Olympia WA: The campaign to free Bradley Manning
Olympia, Washington
Tuesday, February 7 – Noon
The Evergreen State College, Lecture Hall 3
Sponsored by SDS and the “Re-Interpreting Liberation” program
Bradley Manning, a 24-year-old Army intelligence analyst, faces life in prison for allegedly sharing the “Collateral Murder” video of a US helicopter attack that killed 11 civilians and wounded two children in Baghdad, Iraq with the WikiLeaks website. Bradley has also been charged with blowing the whistle on the “Iraq War Logs”, the “Afghan Diaries”, the “Gitmo Files”, and embarrassing US State Department cables. All of the documents released have added significantly to public knowledge of war crimes, civilian casualties, government corruption, and the over-classification of information. No one has been harmed and the information has helped fuel pro-democratic protests globally.
God knows what happens now. Hopefully worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms… I want people to see the truth… because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public.
–an online chat attributed to Bradley Manning
Bradley Manning Support Network campaign organizer Jeff Paterson will provide a multi-media presentation to include:
• An overview of US v. Bradley Manning
• His report from the Fort Meade courtroom where Bradley had his first court hearing after 18 months of pre-trial confinement
• Updates on the international grassroots campaign
• Introduction to the new Courage to Resist book, About Face: Military Resisters Turn Against War—from Army Lt. Ehren Watada to PFC Bradley Manning, and two dozen other stories. Published by PM Press, September 2011.
In August 1990, Marine artilleryman Corporal Jeff Paterson became the first of many US military personnel to refuse to fight in Iraq. Today, Jeff is the project director of Courage to Resist, an Oakland-based organization dedicated to supporting GI war resisters and conscientious objectors, and helps lead the campaign to support Bradley Manning.
“The campaign to free Bradley Manning” Pacific Northwest Jan/Feb 12 tour leaflet
If there can be “any justice at all” Bradley Manning should be commended for his courage to go up against “the system”:the ones on trial perhaps should be those in that helicopter gunship. What is the circumstance surrounding what appears to have been a war crime? Of course, the war itself was criminal, a violation of international law -weak as it is. I can understand the unfortunate circumstance where our soldiers have to go through a door- not knowing what is on the other side and split second action is required. BUT, it does not appear the victims of the helicopter gunship were hostiles. They seem to be defenseless. Did anyone else report a likely war crime? What action was taken if a report was made? These are the questions that need to be answered in a court of law. —Ken Howland—a Vietnam Era Medic—who realized early by 1964 that war was also wrong…Basically,the majority of people in any nation do not want foreigners with guns on their soil most especially when the innocent are slaughtered.