Press release: Defense Fund Established to Fight Imprisonment of Accused WikiLeaks Whistleblower
Bradley Manning Support Network
bradleymanning.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact
Jeff Paterson, Media Relations
press [at] bradleymanning [dot] org
+1 (202) 640-4388
Defense Fund Established to Fight Imprisonment of Accused WikiLeaks Whistleblower
Washington D.C., July 27, 2010 – At 4PM EST on July 27, the Bradley Manning Support Network (bradleymanning.org) will begin accepting online donations for the legal defense of Private First Class Bradley Manning.
The Network, a grassroots initiative formed to defend and support accused whistleblower Pfc. Bradley Manning, has partnered with Courage to Resist, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting military objectors.
Manning, a 22 year old intelligence analyst stationed in Iraq, stands accused of disclosing a classified video depicting American troops shooting civilians from an Apache helicopter in 2007. Eleven adults are killed in the video, including two Reuters employees, and two children critically injured. The video, available at www.collateralmurder.com, was published by WikiLeaks on April 5, 2010. No charges have been filed against the soldiers in the video.
Bradley Manning faces up to 52 years in prison if convicted of the charges against him.
While news sources have speculated about Manning’s involvement in a new leak of over 90,000 secret documents (collectively known as the Afghanistan “war logs”) made public by WikiLeaks on Sunday, no charges regarding this recent breach have been filed.
As of this writing, Manning has not yet chosen a civilian attorney to defend him in the expected trial. While several news sources had previously indicated that funding for Manning’s legal counsel was already arranged, the Bradley Manning Support Network states that there is an immediate need for donations to his legal defense.
Legal defense in this case will be particularly expensive because any legal team will most likely need a background in military law and the flexibility to travel overseas for the trial as well as secret security clearance.
“We have heard from the family and the military lawyers assigned to Bradley that the cost of his defense will be significant,” said Mike Gogulski, an online activist and founder of the Bradley Manning Support Network. “We are also concerned that Bradley may choose his legal counsel based on his available funds. If he fears his family will absorb the cost of the trial, he might choose a less experienced, less expensive attorney. We’re very concerned about the ramifications of such a decision.”
The Bradley Manning Support Network passed a resolution on July 12, 2010 to begin fundraising for Manning’s defense. At this time, the Network estimates between $50,000 and $200,000 in legal fees and expenses will be needed to mount a vigorous defense on behalf of Manning. They have also indicated that WikiLeaks, who published and promoted the Collateral Murder video, has promised a significant donation to Manning’s defense.
“If Manning is the source of the video, then he did what he had to do to expose a possible war crime. So regardless, he’s wrongly imprisoned and we want to do everything possible to support him,” said Jeff Paterson, Project Director of Courage to Resist. “I know from past experience working with military objectors that public support and the right civilian defense team can be the difference between an administrative separation and years in the stockade.”
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@ TOM
” could lead to the deaths of countless American and coalition Soldiers.” COULD. WHen you can prove the link – let us know. Right now, he has PROVEN they put US in danger with their behaviour over there. No wonder kids there dream of blowing up America… I don’t approve, Im just not surprised.
Yeah, DreamHost, who sponsors this site AND Draw A Muhammed day, are Islamic extremists =facepalm=
I hope more info will be leaked. Common guys, lets put the Pope and Bush in jail!
These actions themselves put other soldiers in jeopardy. The people in Iraq & Afghanastan know the things the US is doing. The only ones who don’t are the American people until now. Thanks Bradley!!
@Illusioned1: To clarify, DreamHost does not “sponsor” this site, but merely hosts it for me as a paying client.
Damm… sorry :-/ I meant, the domain is hosted through them. I am not sure what “as a paying client” means though…
It is absolutely shocking to see US soldiers with no sense of humanity and appears to be nothing but cold blooded killers. How can we say ‘God bless America’ when America is capable of committing such evil deeds.
I don’t see where there was anything so damaging to lives of US soldiers. Just like during the Viet Nam war…there were many candid photos of the war…I want to know how our troops are treating the Iraqi people. Why should that be hidden…I heard a video of soldiers laughing while they shot an ambulance trying to pick up injured people. This media silence of the war is not for security…it seems to be a mask over the activities taking place…smile
I am a navy brat…. I believe in our country and what our country is doing for us…. I was shocked to see this…. My father was killed in 86 at great lakes navel base…. To see something like this brings back how there is such little reguard for life… And how much hate there is in some people…. I feel sorry for the families of the men killed….. America didn’t do this, people (with hate in there hearts)did this…..
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EC Boy: Really? is it really that chocking? i mean. everyone know what took place in vietnam, 6 MILLION vietnameise people killed. do you think all of them was soildiers? Anyway, welcome to the real world. and congratilations to you “awakening”
Victors write history unless and until their treacheries and treason finally see the light of day by authenticated documentation that truly stands the test of time, as in theory. It is the power of belief and intestinal fortitude (moral courage) of maintaining that information against the PTB which truly overturns the haste of fabrication coupled with the once unattainable suppression of exculpatory evidence which compels researchers and scholars to admit their misdiagnosis which further erodes the position of governments, dynasty’s and empires. “Give me liberty or give me death” is but one example. The “round earth believers” is but another. Pearl Harbor and 911 truths stoke the fires of belief that governments are inherently evil led by evil men for evil purposes. Those of us who stand against the false prophecies of dictators and fascists are the balance of truth which cannot be refuted. Since we are here for but a short time our positions on truth and against tyranny guide us and give strength and momentum to those who follow.
In this day and age, the Internet provides truth seekers with the opportunity to blast ideas across and around the planet with insatiable speed and volume, much to the angst of so called “world leaders”.
The exposure of some 90,000 secret documents baring the truth about the conduct of the war in Afghanistan is yet another tool for truth. Governments and dictatorships have fallen over much less. Now that CIA has admitted falsifying the so called ‘bin Laden tapes’, the primary “justification” for the preemptive attack on Afghanistan lies mute and focuses on what are truly war crimes, Crimes Against Peace and Crimes Against Humanity. The erroneous assertion of the presence of Weapons of Mass Destruction ‘theory’ also crumbles thereby adding the same war crimes to the preemptive attack on Iraq. All of this takes us back to those who are responsible for the Mass Murder carried out on 911 by those evil men running evil governments for evil purposes. That is truly undeniable.
Bests,
John McCarthy
Los Angeles, CA 90066
http://johnmccarthy90066.tripod.com/id48.html
http://johnmccarthy90066.tripod.com/id1.html
[email protected]
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I hope his defense lawyers could make the judges understood that avoiding more killings on innocent people and its consequent hatreds substantially increase the safety, but not dangers of American people and their soldiers, and Manning’s disclosure is apparently an attempt to this direction. The speakers of the govs doesn’t seem to understand this logic or they don’t really care the safeties. I hope the court do. Good lucks.
This young Brave Soldier is the type of person I want representing us in any War or Conflict we could ever be involved in. He has both Courage, and Humanity, which gives him the ability to know right from wrong. This WAR that we have been dragged into by a Maniac on a mission for oil, and family Shame, has been hidden from the American people for far to long. I am Greateful to Bradley Manning for his recognition of the need to get this out to the viewing public. Without this type of Bravery who knows how long this War will go on. It’s going to take allot more Brave people to get the proof out to STOP this Crime Against Humanity.
Bradley Manning needs his day in court, and every American needs to hear why he took his (alledged) actions.
Good luck manning,you are in the rigt place.
From spain
You are a real hero
I don’t have any money today but will contribute on my next payday. Thanks for setting this up. Support the Troops!
We must not forget him and his valued service. If he is declared guilty, and I will not be surprised, we must keep up the fight for his release, until he is released.
We should also stop using the term “WE” when we speak of the crimes of the government. The government wants us to think in those terms. If we hate it, then we start hating America, the people, and the culture and are seen as unpatriotic. If we want to love the country, the people and the culture, then we must support the government. Instead we must highlight the difference between the government and the people.
Saddam Hussein and many tyrants used the tactic of having their cronies take part in executions to share in their guilt. The American government has not needed to do that. Every time we say we invaded, we bombed, we destroyed, or we killed, we are psychologically allying ourselves to the government. I did not do any of those things. The American Federal Government is the enemy and we need to start thinking in terms of us against and them.
Bradley Manning is a hero for sure. He is currently a prisoner of conscience. I am thoroughly inspired by his courage…exactly like the courage of the Winter Soldiers, see http://www.IVAW.org. I wonder if Amnesty International has picked up this case, yet?
Free Bradley Manning Free Bradley Manning Free Bradley Manning Free Bradley Manning Free Bradley Manning Free Bradley Manning Free Bradley Manning Free Bradley ManningFree Bradley Manning Free Bradley Manning Free Bradley Manning Free Bradley ManningFree Bradley Manning Free Bradley Manning Free Bradley Manning Free Bradley ManningFree Bradley Manning Free Bradley Manning Free Bradley Manning Free Bradley ManningFree Bradley Manning Free Bradley Manning Free Bradley Manning Free Bradley ManningFree Bradley Manning Free Bradley Manning Free Bradley Manning Free Bradley Manning
copy and paste this to everyone you know.
Free Bradley Manning!
Really looking for the USA becoming Democrazy!
Greetings from “good old europe”.
the only people who care about the docs leaks enough to kill this guy is the americans. They are very upset that their belligerence keeps getting thrown in the spotlight. No follow up comments meatheads, your the uneducated sheep that fuel this war machine
ROBERT GATES – SEC. OF DEFENSE ALSO LEAKS JUST LIKE BRADLEY MANNING/WIKILEAKS
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/03/world/03pentagon.html
The memo by Mr. Gates, a former C.I.A. director, also demanded greater adherence to secrecy standards, issuing a stern warning against the release of classified information: “Leaking of classified information is against the law, cannot be tolerated and will, when proven, lead to the prosecution of those found to be engaged in such activity.”
A copy of the unclassified memo by Mr. Gates was provided to The New York Times by an official who was not authorized to release it. Douglas B. Wilson, the new assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, and Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, verified its content.
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KARL EIKENBERRY LEAKS JUST LIKE BRADLEY MANNING/WIKILEAKS
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e7523906-7eef-11df-8398-00144feabdc0.html
http://documents.nytimes.com/eikenberry-s-memos-on-the-strategy-in-afghanistan
Meanwhile, Mr Eikenberry’s doubts about US strategy and its reliance on Hamid Karzai, Afghan president, were aired in a leaked memo that left Gen McChrystal feeling, in his own words, “betrayed”.
But it is Gen McChrystal who has been most at odds with his colleagues – as is seen by the swipes by him and his aides in this week’s Rolling Stone article against everyone from Joe Biden, US vice-president, to Senator John McCain.
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FORMER GENERAL MCCHRYSTAL LEAKS LIKE BRADLEY MANNING/WIKILEAKS
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e7523906-7eef-11df-8398-00144feabdc0.html
His position was particularly exposed, precisely because Mr Obama’s strategy, unveiled at a speech at West Point military academy, was ultimately so influenced by the plans Gen McChrystal drew up, which had been leaked in an apparent – and seemingly successful – effort to put pressure on the administration.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-carmichael/memo-to-obama-dismiss-mcc_b_310578.html
In his new command, General McChrystal assumed responsibility for a military plan for Afghanistan. In late August, General McChrystal submitted his 66-page confidential report to your Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates. Three weeks later, General McChrystal’s confidential report leaked to The Washington Post in what some have described as the most egregious leakage of national security documents since the Pentagon Papers.
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We didn’t vote for or elect any of the above individuals but they all engage/engaged in leaking documents to achieve their own political/institutional agendas.
Why is Bradley Manning in trouble if the leadership has failed to demonstrate any adequate judgement relating to confidential documents.
At least we got the beef with the Afghan War Logs…
The military leadership has lost all discipline and the lack of discipline is stirring up the infantry.
Why doesn’t MSM criticize the receivers of the above mentioned leaks?
Where were those operational/safety concerns of our soldiers? Where were those concerns about our relationships with allies and enemies?
Thank you, Mr. Manning.
Is Bradley manning actually using civilian council now? Last I heard he was only using his JAGs.
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Wow, finally a real hero… This man is doing nothing more than being a true american soldier. The DOD needs to be held directly accountable for the act of not only those soldier but for the act of covering it up. This man was put in prison by the military and locked away so he cant voice his side. This man is bring war crimes to our attention while the government once again is telling us lies…
WHY ISN’T WIKILEAKS PAYING 100% FOR BRADLEY MANNINGS DEFENSE?
This is an outrage. At first I truly believed in Wikileaks but now I’m convinced that Wikileaks are nothing but souless exploiting bastards with a media whore complex. They hyped the Collateral Video and the 90,000 documents so now that they have garnered the fame through this poor US soldier why aren’t they paying 100% for his defense? They are responsible for this poor guy being in jail.
Have anyone of you really read the Wikileaks site? Have you noticed that it’s directly targeting the US government and not any other corrupt governments? US and Americans are an easy target and since we have freedom of speech we are most likely to criticize our government which is what a democracy should be able to do hence US is an easy target. Wikileaks could easily get dirt because we aired it out for them. I would like to see Julian Ass. expose Chinese corrupt government officials or top secret videos in China or go to Saudi Arabia and really cause some much needed havoc where individuals get their hands cut off for stealing (just so that they can eat) and basically have no human rights whatsoever. What about the murdered Russian journalists by the Russian government? What about Berlusconi’s “gag law” in Italy?
If you really want to make a difference then seriously research Wikileaks and ask yourself as well as Wikileaks what is their motivation/agenda and decide if they are really being sincere and have America’s best interest at heart.
America is on a course of self destruction. We are making enemies all over the world. We must get off the oil diet and develop alternate means to supply ourselves, with energy. The technology is there. Bradley manning is a hero,we need to rally behind him. He has shown the mad dogs that are in charge of our country,they are money elitist with no regard for the common man.Perhaps we can avoid the coming wars and death if we withdraw from our insane foreign policies.
Many of our elected leaders are bought out,or,are part of the elite.
Those who claim Manning has put lives at risk need to give their evidence, rather than stating a vacuous opinion.
Bush put millions of lives at risk by hurriedly invading Iraq when there was no reason to do so (“Secrets and Lies” by Dilip Hiro). Saddam even volunteered to go into exile, but Bush was determined to invade no matter what the cost to the civilian population. 70% of Americans supported Bush. The former president put more lives at risk by willfully ignoring the Geneva Conventions and other international laws designed to protect civilians, prisoners of war, civilian infrastructure, and hospitals.
Other international laws were broken which put lives at risk when the U.S. sold off Iraqi state assets and hundreds of firms, removed tariff barriers and flooded the country with foreign (including U.S) goods, creating mass unemployment. The subsequent poverty stoked the insurgency, as helping the insurgency was rewarded with money – well, it beat starving to death!:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/nov/07/usa.iraq1
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2004/09/0080197
Twenty years earlier in 1991, shortly after the first Gulf War, Iraqis rose up against Saddam, and had a good chance of toppling him. Bush Senior responded by giving Saddam permission to fly his military helicopters and quell the rebellion in blood. Why did Bush do this? Because America didn’t want Iraqis taking control of their own country – it would have created too much uncertainty. Bush Senior and Wolfowitz don’t deny any of what I’ve stated – it’s on the record! So, Saddam was kept in power, and the U.S. imposed brutal economic sanctions that Madeleine Albright admitted on “60 minutes” killed over 500,000 Iraqi children.
I could go on and on, and then turn to Afghanistan, and go on and on.
The point is, those attacking Bradley don’t care about human life – not even babies and children – they care about their mindless loyalty to their group, and distort the facts to suit their own selfish agenda. They never cared about foreign lives before, so why do they care about a supposed handful at risk now?
Such individuals have NO credibility.
Mde maupin:
If YOU had actually read the Wilkileaks site, you would see there is info on China, African countries etc…they are equal opportunity…just the Western World has more whistleblowers.
Why are you disseminating? Do you think your uninformed opinion trying to use a primary source gives you legitimacy? FAIL. Some of us actually have followed Wikileaks for a long while. Ya know, get off this page and go back to Faux news trolling where you belong.
yeah yeah Mde Maupin, that’s called a red herring argument where you say “but look at what THEY are doing.” I’m sure they’d be happy to post info on say China’s internet censorship(LOL for those in the know) opefully this leak will attract more leaks…of all kinds, which has ALWAYS been their M.O.
Hope that flag you’re wearing maupin, covers the shame of your gov’t killing innocents, etc.
James, I concurr 100% on your comment re Bradley.
With respect to what legal action the government/military may decide on Bradley Manning, we cannot ignore the fact that top secret Pentagon Papers (which actually originated at CIA but the New York Times would not print them with that information so the Pentagon was substituted) were released without any legal action taken against Daniel Ellsberg who was subject to criminal trial and imprisonment because of the top secret security clearance he then maintained. So we have precedence in such matters.
See The Secret Team–The CIA And It’s Allies In Control Of The United States And The World. http://www.ratical.com/ratville/JFK/ST/
http://johnmccarthy90066.tripod.com/id48.html
http://johnmccarthy90066.tripod.com/id1.html
Related articles are located in the left column of each and every page.
Bests,
John McCarthy
[email protected]
@john mccarthy, there is always a group of people happy to condemn others for partisan reasons. They never make any effort to find out the facts because – usually! – they don’t care about the facts. On the odd occasion when they are right, it’s down to the laws of probability rather than to their diligent efforts at digging up the truth.
Thanks for the links. I will have a look at them.
I wrote: “What I’d like to know is how Manning got to know Lamo, the hacker who turned him in. How did he end up talking to Lamo over the Internet? Was Manning a former hacker?”
I forgot that all-important word, “allegedly”. The military have to prove that the alleged Internet conversation took place and WAS between Lamo and Manning.
truth can not understand how Bradley Manning imprison me what iso was correct. gracis Bradley