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The Yes Men Denounce War in Hoax at European Parliament

HeadlineJan 13, 2016

The culture jamming prankster group The Yes Men has struck again. On Tuesday, in the European Parliament in Brussels, a so-called defense and security consultant calling himself “Archibald Schumpeter” delivered a presentation about how drone killings, mass surveillance and military action fail to address terrorism.

“Archibald Schumpeter”: “Unfortunately, responses that we’ve seen so far have not been very intelligent. In fact, it’s been pretty much stupid all the time. As far as terrorism is concerned, France’s attacks are like fighting fire with gasoline. It’s guaranteed to generate more terrorists, just as the U.S. attacks on Iraq have. For war to work against terrorists, you would have to kill everyone in the country, and as we know, that’s just not possible.”

The presenter was actually Andy Bichlbaum of The Yes Men. After dismissing attempts to address terrorism through military action, he presented an “industrial” solution—an “ENDURAsphere,” he said would allow citizens to shelter inside a “fully-defended orb” to withstand any terrorist attack. A person inside an “ENDURAsphere” costume appeared in the Parliament as he described the invention. Bichlbaum says the prank was aimed at “highlighting that there really is no solution to terrorism within the defense and security paradigm.”

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