This week on Q & A, our guest is author and co-founder of CODEPINK, Medea Benjamin. She discusses her new book, Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control, and explains why she believes the use of military drones should be stopped. She talks about what motivated her in her early years to become an activist for peace, and provides insight into CODEPINK s origins and motivations. She discusses many of her disruptions of congressional hearings and public appearances, and talks about the experience of spending time in a jail cell overnight. She reflects on her early days of activism and recalls how the Vietnam War inspired her first protest. She shares stories from her visits to pre-war Iraq, including an encounter with a border guard in Iraq who was studying Hebrew. She responds to accusations by critics that she is anti-American by saying she would describe herself as a passionate American. She reveals many of the tactics her group employs in organizing demonstrations, and talks about the varied receptions her outbreaks receive from committee chairmen. Medea Benjamin got a B.S. in political science in 1973 from Tufts University. She earned her M.A. in public health from Columbia University in 1975 and an M.A. in economics in 1977 from the New School in New York. She co-founded Global Exchange in 1988 and in 2000 ran as the Green Party Candidate for the U.S. Senate in California. In 2002, she co-founded Code Pink: Women for Peace. She is the author and editor of several books. Her first book Bridging the Global Gap: A Handbook to Linking Citizens of the First and Third Worlds, was published in 1989.
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