Grassroots Campaign for Accused WikiLeaks Whistleblower Activates International Support From September 16-19, supporters of Bradley Manning held public rallies and vigils for the accused WikiLeaks whistleblower, currently imprisoned in Quantico.  Events were held in twenty-one cities in the United States, Canada and Australia in response to a call for action sent by the Bradley Manning [...]

On September 19, 2010, over 5 dozen San Diegans rallied in solidarity with Pfc. Bradley Manning. They called on the US government to release Manning and decried the evidence of war crimes perpetrated by US armed soldiers depicted in the logs and videos released by WikiLeaks. Protesters affirmed that, if Bradley Manning is the source of the leaks, he deserves the gratitude of the entire world and should be heralded as a hero for his sacrifice. The protesters included a wide range of groups including labor activists, queer rights activists, legal scholars, anti-war activists and veterans. On the day after the rally, San Diego staged a public showing of the Collateral Murder video.

On September 16-19, 2010, protesters in twenty-one locations rallied on behalf of accused WikiLeaks whistleblower Bradley Manning. Supporters taking part in the International Days of Action held demonstrations in Canada, the United States and Australia demanding Manning’s release. Legal scholars, peace activists and free information advocates decried the actions of US soldiers documented in Collateral [...]

To call Collateral Murder, or The Afghan War Diary, a leak is an immediate invective of language. The government, the mass media, they call these things leaks, as though they are the slow, steady trickle of information tumbling without direction onto the American landscape. They would have us believe that leaks are the meaningless detritus sloughed off by a well oiled war machine. Evidence of murder doesn’t drip calmly from the battlefield. It has to be spirited away from enemy lines, gripped hard and hurled in the air, let to burn over the heads of the misinformed. In the fight for this countries conscience Collateral Murder is a flash grenade. It’s a bright, hot blast that for an instant breaks the darkness of war. It shakes us. It frightens us. But it gives us vision.

by Marjorie Cohn, Professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law

Army Pfc. Bradley Manning is accused of leaking military secrets to the public. This week, his supporters are holding rallies in 21 cities, seeking Manning’s release from military custody. Manning is in the brig for allegedly disclosing a classified video depicting U.S. troops shooting civilians from an Apache helicopter in Iraq in July 2007. The video, available at www.collateralmurder.com, was published by WikiLeaks on April 5, 2010. Manning faces 52 years in prison. No charges have been filed against the soldiers in the video.

In fact, the actions depicted in “Collateral Murder” contain evidence of three violations of the laws of war set forth in the Geneva Conventions, which amount to war crimes.

James Cerveny contacted us early on, as we were getting the Bradley Manning campaign up and running. A man of many talents, he consulted with us on some legal issues as well as contributing articles here and getting letters to the editor published. Now he displays another one of those many talents, in song: “Free [...]

by Jeff Paterson Dear Supporters of Bradley Manning, Leading into our International Days of Action, here are some updates on Bradley’s legal case we can share. From Bradley’s civilian attorney, David E. Coombs: “I spoke with PFC Bradley Manning today.  I let him know that so far the defense has received $10,000 from Courage to [...]

You’ll notice that the page, with over 10,300 supporters, is rather quiet. That’s because the Bradley Manning Support Network’s administrative rights to the page have been revoked due to a “violation of the terms of service.”

We have not violated the terms of service. We are currently unable to post information or links on the page. Other users (non-admins) can post to the wall, but the administrators of the page cannot.

We have sent a letter of appeal to Facebook instructing them to reinstate our publishing privileges immediately. As of this writing, we have gotten no response. We have not even received information on how to appeal this restriction.

With just days to go before our International Days of Action, this could not happen at a worse time.

Supporters who aren’t near one of the 19 cities hosting events for our International Days of Action have been contacting us asking: what can we do? Should I book a flight to, say, Quantico?

Don’t worry, supporters – you can still be part of the International Days of Action in support of alleged whistleblower and ethical human being Bradley Manning. You can do it from your own hometowns!

WHAT YOU NEED:

* Markers
* Poster board
* Digital camera (or good camera phone)

All you have to do is make an awesome sign supporting Bradley Manning and get your picture taken.

As Israel and the US ready themselves to attack Iran — endangering the world with an insane escalation of hostilities in the Persian Gulf — the relevance of the issues for which Bradley Manning has become an icon are acutely intensified. Soldiers who try to raise issues of war crimes in the field with their superiors are systematically and sometimes brutally silenced, while those who cannot remain silent by the nature of their conscience are persecuted severely if discovered.