Bradley Manning and the Collateral Murder video, released 2 years ago today.

‘Inside a Military Court Hearing: How the Government Is Railroading Bradley Manning.’ Two civilian lawyers, Phil Fornaci and Jane Zara, who attended Bradley Manning’s hearings at Ft. Meade have written their observations and concluded that the government is breaching his rights in imprisoning him:

We are lawyers with significant experience in prisoners’ rights and criminal prosecution, but with minimal prior experience with military criminal procedure. We attended several days of the Manning hearings in an effort both to understand what was happening to him and to witness the proceedings in solidarity with Private Manning. The evidence we saw, and learned about, does not even justify keeping Private Manning in custody, much less convicting him at trial.

Fornaci and Zara conclude that if Bradley did what he’s accused of, “we must honor and support him as a true hero, but the first task is to defend his legal rights and his personal safety.” (Read more…)

Bradley’s case “should cause concern for every American.” Following the March 30 presentation in Ventura, CA, on the campaign to Free Bradley Manning, a supporter wrote about how the deprivation of Bradley’s basic rights is an affront to everyone, and thus he deserves our efforts to ensure that he isn’t locked away for life:

In case one believes that only Manning’s rights are at stake, think again. One of his supporters had his computer seized and searched without reason.

Some speculate the real target is Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks and that the treatment is designed to “break” Manning to get him to implicate Assange.

But it is our Bill of Rights that is the casualty. If Manning can be deprived of rights, so can anyone.

Convicting Bradley of “aiding the enemy” for blowing the whistle on war crimes, for exposing what belongs in the public sphere, would set a dangerous precedent that would silence whistle-blowers and dissidents for a generation. (Read more…) 

Political cartoon compares the treatment of Daniel Ellsberg and Bradley Manning. The contrast reveals the erosion of rights for whistle-blowers in the forty years separating the two.

Created by Malcolm Evans.

Song for PFC Bradley Manning: “Bradley’s Not Marching Anymore.” Listen to the new song, by jojoramona, right here.

"My name is Alan Stanley. I’m retired and live in Anza, California. I’m a veteran, and I worked in military intelligence doing work similar to Bradley. I support Bradley Manning because we deserve to know the truth about the crimes against humanity our government commits in our name. I’m union, a blogger, and I vote."

iam.bradleymanning.org