Wikileaks, Julian Assange, Bradley Manning, and Revolution Truth
Editors Note: If you haven’t seen Revolution Truth, check it out. It is an interesting project, designed to create dialog and support in the face of attacks against the above-mentioned whistleblowers. This is a commentary by one of the founders.
by Micaela Ward, revolutiontruth.org
Last July, when I saw the Collateral Murder video, taken from an Apache helicopter manned by US troops in Iraq, in which innocent journalists and Iraqi civilians were killed, clearly without cause, I was appalled but hardly surprised. In light of what we saw from Abu Ghraib, it was further proof that some members of our armed forces have no business wearing the uniform nor representing the many good people of the United States. It demonstrated, to horrifying effect, the psychology of warfare, particularly of a war without provocation, based on lies and corrupt corporate influences. Call me naive, but what did surprise me was the lack of appropriate response from our government and our military. This was when the veil came away from my eyes. No longer could I simply blame a villainous President or a Supreme Court who enthroned him in the White House against the will of a majority of the people. These obscene acts and the cowardly refusal to seek justice for those murdered innocents occurred on the watch of supposed leaders who I voted into office.
At the time, I knew little about WikiLeaks, and I was completely unaware of what else to expect from this seemingly shadowy organization. I knew one thing, however, and it was that we, the people, deserve and have every right to expect greater transparency from our government. Heinous crimes were being committed in our name, damaging our reputation in the world and answering that whingey question so often repeated: “Why do they hate us so?” I watched, with amusement, the media frenzy surrounding Julian Assange and his whereabouts, like a “Where’s Waldo?” puzzle, and I cheered him on each time he craftily eluded his pursuers. I paid attention, I learned what I could about WikiLeaks, and I waited for what might come next. I had read *Three Cups of Tea,* by Greg Mortenson, now required reading for all US troops entering Afghanistan, some months before, and I then read his latest book, *Stones Into Schools.* I learned that “Dr. Greg” and our military leaders in Afghanistan did not believe the Afghan War Logs were actually damaging or counterproductive to the safety of US troops, the Afghan people or “our interests,” contrary to most of the media hype. So why the manhunt for Julian Assange?
Then came Cablegate and death threats to Mr. Assange by American leaders and pundits. I could hardly believe my eyes and ears! Leaders in the Congress, the State Dept., the Dept of Defense and the Dept of Justice were speaking out of both sides of their mouths, on one side saying the release of US Embassy cables by WikiLeaks was not a serious threat and on the other calling for censorship and suppression of WikiLeaks and prosecution of Assange. US Citizens, from government employees to students who might ever even contemplate working for the government, were admonished to not view the cables or risk reprisals, in flagrant disregard of our Constitutional rights. What was going on in my country? More to the point, what has been going on behind the scenes in my country, and for how long? As the cables began to be slowly released, a few hundred at a time, we began to see exactly what has been going on. Deals made with corrupt dictators, turning a blind eye to and even complicity with human rights abuses, manipulation of world leaders and world citizens by a morally bankrupt US Government purporting to be the beacon of democracy and respect for human rights to the whole world. How could this be happening? What sort of depraved alternate universe are we living in? This was not the America I love. This democracy is an illusion.
As I searched for more information, I became aware of the case of Pfc Bradley Manning, the accused, alleged, WikiLeaks whistleblower. He was initially charged with military violations and crimes related to the leaking of the Collateral Murder video, then accused of leaking the US Embassy cables, without charges being brought until a mere few weeks ago (Mar 2011), and has been held in solitary confinement for these past ten months, in violation of his Constitutional right to due process. The conditions under which he is being held constitute torture, under international law and precedential common and US law, and my govt is perpetrating this crime against one of its own citizens, to our shame, and against a miltary service member, no less, more to its own shame. Apparently, our Whistleblower Protection Act is not worth the paper it is written upon. We are all Bradley Manning.
All of these events have evoked a quite visceral reaction within myself. The secrecy and hypocrisy we are seeing sicken me to my core. I became fearful for the future of my country, myself, my children, our world. I sought likeminded people with whom to discuss my views and grapple with the complexities of the issues involved. I felt powerless to effect any kind of change until I met Tangerine Bolen, who was putting together a small video project of global citizens reading an open letter to the US Govt in support of WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, which has evolved into Revolution Truth, and continues to evolve and grow. Now I find myself thrust into the role of a born again activist. I cannot stand by and watch helplessly as truth, freedom and democracy degenerate into the detritus of history. We citizens of planet Earth deserve a better world in which these ideals are upheld and given the space, nourishment and light in which to thrive. We will make our voices heard. We will be truthtellers and whistleblowers. We will shine the light of transparencey into the darkest shadows. It has begun; from Tunisia to Egypt to Libya to Iran to America and all over the world, people are waking up. To quote the brave Egyptian revolutionaries, “Fear has gone.” Our children and the future generations deserve no less.
“All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men {and women} to do nothing.” ~ Edmund Burke
I myself being a 17 year old living in Australia, have always known that the governments of the world are doing horrible things, which the media and public have turned a blind eye to. Though i never imagined it would be to this extent, i had no idea what WikiLeaks was till today. Now, i beleive it is my duty to help you (WikiLeaks) unravel the injustice secretcies of our world and the people in power within them. Power To The People . And Thank God For People Like Julian Assange & Bradley Manning. They Are The Future. Good Luck Julian .