheid company Elbit now has the contract.

Anyway, if you have the stomach for it, you can read below more about how much money the US is wasting on drones, as revealed in a new audit, and the two spy tower contracts. But don't worry, the war profiteers in Israel and the US are still making millions. Boeing made a billion on the first worthless spy tower contract.

Meanwhile, Israel's Apartheid security contractor Elbit is in San Antonio, Texas, working with the Brazilian Navy stationed there.

Common Dreams: Costly border drone program has failed, federal audit finds
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/01/07/costly-border-drone-program-has-failed-federal-audit-finds
Censored News: The billion dollar laugh: Arizona spy towers (2011)
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/12/billion-dollar-laugh-arizona-spy-towers.html
Apartheid Israeli company gets new spy tower contract (2014)
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2014/03/apartheid-israeli-company-receives-us.html

Thank you to Alice Holemans, NAIS, for the Dutch translation!

------------------------------------------

Home » Nieuws » * DRONES AAN VS GRENS ZIJN GROTE FLOP, ZEGT NIEUWE AUDIT!

* DRONES AAN VS GRENS ZIJN GROTE FLOP, ZEGT NIEUWE AUDIT!

Door Brenda Norrell, Censored News: www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

Vertaald door NAIS: www.denaisgazet.be

Tucson- De drones aan de VS grenzen zijn een grote flop, zegt een nieuwe audit.

Terwijl dakloze kinderen in de vrieskou op de straten moeten slapen, spendeert de VS miljoenen dollars aan waardeloze drones en spionnentorens.

Maar dat ontmoedigt de regering van de Verenigde Staten niet om nog meer geld, nu miljarden te verspillen aan waardeloze drones en spionnentorens voor de zuidelijke grens.

Wat deed Binnenlandse Veiligheid nadat zij zich realiseerden dat de eerste spionnentorens op de grens met Arizona niet werkten? Zij financierden een volgende tour van waardeloze spionnentorens. Dit keer ging het contract niet naar een Amerikaans bedrijf, maar naar Elbit Systems, het Israëlisch beveiligingsbedrijf dat verantwoordelijk is voor de beveiliging van de Apartheid rond Palestina.

De grens ten zuiden van Tucson bestaat uit één lijn van waardeloze drones.

Dagelijks de drones in de lucht te zien is al ‘doodgewoon’ boven het grensgebied van Tucson.

Het zijn die drones die eruitzien zoals speelgoedvliegtuigjes.

Ondertussen blijft de VS surveillance torens bouwen op het soevereine Tohono O’odham land.

Aan de westkant van de Tohono O’odham natie staan deze spionnentorens gericht op de huizen van de traditionele O’odham.

De Israëlische Apartheid compagnie heeft hiervoor het contract helemaal binnen..

In de nieuwe audit wordt het duidelijk hoeveel geld de VS weggooit aan drones en de twee spionnentoren -contracten. Maar geen nood, de oorlogsprofiteurs in Israël en de VS maken nog steeds miljoenen winst.

Boeing had het eerste contract op zak en maakte hierop een miljard dollar winst.

Ondertussen is de Israëlische Apartheid veiligheid- aannemer Elbit is in San Antonio, Texas, waar ze samenwerken met de Braziliaanse Navy die daar gestationeerd is.

Common Dreams: Costly border drone program has failed, federal audit finds

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/01/07/costly-border-drone-program-has-failed-federal-audit-finds

Censored News: The billion dollar laugh: Arizona spy towers (2011)

http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/12/billion-dollar-laugh-arizona-spy-towers.html

Apartheid Israeli company gets new spy tower contract (2014)

http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2014/03/apartheid-israeli-company-receives-us.html

Apartheid Israeli company receives US border mega contract

US spy tower on Tohono O'odham

land near Sells, Arizona. One of the

wasted $1 billion in spy towers

that the US said didn't work.

Israeli spies will now be on Tohono O'odham land as a result of US border contract

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News exclusive
French translation Christine Prat
March 1, 2014

TUCSON -- In a shocking development, Homeland Security has given the $145 million border security contract to the Israeli Apartheid contractor Elbit Systems. The Israeli security contract is set to begin on the Arizona border and span eight years. The area includes the Tohono O'odham Nation.

Currently, over the objections of grassroots Tohono O'odham, the US is constructing more new US spy towers around the homes of O'odham on the western side of the Tohono O'odham Nation, according to O'odham who live there.

The Homeland Security contract to Israelis comes just after another Israeli contractor, BrightSource Energy, built the mega solar project in the Mojave desert. Obama touted the solar project as an American dream and proof of a recovering economy -- without revealing that it was constructed by an Israeli company.

Meanwhile in Palestine, Elbit Systems, an Israeli defense contractor, is responsible for the Apartheid security surrounding Palestine.

US spy cameras pointed at traditional O'odham home
on Tohono O'odham Nation
Censored News photo

On the Tohono O'odham Nation, these spy towers, and spy cameras on agents vehicles, are pointed at O'odham homes on Tohono O'odham land, (as shown in photos here.) In Arizona communities like Arivaca, the previous spy towers were also pointed at homes, not at the US border.

The elected Tohono O'odham government -- in its deals with the US government -- has granted access to the US for these spy towers, according to council resolutions.

The Tohono O'odham has also granted expanded land for US Border Patrol camps, even though it is widely known that the US Border Patrol agents are running drugs and escorting the cartel loads across the border. The Tohono O'odham government, as revealed in council resolutions, is also accepting funding from the US for controversial programs like Operation Stone Garden targeting migrants, which is protested by human rights groups.

As for the US spy towers on the border, the US already spent $1 billion on spy towers in Arizona that Homeland Security said did not work. Most ten-year-olds with a computer could have told them their wi-fi would not penetrate the fortress like mountains of the Arizona border. 

Speaking on Palestine, Russell Means, Lakota, said, “Every policy the Palestinians are now enduring was practiced on the American Indian,” Means said. “What the American Indian Movement says is that the American Indians are the Palestinians of the United States, and the Palestinians are the American Indians of the Middle East,” Means said. Further, he points out that the Zionists who control Israel now control the United States. “The power of the US in world politics diminishes every day.”

Meanwhile, why does the US need to give Israelis $145 million to build more spy towers and have access to sovereign Tohono O'odham land?

During the construction of the $1 billion boondoggle of spy towers that did not work on the US Mexico border, Boeing subcontracted Elbit Systems. In the beginning, the secrecy was exposed when Arizona residents began asking why there were Israelis riding around on off terrain vehicles along the Arizona border.

The increased US Mexico border security is even more bizarre when one considers the number of US Border Patrol agents being arrested and convicted for drug smuggling. At the Arizona border, Border Patrol agents escort the cartels through with their loads. The Border Patrol agents also serve as "spotters" for the cartels to bring the drug loads through. Hundreds of Border Patrol agents, and ICE agents, have been arrested and convicted, according to testimony before Congress.

Further, the US satellite photos are as clear as if someone was standing there with a camera. In other words, the US knows exactly who is running drugs and the location of everyone involved.

Spy tower diagram given to
Tohono O'odham disricts

Bloomberg reports that Elbit Systems Ltd. (ESLT) won the $145 million contract for border-surveillance technology. It cites the Department of Homeland Security's federal website. The program may eventually reach $1 billion if legislation to rewrite U.S. immigration laws passes Congress and helps fund the project’s expansion in the Southwest, said Brian Friel, a Bloomberg Industries analyst.

The Obama administration gave the contract to the Israeli company, allowing it to beat out some of the top U.S. government contractors, including Lockheed Martin (LMT) Corp., General Dynamics Corp. (GD) and Raytheon Co. (RTN), Friel said. The department stopped funding for the original border-surveillance system, led byBoeing Co. (BA), after delays and technical issues, Bloomberg said.

In an article in the Jerusalem Post, Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain praised the contract, as the contract was celebrated in Israel.

Elbit Systems spy camera

The Jerusalem Post reported, "The project, called Integrated Fixed Tower Project (IFT), plans to see security posts equipped with radars and cameras that can detect human movement spring up along the American state’s southern frontier." The work is to be carried out by Elbit’s US subsidiary, Elbit Systems of America, which is based at Fort Worth, Texas.

In May, the US-based Defense News website reported that on the surveillance towers, stating that the networked, integrated fixed towers will be equipped with "radar and cameras that will be able to detect a single, walking, average- sized adult at a range of 5 miles [8 km.] to 7.5 miles [12 km.] during day or night, while sending close to real-time video footage back to agents manning a command post."

Meanwhile, in December, Homeland Security awarded the Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems with another contract. This contract was for smartphones for first responders.

Copyright Brenda Norrell, Censored News

Also see in the news:

The Jerusalem Post: Elbit to build surveillance towers on Arizona's border with Mexico:

 http://www.jpost.com/International/Elbit-to-build-surveillance-towers-on-Arizonas-border-with-Mexico-344005

Reuters: Elbit Systems wins Homeland Security contract

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/02/us-elbitsystems-arizona-contract-idUSBREA2104K20140302

Previous articles at Censored News:

Tohono O'odham government approves 15th US spy tower on sovereign land, expands land for US Border Patrol
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2013/07/tohono-oodham-council-approves-15th-us.html
From the year 2012 at Censored News, Tohono O'odham government kept spy towers secret
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2012/10/tohono-oodham-government-kept-secret.html

Israeli company actually built Mojave desert solar project 

http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2014/02/israeli-company-actually-built-mojave.html

Narco News: Bill Conroy: Chapo's arrest for media consumption:

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/bill-conroy/2014/03/narco-villain-el-chapo-s-arrest-packaged-media-consumption#.UxLMeQCJgbA.facebook

UNE COMPAGNIE ISRAELIENNE OBTIENT UN ENORME CONTRAT POUR CONSTRUIRE UN SYSTEME DE SURVEILLANCE EN TERRITOIRE TOHONO O’ODHAM (FRONTIERE US/MEXIQUE)

On March 2, 2014, in Arizona: l'Autre Mur, by Chris P

Des espions Israéliens seront maintenant présents en territoire Tohono O’odham, suite au contrat avec les Etats-Unis

Israeli company actually built the Mojave mega solar project

Ivanpah Solar Project Mojave Desert

American success stories? Israeli corporations slip through media radar with mega US contracts: Mojave mega solar project and Arizona border Apartheid

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
Dutch translation NAIS

The Mojave Desert mega solar project, touted as an American success story, was actually built by an Israeli company, using $1.6 billion from a US loan guarantee. 

It seems to have slipped by the radar of mainstream media that BrightSource Energy is an Israeli company, now with an office in the US.

The big bash for the opening of Ivanpah Solar Electric Generation Project included President Obama touting it as an American success. Google's name was spelled out in the mirrors, and the grand opening included a rock band in the southern California desert.

Few, if any, of the media pointed out Ivanpah was built by an Israeli corporation. 

The Jewish Business News reports, "Built at a total cost of US $2.2 billion, and partly funded by the United States Government with a US $1.6 billion loan guarantee from the US Department of Energy, the project is now producing 392 megawatts of solar power – enough to provide a town of nearly 150,000 people with electricity."

The coup of $1.6 US dollars was celebrated in Israel, as reported by Israel 21c.

Still, while Israel celebrated the prize, the Obama administration cheered it as an American success story.

"The Ivanpah project is a shining example of how America is becoming a world leader in solar energy," U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said in a statement after attending a dedication ceremony at the site. "This project shows that building a clean-energy economy creates jobs, curbs greenhouse gas emissions and fosters American innovation."

The hoopla in the media also failed to point out the birds it will fry with intense heat. The Wall Street Journal called it a "$2.2 Billion Bird-Scorching Solar Project."

This isn't the first time that the US mainstream media has failed to report that Israeli companies were awarded huge US contracts, specifically contracts in the Southwest.

US spy tower on Tohono O'odham
land near Sells, Arizona
Photo Brenda Norrell

During the rush to profiteer from the border spy towers, and the xenophobia directed at migrants along the Arizona border, Boeing subcontracted Elbit Systems. 

Elbit Systems is a major Israeli defense contractor and responsible for the Palestine Apartheid Border wall and security. Boeing was awarded the integrated fixed towers contract and subcontracted to Elbit Systems.

Meanwhile, today the construction of new spy towers is underway on the Arizona border, with more US spy tower construction underway now on the western side of the sovereign Tohono O'odham Nation. The spy towers are pointed at O'odham homes.

After the flop of the first $1 billion boondoggle of 50 miles of Boeing spy towers on the Arizona border, Homeland Security is now set to release another contract for spy towers. The integrated fixed towers include surveillance equipment and sensors. Homeland Security said Boeing's $1 billion spy towers didn't work.

Elbit Systems drones, used to patrol the Palestine border, were also purchased by the US previously to patrol the US southern border. The US purchased Elbit's Hermes 450 UAV.

In related news of corporate profiteers, the head of GEO Group has been exposed as profiteering the most from the private prison industry.

The just released report from the Center for Media and Democracy says George Zoley is America’s highest paid corrections officer. Zoley is CEO of private prison giant GEO Group.

"To help Zoley rake in $22 million in compensation between 2008 and 2012, GEO Group writes language into private prison contracts that force taxpayers to keep prisons full or else pay for empty beds. GEO Group has faced hundreds of lawsuits over prisoner deaths, assaults, excessive force and more, which result in secret court settlements."


Earlier, in order to maximize their profiteering from misery, Wackenhut split into two groups, GEO Group, profiteering from private prisons, and Wackenhut Transportation, profiteering from the transportation of detained migrants on the border. 

Wackenhut buses are those that snake along the Arizona border transporting detained migrants. 

Wackenhut Transportation has a Homeland Security contract. Far from being an American-owned corporation, G4S is listed on the London and Copenhagen stock exchanges. G4S is being exposed globally for the abuse of prisoners.

Drones over Tohono O'odham land

Border drone at Fort Huachuca, Ariz. Photo by Border Patrol

The most censored in Indian country: Drones, spy towers and the militarization of Indian lands

 

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News copyright
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

The use of drones on the border, and the militarization of Tohono O’odham sovereign land, heads the list of the most censored issues in Indian country. Tohono O’odham activists who fight the militarization of their lands, and abuse by Border Patrol agents, are oppressed by the elected Tohono O’odham government, and targeted and abused by the US Border Patrol.

Among the most secret issues are spy towers and drones. Currently, Tohono O’odham are reporting drones in the skies, but very little is known about these drones.

Censored News continue extensive research into the secrecy and militarization at the border.

 

Researching Tohono O’odham and drones, the first surprise is to see that the elected Tohono O’odham government scheduled a special session of the legislative council for a tour of the drones at Libby Army Airfield at Sierra Vista, Ariz., on Jan. 31, 2011. The purpose was a tour of Customs and Border Protection’s unmanned aircraft systems, also known as UAVs or drones.

Sierra Vista is where the Army Intelligence Center at Fort Huachuca is located, and the site of protests over its role in torture at Abu Ghraib and production of the torture manual of the School of Americas. The manual was made public in 1996, after decades of torture and assassinations by US trained military in Central and South America.

Already in the past month, two secret plans have been exposed by Censored News involving the Border Patrol on Tohono O'odham land.

Currently, the Border Patrol is scouting three Tohono O’odham districts to construct new spy towers, after the billion dollar boondoggle of the last border spy towers that did not work. The Tohono O’odham government approved by resolution the Border Patrol’s current visits to the districts. The Border Patrol is targeting 14 sites for new US spy towers on tribal land.

Censored News also exposed the fact that the Border Patrol is planning a massive new complex on Tohono O’odham land, in Pisinemo District, with housing for 32 agents, helicopter launch pad, horses and dogs. Further, more O’odham land would be seized for a transmission corridor to the north. The plan was kept secret from the public until the draft environmental impact statement was discovered the same day that public comments closed in September.

Thirteen months ago, on Sept. 14, 2011, the Tohono O’odham Nation gave preliminary support for this massive Border Patrol complex, without telling the public, as revealed in another council resolution. The Tohono O’odham Nation also gave permission for the US military to be involved in construction of the complex.

When it comes to drones, few subjects are wrapped in so much secrecy.

Testimony before Congress revealed that the Border Patrol operates the Predator B drones fly, primarily at night, and patrols the US/Mexico border. This includes the stretch between Yuma and Nogales, Ariz. The Tohono O’odham Nation is located between the two cities, on their traditional O’odham homeland.

One of the few public statements about the use of drones on Tohono O’odham land is a disturbing one.

The University of Arizona entered into a joint agreement with the Tohono O’odham Nation, for a project that supposedly focused on range land management. The agreement allowed the University of Arizona to collect a large amount of information on Tohono O’odham archaeology, cultural sites and geography.

The three year project included the university’s Dr. Hermann F. Fasel, professor at the UA Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. Dr. Fasel headed the drone componenet of the project and the creation of a drone with a seven foot wingspan, supposedly for monitoring Tohono O’odham rangelands. The rangeland project also encouraged Tohono O'odham students to work for companies like Raytheon Missiles.

Equally disturbing is the fact that Dr. Fasel doesn’t just work for the university. Dr. Fasel is a military contractor who works with the US Air Force and private corporations, including Boeing.

In Tucson, at Davis Monthan Air Force base, soldiers operate the remote control killer drones that have been responsible for targeted assassinations and the killing of civilians in other countries. Meanwhile, Boeing received the contract for construction of the border wall in Arizona and the previous flopped spy towers. On Tohono O'odham land, Boeing was responsible for digging up the remains of O’odham on their land for the border vehicle barrier.

As for the drone maker, the rangeland project states Dr. Fasel is recognized for his pioneering research in Computational Aerodynamics and Fluid Dynamics.

“His research has been and is currently funded by Federal government agencies and private corporations.  Examples of these funding agencies include: the Department of Defense, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, NASA, Army Research Office, Office of Naval Research, Daimler Chrysler and the Boeing Company. Directly related to the proposed effort is his past development and flight testing of a UAV for the United States Air Force and this current participation in the development and flight testing of a long endurance UAV (also for the Air Force; in subcontract to The Boeing Company).  His UAV expertise will be crucial for developing and operating an UAV based system for on-demand aerial imaging for range land management,” the rangeland project states.

As previously reported by Censored News, the drone maker Advanced Ceramics entered into a joint venture with the Tohono O’odham’s San Xavier District, which borders Tucson. The business included the University of Arizona’s drone design program. Since that time, Advanced Ceramics has produced drones at a site on Tohono O’odham land close to the Tucson International Airport. The project, involving research for high temperatures and ceramics, was first accepted and then rejected by the Pascua Yaqui Nation, which considered the project too risky.

Tohono O’odham human rights activists continue to oppose the production of drones for the purposes of spying and targeted assassinations. Tohono O’odham say the violation of human rights, and taking of human life, violates the Him’daag, the sacred way of being.

 

Copyright Brenda Norrell/Censored News

brendanorrell@gmail.com

 Brenda Norrell has been a news reporter of American Indian news for 30 years. She began as a reporter for Navajo Times, during the 18 years she lived on the Navajo Nation, where she was also a stringer for AP and USA Today. After serving as a longtime reporter for Indian Country Today, she was repeatedly censored, then terminated by ICT, and began publishing Censored News, now in its seventh year.