Second anniversary of the Afghan war diaries. Take action July 25th!
On July 25th, swap your profile picture for this image, or use the Twibbon application to automatically add “Free Bradley” to your existing profile picture on Facebook and Twitter.
On July 25th update your Facebook and Twitter profile pictures with a message to “Free Bradley Manning”.
By the Bradley Manning Support Network. July 22, 2012.
This Wednesday, July 25, marks the two-year anniversary of the release of “The Afghan War Diary.” This collection of military documents stands in stark contrast to the government’s public statements on the war in Afghanistan — a war characterized by overwhelming civilian casualties and a culture of secrecy far exceeding what’s needed to protect U.S. troops. Even though the Bush and Obama Administrations maintained publicly that there was no official count of civilian casualties, the Afghan War Diary and related documents expose this claim as false.
Meanwhile, none have paid a price for these revelations more than Pfc. Bradley Manning, the 24-year old soldier accused of making documents public through the popular whistle-blower website, WikiLeaks.
Forced to endure torturous conditions described for the first year of captivity, Manning now approaches 800 days in brig, despite military code ensuring his right to a speedy trial. Despite the government’s own admission that there was no substantive damage, Manning faces life in prison for allegedly sharing information about a controversial war the American public is asked to co-sign, politically, financially, and morally.
Accountability and transparency are the hallmarks of a democratic society—qualities that transcend partisanship or divisive notions of right and left, liberal and conservative. The American public deserved access to this information from the get go, and Bradley Manning should be freed without charges immediately as a whistle-blower whose trial has been rife with procedural, legal and human rights violations.
Make a statement with thousands of others across the globe on July 25:
If you think the public has a right to know what is being done in their name…
1. Add a “Free Bradley” message to your existing Facebook and Twitter profile pictures simply and easily. Twibbon can add this automatically. Try it, or use the photo above!
2. On Wednesday, July 25,spread the word by posting, tweeting or forwarding a link to one of the articles below that discuss the truths contained in these crucial reports! (Or link another article you find particularly important!)
Read more about what these leaks revealed below, and on bradleymanning.org. Share this page widely, and if you can, try to have a conversation with your friends, coworkers, and family on this historic anniversary.
MORE ABOUT THE AFGHAN WAR DIARY AND ASSOCIATED LEAKS
This collection of some 90,000 (all classified as “secret” or lower) military documents dated 2004-2009 illustrates a grim picture of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. Standing in stark contrast to the government’s public statements, the reality of war as documented here is characterized by overwhelming civilian casualties, doubts about allies in the region, and a culture of secrecy far exceeding what’s needed to protect U.S. troops.
The chief editors of three of the world’s most respected newspapers (Der Spiegel, New York Times, Guardian) were “unanimous in their belief that there is a justified public interest in the material.” Meanwhile, the U.S. government has since sought to persecute the perceived sources of the leak, despite finding no substantive damage or harm was caused by the release of the information.
While WikiLeaks raised the ire of U.S. officials by publishing The Afghan War Diary, few have paid a price for the leak quite like Pfc. Bradley Manning, the 24-year old soldier accused of passing the select documents to the popular whistle-blower website.
Forced to endure torturous conditions described as “cruel and inhumane” (UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Mendez) for the first year of captivity, Manning now approaches 800 days in brig, despite military code ensuring his right to a speedy trial. He faces life in prison for allegedly sharing information about a controversial war the American public is asked to co-sign, politically, financially, and morally.
Even though the Bush and Obama Administrations maintained publicly that there was no official count of civilian casualties, the Iraq and Afghanistan War Logs showed that this claim was false. Between 2004 and 2009, the U.S. government counted a total of 109,000 deaths in Iraq, with 66,081 classified as non-combatants. This means two innocent men, women or children murdered for every single death classified as an enemy combatant. Sadly, the portrait offered in the Afghan War Diary is not much better.
Read more about the truths revealed in these and related leaks below and visit bradleymanning.org to find out how YOU can help demand justice for Bradley and accountability from our leaders!
READ MORE
The Guardian
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/
New York Times
(http://www.nytimes.com/
New York Times on civilian casualties
(http://www.nytimes.com/2010/
(http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2010/7/28/wikileaks_afghan_war_diary)
(http://firedoglake.com/tag/civilian-casualties/page/3/)
(http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/07/wikileaks-afghan/)
The persecution of Bradley Manning by the U.S. Government will long be remembered as a travesty against the values of freedom and dignity that many soldiers and sailors, myself included, fought to uphold. Bradley Manning is a Joan of Arc of the modern age.
Let’s Redouble Our Efforts To Save Private Bradley Manning-Make Every Town Square In America (And The World) A Bradley Manning Square From Boston To Berkeley to Berlin-Join Us In Fields Corner (Corner Dorchester Ave And Adams Street), Dorchester -Beginning Tuesday July 24th From 4:00-5:00 PM
http://www.standwithbrad.org/
Click on the headline to link to the Private Bradley Manning Petition website page.
Markin comment:
The Private Bradley Manning case is headed toward a late fall/early winter trial. Those of us who support his cause should redouble our efforts to secure his freedom. For the past several months there has been a weekly stand-out in Greater Boston across from the Davis Square Redline MBTA stop (renamed Bradley Manning Square for the vigil’s duration) in Somerville on Friday afternoons but we have now changed the time from 4:00-5:00 PM on Wednesdays. This stand-out has, to say the least, been very sparsely attended. We need to build it up with more supporters present. Please join us when you can. Or better yet if you can’t join us start a Support Bradley Manning weekly vigil in some location in your town whether it is in the Boston area, Berkeley or Berlin. And please sign the petition for his release. I have placed links to the Manning Network and Manning Square website below.
News has reached me that some of the folks at the Dorchester People for Peace (DPP) are starting a stand-out for Private Manning beginning on Tuesday July 24, 2012 at 4:00 PM at the corner of Dorchester Avenue and Adams Street (the Veterans Triangle) in Fields Corner. Please join them.
Bradley Manning Support Network
http://bradleymanning.org/
Somerville Manning Square website
http://freemanz.com/2012/01/20/somerville_paper_photo-bradmanningsquare/bradleymanningsquare-2011_01_13/
The following are remarks that I have been focusing on of late to build support for Bradley Manning’s cause.
Veterans for Peace proudly stands in solidarity with, and defense of, Private Bradley Manning.
We of the anti-war movement were not able to do much to affect the Bush- Obama Iraq War timetable but we can save the one hero of that war, Bradley Manning.
I stand in solidarity with the alleged actions of Private Bradley Manning in bringing to light, just a little light, some of the nefarious war-related doings of this government, under Bush and Obama. If he did such acts they are no crime. No crime at all in my eyes or in the eyes of the vast majority of people who know of the case and of its importance as an individual act of resistance to the unjust and barbaric American-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I sleep just a shade bit easier these days knowing that Private Manning may have exposed what we all knew, or should have known- the Iraq war and the Afghan war justifications rested on a house of cards. American imperialism’s gun-toting house of cards, but cards nevertheless.
I am standing in solidarity with Private Bradley Manning because I am outraged by the treatment meted out to Private Manning, presumably an innocent man, by a government who alleges itself to be some “beacon” of the civilized world. Bradley Manning had been held in solidarity at Quantico and other locales for over two years, and has been held without trial for longer, as the government and its military try to glue a case together. The military, and its henchmen in the Justice Department, have gotten more devious although not smarter since I was a soldier in their crosshairs over forty years ago.
These are more than sufficient reasons to stand in solidarity with Private Manning and will be until the day he is freed by his jailers. And I will continue to stand in proud solidarity with Private Manning until that great day.
Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal of All U.S./Allied Troops And Mercenaries From Afghanistan! Hands Off Iran! Free Private Manning Now!
The truth shall prevail.
Upholders face the tedious task so do their kith and kin. But generations to come would bow to such a singular stance to seek truth,which has deprived so many their loved ones.
The Standard of Emancipation is now unfurled…..
I will not equivocate
I will not excuse,
I will not retreat a single inch:
And I will be heard,
Posterity will bear testimony that I was right.
William Lloyd Garrison
Unjust laws exist as do unjust wars and unjust military actions. FREE BRADLEY MANNING.
Bradley is a national hero and deserves to be released–with a medal for bravery.
How about a petition to remind POTUS that if he does not free Bradley Manning, he will lose hundreds of
thousands of votes in November? (That seems to be
his big concern right now.)
Bradley Manning is the Hero of our Era. He exemplifies why I served in the US army. His prosecution (actually persecution) is a measure of the degeneration of our once-upstanding government.
This is a modern day witch burning. I am ashamed of Obama for encouraging ‘whistle blowers’ and then standing by, as Chief, and letting this happen. Change, indeed. FOR THE WORSE. Obama’s spoken opinion on the matter was that Manning was guilty – before being tried. We treat our foreign prisoners better than we treat our own citizens; they in return chop off our soldiers and journalists heads. That is harm. Oh he disobeyed military rules, off with his head. Why is the military allowed the absence of guilt when they have been proven many times in the past to commit atrocities. Does the judge have to have 3/4 of the world condemning Manning’s imprisonment and sham trial instead of just HALF THE WORLD? It’s an embarrassing and telling chapter in American history. I hope it gives pause to other brave men and women who think joining the militarism empire is a glorious career.
What it is but a Kangaroo court!
Bradley Manning is a Brave Soul. In the deepest of systems that denies you the freedom of thought and action this Brave Soldier worked through heart and God so that man may be redeemed. Since the future is hard to predict (ie Statistics DON’T work), he has put forth no plans forth on anyone’s future efforts, put no one at risk and is, what I consider, above and beyond the call of duty of an American Soldier. Thank you Bradley! Blessings to you!
There are not as many people standing up as I would like to see I was in the 60′s where the numbers were there and they had an influence. Bradley Manning stands for all Americans. This travestry in the American system needs to be dealt with. It cannot really be removed as its influence alreday has an impact on the country.