Comments on: Manning Supporters Detained by Quantico

By: Steve Newcomb

Steve Newcomb — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 17:02:35 +0000

Which pundits and which politicians have taken a position on Manning’s treatment? I haven’t noticed anyone taking a position. Maybe they’re all on Fox News, which I rarely watch. It might be useful to make a little list, right here. If you see someone taking a position, make a note of the date and time, the communications channel, and what he/she said.

(I have often seen public figures speak as though the Guantanamo prisoners are guilty, which is denies them the presumption of innocence, but similar remarks about the Manning detention would take such misbehavior to a whole new level. BTW, Al, I think you understate the truth: the Oklahoma City Bomber was certainly treated more humanely than Bradley Manning is being treated.

What we’re seeing here is something that has been growing for many decades: the use of term “war” to excuse illegal behavior. The War on Drugs excuses, among many other things, the oppressive RICO Act, under which private property is unreasonably seized by government authorities without due process, on the theory that the property committed the crime, and property has no claim on due process. The War on Terror excuses the murder of myriad civilians in the middle east, the theory that persons detained abroad (as in Guantanamo or the CIA’s black site facilities) have no right to due process, Bradley Manning’s pretrial punishment, and the physical abuse of Ray McGovern by Hillary Clinton’s security people, and the unreasonable search of all electronic communications by the Bush and Obama administrations, among many other things.

But the central truth about our fascination with war is much worse than any of that. In the U.S., evidently *any* kind of war — even the war between Republicans and Democrats — excuses the high moral crimes of bearing false witness, election frauds, etc for which there never seems to be any accountability. We cannot hope to find our way if we keep blinding each other and/or sabotaging our policy-making processes. The saying “In war, truth is the first casualty” is at least 2500 years old, but we Americans have found a clever way to exploit that insight in the Information Age: “To kill the truth, have a war.” If there isn’t any war handy, just claim that there is one, and that everybody knows it. There will be one soon enough.

If truth is our friend, then war is our enemy. And that’s a fact!

By: Al Davis

Al Davis — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 02:34:45 +0000

The military justice system may actually suprise every one, it did me in 1968, but it could go the other way also.

Money will help this effort, but bringing attention to collateral murder every chance you can get, show it to everyone, will get what needs to be done.
Wikileaks is the only hope, Bradley Manning, a real patriot!
The talking heads/politician have all positioned themselves on this issue, we know who they are, use the information against them.
Show your grama the collateral murder, show your radical right friends!! They can;t deny the obvious! Tell them why Bradley is in prison instead of a Jay Leno talk show!

Bradley Manning is getting the treatment of the Oklahoma City bomber!

By: Ralph Rahm

Ralph Rahm — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 01:45:11 +0000

I am an honorably discharge US Air Force veteran. My dad was a WWII army combat vet. Military service was always an honorable tradition in my family. However, the reprehensable treatment of Bradley Manning is not in any way what our service stood for. To me, it seems primarily a case of embarassed and guilty government functionaries wreaking vengence on a “whistleblower” who had the courage to do the right thing. The more that they torment and try t break him, the stronger my resolve to support him.

By: Thomas O'Brien

Thomas O'Brien — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:56:11 +0000

The imprisonment of Private Manning is extremely bad. However I believe that Julian Assange does not even understand the scope and gravity of the information that he has received from the alleged leak from Private Manning.
It may be needless to write that the World Trade Center was attacked on September 11, 2001. I am certain that most reading, unless they’ve been comatose, are aware of this. What is not as apparent is that United States Government officials were aware of the impending attack months before it happened. The Diplomatic cables leaked, most likely, expose the evidence that high ranking officials of the United States Government were well aware of the impending attack. The same officials overtly chose to allow the attack upon the WTC to happen.
I believe that the political ramifications of the leak of the Diplomatic Cables can bring down the Government of the United States. This is the reason behind the mistreatment of Private Manning. The exposed War Crimes are just the tip of the iceberg.
The World Trade Center was not named by accident. It was the actual center of world trade before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In the basement of the WTC twin towers was Gold that belonged to scores of foreign nations. When transactions between foreign nations occurred, one foreign nation’s vault was opened, a specified amount of Gold was loaded upon a cart, then the vault was sealed, then the cart was physically rolled to another foreign nation’s vault, then that vault was opened, then the Gold was deposited into that nation’s vault, then that nation’s vault was sealed. Thus a physical transfer of Gold occurred between the two foreign nations involved in a particular trade.
For “some reason” some very powerful person, or some group of powerful people, in the United States, decided in July or August, 2001 that the Gold was no longer safe stored in the basement of the WTC. So an order for the physical transfer of Gold from the basement of the WTC to the basement of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was affected. Thus the transfer of the physical Gold occurred at some time in the middle of August, 2001 right up until the time of the attacks on September 11, 2001. There were numerous metric tons of Gold stored in the basement of the WTC. The transfer to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was a logistical nightmare at best. Everyone involved is under a legal “hush order”. No one will speak about it, or are allowed to speak about it, for fear of criminal prosecution. However I am not under any hush order. I was not involved in any of it.
Now I know about the transfer of the Gold because I knew that the Gold had been stored in the basement of the WTC through my readings of the National Geographic Magazine. I know from public statements that most of the Gold had been moved from the basement of the World Trade Center before the attacks occurred. Then Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, informed traders that the Gold was not destroyed and ”… had been moved to an undisclosed location”. He made this public statement after the attacks and before the financial markets reopened. So I am certain that it happened.
I believe that one (or more) country’s intelligence agencies informed the United States Government about the impending attack on the WTC well before it happened. I believe that those foreign officials did not wish to see their own country’s Gold vaporized as a direct result of the attack. I believe that the information to validate my hypothesis is within the leaked diplomatic cables. Thus the price of Gold did not spike, as I had expected that it would, as a result of the attacks.
I believe that is the most damaging information that Julian Assange has. That is the damage that the alleged acts of Private Manning might just unleash.
This does not justify the Unites States Government’s behavior in any way, sort or means. It is something that everyone needs to be aware of.

By: Bryce Anderson

Bryce Anderson — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 23:25:44 +0000

The USA is out of control… the government is NOT going to get away with trying to dominate the whole world.
The USA has to understand that they are a minority in more ways than one.

I am boycotting the USA, their products and I will NEVER visit the USA again until there are some MAJOR changes.

Grow up.

By: Dawn Cooke

Dawn Cooke — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 22:47:44 +0000

How sad. I will pray for you everyday, until you are released. Just talking about it here isn’t enough. Only 42,000 signatures on that petition. Isn’t there any news media organization brave enough to stand up and tell us the truth. We are as sheep being led to the slaughter. We must WAKE UP. before it’s too late. I can’t get to Quantico, but I will be there in spirit. My mother has been telling me all about this she gets so upset I worry about her. But now seeing it all for myself. I have to stand with her. We must all face the TRUTH. Before it’s too late. God bless us all. What will we do next?

By: FAY SMITH

FAY SMITH — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 09:54:09 +0000

I am appalled at the treatment of the US Government and all the facets of that Government at the cruel and unusual punishment of its (and other countries viz Australia) citizens. Surely sensory deprivation and its consequences is not perpetrated by a sane group of people whatever their job and whatever their nationality. At this point all things American are sufficient to make me feel uncomfortable.

By: josephine foreman

josephine foreman — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 14:52:40 +0000

hi, a 3/4 of an hour of tv program at 8:30pm on the national broadcaster in australia tonight has put Brad into the minds and hearts of many fair-minded people like myself. we will be watching NOW !!! more strength to you all

By: BRAUCKMANN Michael

BRAUCKMANN Michael — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 22:47:16 +0000

FREIHEIT für Brad Manning. Er ist ein Held.
FREEDOM for Brad manning. He is a hero.

Michael Brauckmann, Husum, Germany

By: Violet White

Violet White — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 17:30:54 +0000

STEVE NEWCOMBE –
I’m with you on this, Steve, and all right minded people of faith will be upholding Brad in their prayers, with immense gratitude for his faithfulness, for, truly, whatever he has or hasn’t done, to be this victimised has to mean he has offended what is evil.

And we surely have, too, a tremendous debt of gratitude to David House for standing on the front line here in the name of all us.

BLESS YOU BRAD, FROM CORNWALL and THANK YOU, DAVID – GODSPEED and MUCH LOVE xxxxxx