Chris Antal is the minister at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Rock Tavern, N.Y. He served five years as a military chaplain in the New York National Guard and in the U.S. Army Reserve, with one tour on active duty in Afghanistan (2012-13).
Chris Antal on U,S, Secret Drone killing policy
On April 12, Antal resigned his commission as an officer in the Army because of his conscientious objection to the United States’ drone policy.
In a letter addressed to Commander-in-Chief Barack Obama, Antal wrote, “The executive branch continues to claim the right to kill anyone, anywhere on Earth, at any time, for secret reasons, based on secret evidence, in a secret process, undertaken by unidentified officials. I refuse to support this policy of unaccountable killing.” In doing so, he joined other previous members of the armed forces who have addressed Obama to criticize his drone strike policy, including four former members of the Air Force who penned a letter in November of 2015 warning the president that the strikes “served as a recruitment tool similar to Guantanamo Bay.”
The legal scholar and former Obama administration official Rosa Brooks spoke about the so-called Global War on Terror, “We have the Executive Branch making a claim it has the right to kill anyone anywhere on earth at any time for secret reasons based on secret evidence in a secret process undertaken by unidentified officials.” In short, I do not know what mission I should be retrained to support – the very nature of that mission is secret. When I joined the Army, I did not swear an oath to defend secret and unaccountable killing. I took an oath to defend the Constitution – a set of laws that, I believe, this type of warfare significantly undermines. 2015-02-12 In drone warfare we ought not trust
2020-08-21 Webinar Series on Resilience: Moral Injury and Moral Distress
2016-07-26 I Refuse to Be an Empire Chaplain’
2016-06-12 Chris Antal, Former Army Chaplain Who Resigned Over Military Policy
2016-06-03 “I Refuse to Serve as an Empire Chaplain”: U.S. Army Minister Resigns over Drone Program (incudes disturbing drone war comments by Bernie Sanders)
2016-05-27 The Army Chaplain Who Quit Over ‘Unaccountable Killing’ of Obama’s Secretive Drone Program
2016-05-14 Chaplain resigns via letter to Obama, rips drone policy
2015-02-12 In drone warfare we ought not trust
2011-11-11 A Veteran’s Day Confession for America – Chris Antal Sermon A Veteran’s Day Confession for America
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Drone Activists
Drone Assassination Program
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