Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Veterans For Peace Stands With Bradley Manning!

May 30, 2013

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Mass Rally at Ft. Meade, Maryland, Saturday, June 1
Court Martial Begins on Monday, June 3

Military veterans are turning out in force to show support for PFC Bradley Manning this Saturday, June 1, 1 pm at Fort Meade, Maryland, on the eve of his historic court martial, which begins on Monday. The diminutive 25-year-old Manning, who has acknowledged giving classified Army documents to Wikileaks about U.S. conduct of the wars Iraq and Afghanistan, is facing the possibility of life in prison. In what many people see as “overkill,” the Army has charged him with “Aiding the Enemy,” the most serious of 22 charges.
Veterans For Peace is also organizing local marches and rallies on June 1, including in Seattle, Washington, (2 pm at Westlake Park, march to Victor Steinbreuck Park) and London, England (2 pm rally outside of US Embassy). See contact info for Seattle and London, below. Veterans For Peace and Iraq Veterans Against the War will also participate in International Days of Action, June 1-8, in over 100 cities around the U.S. and worldwide, to demonstrate widespread support for PFC Manning.
What Manning released through Wikileaks was evidence of the routine killing of civilians by US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the routine cover-up of these war crimes. The Iraq War Logs and the Afghan War Diaries also revealed that military and civilian leaders were lying to the U.S. people when they presented rosy assessments of the progress of those wars.
“Bradley Manning is a hero who wanted to aid the public, not a traitor who wanted to aid the enemy”said Gerry Condon, a spokesperson for Veterans For Peace. “It is a shame that our nation did not pay more attention to the information he shared with us three years ago. Many lives could have been saved - hundreds of Afghani civilians and hundreds of U.S. soldiers.”
PFC Manning has been held in prison for over three years, much of it in solitary confinement and under other abusive treatment, as documented by the United Nationsl Special Rapporteur on Torture.
The Army's court martial of Manning, which begins on Monday, is expected to continue throughout the summer, with the prosecution presenting over 100 government witnesses, many of them in secret testimony. Veterans For Peace will participate in a daily vigil outside the front gate of Fort Meade.
The Army's presecution of Bradley Manning coincides with the Obama Administration's crackdownon whistle-blowers and journalists alike. Over twice as many people are being prosecuted under the 1917 Espionage Act than in all previous administrations combined.
On Thursday, February 28, Bradley Manning detailed how he released classified military and government documents to Wikileaks, and he explained why he did so.
“I believed if the public, particularly the American public, could see this it could spark a debate on the military and our foreign policy in general as it applied to Iraq and Afghanistan. It might cause society to reconsider the need to engage in counter terrorism while ignoring the human situation of the people we engaged with every day.... I felt I accomplished something that would allow me to have a clear conscience.”
One of the most moving aspects of Manning’s testimony was his explanation as to why he released the so-called “Collateral Murder” video, which shows the gunning down in Baghdad of two Reuters journalists and bystanders by American soldiers in a US Apache helicopter. Manning described being deeply troubled by the video, especially the crew’s “lack of concern for human life” and lack of “concern for injured children at the scene.”
Veterans For Peace, an international organization with chapters in over 100 cities, demands that the US Army drop all charges against Bradley Manning and release him from prison immediately.
For more information or interviews with Veterans For Peace, please call
Gerry Condon, VFP Media Coordinator, 206-499-1220
Mike Reid, VFP Executive Director, 314-725-6005
Patrick McCann, VFP President, 240-271-2246
Dan Gilman, Seattle VFP, 206-499-0226 (2 pm rally in Seattle)
Ben Griffin, London, England VFP, 0044 7866 559 312 (2 pm rally in London)
or visit www.veteransforpeace.org and www.bradleymanning.org

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Why VFP Supports Bradley Manning?

More than three years ago, Bradley Manning courageously broke the silence and exposed US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ever since, corporate media and government agencies have been doing their best to cloak his heroism and suppress the existence of his ongoing trials.

On Monday June 3rd, we have the opportunity to stand up for Bradley. In his honor, we will make joyful noise -- blowing whistles, banging drums, and taking to the streets across the nation. Together, let's break the silence.

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Press Release Issued Yesterday: Veterans For Peace Stands With Bradley Manning!

Mass Rally at Ft. Meade, Maryland, Saturday, June 1
Court Martial Begins on Monday, June 3

Military veterans are turning out in force to show support for PFC Bradley Manning this Saturday, June 1, 1 pm at Fort Meade, Maryland, on the eve of his historic court martial, which begins on Monday. The diminutive 25-year-old Manning, who has acknowledged giving classified Army documents to Wikileaks about U.S. conduct of the wars Iraq and Afghanistan, is facing the possibility of life in prison. In what many people see as “overkill,” the Army has charged him with “Aiding the Enemy,” the most serious of 22 charges.<More>

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Why VFP Supports Bradley Manning?

Press Release Issued Yesterday: Veterans For Peace Stands With Bradley Manning!

Protests for Bradley Manning Around the Country

Reports on Protest & Resistance

As Bradley Manning's military trial finally begins, people gathered (and through this week are still gathering) in cities around the country and around the world to demand his freedom. See more at bradleymanning.org.

Fort Meade

More photos from Fort Meade.
Read Debra Sweet's blog post: Bradley Manning & Guantanamo: Resistance More Relevant Than Ever.

Seattle

Report by Emma Kaplan
Protesting for Bradley Manning in Seattle

Along the march, many people took the Collateral Murder flyer. It was a very lively march where people chanted “Free Bradley Manning” and “Blowing the Whistle On War Crimes Is Not A Crime.” When there were crowds of people listening, I would explain to people what we were doing at there, who Bradley Manning is and what we know about U.S. war crimes because of Bradley Manning.
I would go up to bystanders and ask them if they had heard about Bradley Manning and some people had but very few of them had seen the Collateral Murder video. I talked to groups of young people about Collateral Murder and how it exposed the U.S. military killing civilians in Iraq, including two Reuters journalists and how Bradley released the video because he wanted YOU to see it. People asked if Bradley was being detained at Guantanamo. I showed our Close Guantanamo ad in The New York Times and pointed out how we would not have some of the photos of these detainees if it wasn't for Bradley Manning. I told them that we are trying to publish into international media, including how we had been offered a discount to be published in The International Herald Tribune. Some people donated right on the spot. I collected about $40 this way and there were other people who said they would donate online.
One young woman mentioned how the military covers-up rapes in the military and how they punish women for reporting them. Another person mentioned the story that came out about an Air Force official videotaping women in the shower. One family who was at the market having ice cream with their kids was really listening intently to what I was telling them and then gave a donation. The dad asked if the CIA was going to come after him now that he gave us that money. I said, I hope not but one of our strengths is all of us coming together. Almost everyone I spoke with sincerely thanked me for letting them know about this. There were even some people who had come to the protest, including some occupiers, who had also had not seen the video. I met a man in the march who said that he saw our ad in The New York Times. He said that it seemed like Bradley was standing up for what is right and he felt like he had to be there to support him.
At the end there was a speak-out where people talked about what Bradley Manning meant to them, including an Iranian man who made the point that Bradley Manning is our guy if you care about people in Iran, Iraq and other places. Hart Viges of Iraq Veterans Against the War also spoke and received cheers from the crowd when he mentioned he was with Iraq Veterans Against the War. I had the pleasure of speaking with him at South Puget Sound Community College a couple weeks ago on the We Are Not Your Soldiers tour, and he gives very heartfelt personal testimony about what his experience was in Iraq and why he decides now to work to end the occupations. I did not get to catch all the speeches but people seemed very inspired by what Bradley has done.
I also met this really cool couple from a small local anti-war group who traveled from about 3 hours outside Seattle to be there. I really liked their t-shirts and signs. They were sharing about how they were disappointed with Obama and how things are developing in a fascist direction.

Hawai'i

World Can't Wait Hawai`i Represents in the Annual Honolulu Pride Parade

On June 1st almost two thousand people rallied to support Bradley Manning at Fort Meade, where Bradley’s trial is set to begin on Monday. At the same time rallies, signholdings and marches were held in cities around the world. For what happened at Fort Meade, see www.bradleymanning.org. Be sure to go to the photo-stream for pictures.
In Honolulu we showed our support for Bradley in a contingent in the Annual Pride Parade. Several thousand people participated in the parade itself, and thousands more lined Waikiki's Kalakaua Avenue to show their support for contingents organized by LGBTQ organizations, progressive churches, unions, and civil rights organizations. The mood was up-beat and celebratory coming off of recent victories for LGBTQ rights.
World Can’t Wait-Hawai`i has had a contingent in the Pride Parade for many years. Most years our contingent has focused on our opposition to war and torture, and has been warmly welcomed by parade organizers and many of its participants. This year our contingent was led by a big banner reading “Humanity and the Planet Come First” and was followed by two trucks – one decorated to show support for Bradley Manning and the other to Demand an end to Drone Warfare – along with marchers.
The first truck was decorated with big pictures of Bradley Manning, along with signs reading “Telling the Truth about War Crimes Is Not a Crime.” Drummers on board kept up a loud and energetic beat.
The second truck carried our awesome drone replica, signs reading “Stop the Killer Drones”, and a World Can’t Wait organizer who kept up a steady chant to the beat of the drums. For the entire three-mile route “Free, Free, Free Bradley Manning” and “Stop, Stop, Stop the Drones” echoed through the dense labyrinth of hotels.
All along the route people clapped, cheered, and gave us a shaka or thumbs-up. Some yelled their support for Bradley, others sat along the curb and clapped. A few made gestures showing their disagreement. A few ran up to the truck and asked who made the drone. It was notable that many of the tourists from Japan along the route seemed to immediately recognize Bradley and showed enthusiastic support for Bradley and opposition to the drones.
Thousands of spectators held up their cameras, cell phones and i-pads to take pictures, and photos of our contingent have already hit social media. That the International Day of Support for Bradley Manning happened to be on the same day as the Pride Parade in Hawai`i turned out to offer us an awesome opportunity to show our support for Bradley at this event and also reach thousands of international and mainland visitors as well as locals who come out to support LGBTQ rights! We may not be what was expected at a Pride Parade, but the response showed overwhelming support.
Protesting for Bradley Manning in Hawaii

Protesting for Bradley Manning in Hawaii

Chicago

Cindy Sheehan joined local protesters in Chicago Monday June 3, 2013, the day Bradley Manning's trial started. Cindy is biking across the country against war on her Tour de Peace.
Cindy Sheehan protesting for Bradley Manning in Chicago

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Close Guantanamo NOW Message More Relevant Than Ever

Protesting for Bradley Manning in Seattle, Emma Kaplan holds up a copy of the Close Guantanamo Now ad from The New York Times. Without Bradley Manning and Wikileaks, the faces of the Guantanamo detainees would not be available to us.

On Saturday, Day 115 of the prisoners’ hunger strike, we heard that the US had released a prisoner from Bagram, and two from Guantanamo back to their home country of Mauritania. We soon learned that only the prisoner in Bagram went home. Other than Omar Khadr (a child when he was captured and sent to GTMO), who was sent to Canada in 2012, no prisoners have been released since August of 2010. See Andy Worthington's stories of the Mauritanian prisoners, still waiting for justice.

It's Day 118 of the strike. Guantanamo is still open, no cleared prisoners have been released, and indefinite detention is the status quo under the Obama administration.

Our message Close Guantanamo NOW is more relevant than ever. It will appear in the July issue of The Progressive, and this week's edition of Revolution newspaper. We are seeking to publish it further internationally, and give blanket permission for any publication as long as worldcantwait.net is mentioned.

Fundraising progress

Please send your ideas, and your donations to make that possible.

US Government Begins 12 Week Military Trial of Bradley Manning
Read reports, view photos/videos from protests around the country.

Saturday, we gathered at Ft. Meade for the largest support action for Bradley Manning during the three+ years of his imprisonment before trial. I saw MANY subscribers to the World Can’t Wait e-newsletter list, donors to the recent New York Times “Close Guantanamo” ad, activists from years of opposition to U.S. wars, and younger people who have come forward mainly because they are inspired by the integrity and honesty of Bradley Manning.

Protesting for Bradley Manning at the gates of Ft. Meade

Bradley, at the center of the most important political trial of this century, is an extraordinary person, motivated (as we now know), by the wish to get people living in this country to see what the government is doing. The high stakes here described by Revolution Newspaper are:

“This system is out to inflict extreme punishment on Bradley Manning—to jail him for a long time, perhaps life, and to use this cruel punishment of a brave person as an example to anyone else who would dare expose the crimes of empire. The courage and resilience with which Manning has withstood years of solitary confinement and almost a year of torture are a testament to his strength.”

Emma Kaplan, in Free Bradley Manning: The World is Not the Enemy quotes Bradley in explaining how much he learned:

“I also recall that in early 2009 the then newly elected president, Barack Obama, stated he would close Joint Task Force Guantanamo, and that the facility compromised our standing over all, and diminished our, quote unquote, “moral authority.” After familiarizing myself with the DABs, I agreed….

“The more I became educated on the topic, it seemed that we found ourselves holding an increasing number of individuals indefinitely that we believed or knew to be innocent, low-level foot soldiers that did not have useful intelligence and would’ve been released if they were held in theatre.”

Attorney Michael Ratner, this morning on Democracy Now!, explained the breadth of the Espionage statute, where the government does not have to prove either intent to aid the enemy, or actual aiding of the enemy, to convict Bradley of six espionage charges (which carry the death penalty, although the government says it is “only” seeking life in prison for Bradley). Chillingly, the government, in its opening statement yesterday, referred frequently to Julian Assange and Wikileaks, likely targets of prosecution. Assange wrote Monday on the “Kafkaesque” nature of the trial:

“It is fair to call what is happening to Bradley Manning a “show trial.” Those invested in what is called the “US military justice system” feel obliged to defend what is going on, but the rest of us are free to describe this travesty for what it is. No serious commentator has any confidence in a benign outcome. The pretrial hearings have comprehensively eliminated any meaningful uncertainty, inflicting pre-emptive bans on every defense argument that had any chance of success.

“Bradley Manning may not give evidence as to his stated intent (exposing war crimes and their context), nor may he present any witness or document that shows that no harm resulted from his actions. Imagine you were put on trial for murder. In Bradley Manning’s court, you would be banned from showing that it was a matter of self-defence, because any argument or evidence as to intent is banned. You would not be able to show that the ’victim’ is, in fact, still alive, because that would be evidence as to the lack of harm.”

The New York Times, finally reporting on the trial, related part of the opening arguments from Bradley’s attorney, David Coombs, explaining how Bradley was motivated to leak evidence of U.S. war crimes:

“Mr. Coombs said Private Manning started sending files to WikiLeaks later, in January 2010, after a roadside bombing in Iraq on Dec. 24, 2009. Everyone in his unit celebrated, Mr. Coombs said, after learning that no American troops had been seriously hurt, and their happiness did not abate — except for Private Manning’s — when they learned that members of an innocent Iraqi family had been injured and killed. From that moment, Mr. Coombs contended, things started to change and he soon “started selecting information he believed the public should see, should hear” and sending them to WikiLeaks.”

Many people have ordered Collateral Murder from us.
YOU MUST have this DVD and show it to others.Get it now.

Download and print flyers about the Collateral Murder video.

See video and photos, and read reports from Ft. Meade, Seattle, Hawai’i, and Chicago:

WikiLeaks And ‘We Steal Secrets’-On Point Radio

June 4, 2013 at 10:00 AM

WikiLeaks And ‘We Steal Secrets’

Bradley Manning goes on trial. We look at the case and the new WikiLeaks documentary “We Steal Secrets” with director Alex Gibney.

Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, center, is escorted into a courthouse in Fort Meade, Md., Tuesday, June 4, 2013, before the second day of his court martial. Manning is charged with indirectly aiding the enemy by sending troves of classified material to WikiLeaks. He faces up to life in prison. (AP)

Private First Class Bradley Manning, on trial now at Fort Meade, Maryland. Court martial. There’s no debate about what he did – a massive download of classified US government data and reports and memos that lay American military and diplomatic secrets before the world. The trial now is really about why.
Military prosecutors say espionage and aiding the enemy. His defense attorney says he was out to make the world a better place. A new documentary looks at the whole story of Manning and Wiki-Leaks and Julian Assange.
This hour, On Point: “We Steal Secrets,” and director Alex Gibney.

- Tom Ashbrook

Guests

Julian Barnes, Pentagon reporter for the Wall Street Journal. (@julianbarnes)
Alex Gibney, director of “We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks.” (@baluebolivar)
J. William Leonard, served as classification czar (director of the Information Security Oversight Office) in the U.S. government from 2002-2008. Chief Operating Officer at National Endowment for Democracy. Professor of Political Science at St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

Trailer

From Tom’s Reading List

Washington Post: Bradley Manning Court-Martial Opens — “Opening the court-martial of Army Pfc. Bradley E. Manning, a military prosecutor charged Monday that he ‘harvested’ a massive trove of classified information from secure networks and made it available to America’s enemies by dumping it onto the Internet.”
The Boston Globe: The WikiLeaks story exposed, but not resolved — “Julian Assange: silver-haired freedom fighter or creepy cyber-guru? Bradley Manning: courageous whistle-blower or tormented info-traitor? Alex Gibney’s overlong but fascinating ‘We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks’ manages to convince you that both sides of the equation deserve consideration even as the film carefully separates the strands of a maddening snarl of event and accusation. This is the documentary that lets you grasp the 2010 WikiLeaks scandal in its entirety, even if the questions raised — whether facts belong to a government or its people, whether any secrets deserve to remain so, whether diplomacy is possible in a world where all is known — are left for us to resolve.”
WIRED: ‘I Can’t Believe What I’m Confessing to You’: The Wikileaks Chats –
“(1:41:12 PM) Bradley Manning: hi
(1:44:04 PM) Manning: how are you?
(1:47:01 PM) Manning: im an army intelligence analyst, deployed to eastern baghdad, pending discharge for “adjustment disorder” [. . .]
(1:56:24 PM) Manning: im sure you’re pretty busy…
(1:58:31 PM) Manning: if you had unprecedented access to classified networks 14 hours a day 7 days a week for 8+ months, what would you do?”

Sunday, June 2, 2013

June 1 rally was the largest demonstration of support for Bradley Manning yet

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Rally for Bradley Manning. June 1, 2013.

By the Bradley Manning Support Network. June 1, 2013.

Nearly two thousand people came out to Fort Meade today for a mass rally in support of Bradley Manning. The demonstration brought together a wonderfully diverse group of supporters, and cheers, chants, speakers and hundreds of smiling faces energized the group prior to one of the most important trials in American history. Several high-profile speakers (see below) discussed the significance of Bradley’s actions for America, and for the world. Ralliers marched from the Reece Road main gate to the Llewelyn gate, honoring the heroic whistleblower.

Some key issues discussed by the speakers included how Bradley Manning took great personal risk to reveal the truth of unjust wars, how he exposed the truth of Guantanamo prison, how the US has the highest number of prisoners in solitary confinement and about how solitary confinement is a means to break prisoners down, and how the chilling effect of Obama’s war on whistleblowers has made it difficult for those who witness war crimes to expose them.

Supporters came from all across the country and around the world, with some coming from as far as Mexico and Canada. A dozen buses brought activists from eight cities in the US.

The rally was held with the assistance of many national organizations including Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, CODEPINK Women for Peace, World Can’t Wait, Civilian-Soldier Alliance, and Courage to Resist. With their support this rally was the most significant mobilization of public support for Bradley Manning yet.

Complete list of speakers:

Kevin Zeese, Bradley Manning Support Network

Bob Meola, Bradley Manning Support Network

Gerry Condon, Bradley Manning Support Network

Jeff Paterson, Bradley Manning Support Network

Ward Reilly

Heather Linebaugh, Former Intelligence Analyst

Dooler, Queer activist

Debra Sweet, World Can’t Wait

Medea Benjamin, Nancy Mencias, Rooj from Codepink

Jonathan Uss

Farah Muhsin

Col. Ann Wright (ret.)

Jacob David George

Sarah Shourd

Lt. Dan Choi

Daniel Ellsberg

Out In The Be-Bop Night- With The Stones’ Back Street Girl In Mind

From The Pen Of Frank Jackman

James Sweeny, Esquire, Jim, had to laugh, had to laugh right out loud about hi situation, as he drove home to his condo from her place. Her place being a small condo, what in his student days around that same area were called studios and rightly so, at the high end of Beacon Street toward Brookline. More sweet time importantly her being Susie, Susan Downing his latest paramour, although she was not the butt of his laughter even if it did concern her. Or rather how he had become they entangled concerned. “Jesus,” he said to himself as he drove down Boston’s famous green-ward walkway Commonwealth Avenue, “she chews gum, chews gum, Wrigley’s incessantly , and loves, really loves, bowling. How did I get myself involved with her?”

Hell, he knew exactly why he had gotten involved, had in the process taken a step back to his growing up days, his tough as nails growing up days. Jim was just going back to his roots, going back to his lonesome corner boy Adamsville projects days that he had thought were long gone. Thought he had left behind when he left the dust and oddball chaos of that place with its long list of social and economic pathologies (and the very close call of a gangster life and the face of hard time ,hard time in a hard place that many of his corner boy boyhood friends , including his two brothers had faced). See Susie, although almost a decade younger than he, a twenty- something to use the term of generational art, had grown up in the Gloversville projects about twenty miles from his own projects childhood and so they both bore the stigmata. Both had grown up on the back streets, had faced the endless wants that the projects life entailed, had faced the eternal nos (“no, you can’t do this, no, we have no money for that, no, we can’t go here or there because your father is out of work, no, well, just say no and that will cover a multitude of sins.”) So some mystical social DNA, some ten thousand years of wants, of nos, of hunger and not just food hunger, had been at work, had played their attractions. All he knew was that the hours they spent together (even while damn bowling, candle pin not ten pin by the way, no way with those freaking big ball ) were the happiest he had had in a while and so he was going to play the hand fate had dealt out.

Jim could just imagine what his wife, uh, ex-wife Lillian would say if she knew of his latest tryst. She would, addicted to the sociology jargon that she had been trained in some years back, spout forth that he was just seeking his natural level, was just “going home” like Telly’s theory projected. (She had studied with the well-known big man in sociology of the time back when they met, Professor John Telly, the guy who invented Quantum Sociology, the idea that all social phenomena were subject to some world-historic laws just like nature and so unraveling the key to those trends was the proper study for human-kind.) That despite the fact that he had dragged himself kicking and screaming from the projects, had become a fairly successful lawyer working for a firm that gave him more work than he needed, and which provided more income, hell, more alimony and child support money, in a month than his poor half –literate father had been able to provide his whole life practically. Yes, he could just see Lillian with that self-satisfied smirk learned from her very comfortable childhood in New York City, in Manhattan, the center of the universe according to her. And she would probably add to that smirk the comment that in “dumping” him (her word) she also had reverted to her natural level- aided by those nice monthly checks.

And maybe there was something to it, although most of Lillian’s sociological observations tended to the more mundane, to the less worthy world-historic observations. Things like what some friend, some Manhattan center-of-the universe friend that she had had gravitated back to when she “dumped” him was wearing, what some child, some wayward monster or angelic child as the designation warranted, did or did not do, for or against their son Ronald in the class room, in the very expensive Hunter Shores School classroom, or stuff like that to while away her time (and squeeze into that Telly-etched universe).

All Jim knew was that he was drawn to Susie ever since that first time they met a charity cocktail party, the big Jimmy Fund benefit that was obligatory for all Boston law firms and their associated lawyers to attend to show they knew about the plight, the heart-rending plight of some sick kids where she had been given one of her boss’ tickets so she could attend (and so he did not have). As she pointed out later all in a day’s work for the boss’ dutiful administrative assistant, although from her later description of that job she was more of a glorified secretary than a flack-catching. He was drawn first to her smile, a smile that he thought she had thrown his way when he had stepped up to the bar and she was sitting there sipping some exotic drink (an exotic pina colada, exotic in any case against his corner boy Canadian Club low- shelf whiskey learned in cheap bars before he mad enough money to purchase high-grade stuff, but passed on as a vestige of that old projects way). Okay, okay he was drawn to her long legs, her nice figure, her bedroom blues eyes, her long blondish hair but right after that the smile. Later she said that she had not thrown that smile at him personally, but rather it was her professional smile for the occasion. He, they, laughed at that one. That was their beginning.

While at the bar he asked her who she was representing and other small chitchat. Nothing heavy just normal social banter until they got to growing up information. That is when she told him that she had grown up in the Gloversville projects. In response to that he had first hesitated to mention his own Adamsville project roots. He usually kept that part of his life well on the backburner (he had not told Lillian of his roots, the projects part, shuffling over it with a generic poor but proud working- class sheen for public consumption, until they had started living together some time later) . For some reason he decided to speak of it that night, maybe because he sensed she would be non-plussed by the whole thing. She brightened a little at that, a little that they had some sense of social roots but maybe too that they could avoid some pretenses. Or maybe just feeling a little more secure with kindred. She had said in response maybe they could move from the bar to a table and they could talk, compare notes about what that whole experience was like. He agreed.

At the table he mainly listened, a professional habit, to her story, a story that sounded all too familiar. Her father, a welder, had abandoned the family after the local shipyard that was the life-line to any thought of getting out from under closed down and moved to southern Europe and he had followed his trade. That left her mother and three young daughters stranded, stranded in the projects. Susie related that she had not been much of a student, had like hanging around boys better as she came of age. She, when she thought about it later, was looking for a protector, or something, but she said kind of blew with the wind.

Her first boyfriend was a king hell biker, “Dirty Dog”, who took her virtue (her word, her quaint Roman Catholic Church -edged word rather than a more graphic sexual word) when she was thirteen. He also introduced her to drugs, lots of drugs, at first weed, then cocaine, then H, the big fix, the biggest kick of them all, eventually wound up pimping her off as nothing but trade on the streets (while, as she found out, he was actually married and had been when he seduced her). That lasted, street tramp lasted, for a while until she couldn’t take it anymore, couldn’t take the guys, couldn’t take the occasional “cold turkey” when she was arrested, couldn’t take what she looked like then (as a junkie or while doing that cold turkey), got herself clean after developing a fair jones, and had been sober for a few years. She went back to school, finished up high school, went to a community college to get her administrative assistant training and landed a job with John Hancock. Sheepishly she mentioned that she had had a child (not with the biker) and had put it up for adoption. Later, once they trusted each other a little, she had told him she had also had a couple of abortions.

Her story got Jim to thinking about his own close call. His own corner boy existence and some of the stuff that he did including some midnight heists to get money, well, to get money to have money. That night, he, they, almost by osmosis decided to take a chance on each other. And so they had begun a very private affair. And that was the crux of his problem. Once he was hooked, hooked badly, on he wanted to stay with her. But he wasn’t sure how her gum chewing, her addiction to bowling (Jesus, bowling, and she beat him. beat him badly every time) and her remnant projects scars and off-beat (off-beat to the swells), manner would go in his world. All he knew was she made him laugh, made him feel okay around her, made him feel good about her simple ways of expressing things, made him glad that she didn’t Telly-ize everything . So, yah, he would play out that dealt hand and see where it led.

***From The Boston Bradley Manning Support Committee Archives (September 2012)

Draft press release

To:

From: Veterans for Peace

Re: Sept 6^th PFC Bradley Manning Support Rally at Obama Campaign Headquarters

Date: August 23, 2012

The Boston Smedley Butler Brigade and Samantha Chapter- Veterans for Peace, the Boston Bradley Manning Support Network , Somerville Manning Square Committee and other social activists and concerned citizens support the call by the National Bradley Manning Support Network and others (see below)to rally nationwide at local Obama headquarters on Thursday September 6, 2012, the day President Obama is scheduled accept the Democratic Party nomination of president, to call for freedom for alleged Wikileaks whistleblower, Army Private First Class Bradley Manning. We also will be calling on the president to use his constitutional authority to pardon Private Manning now.

The rally will take place at the Downtown Boston Obama Headquarters at 77 Summer Street (on the Downtown Crossing stop on the Red Line and Orange Line) starting at 2:00 PM

Call for action at Obama 2012 offices nationwide Sept. 6th during DNC

The Bradley Manning Support Network, Afghans For Peace and SF Bay Iraq Veterans Against the War Call for Nationwide Actions at local Obama Campaign Offices September 6th 2012 during the Democratic National Convention! Free Bradley Manning!

Since Army PFC Bradley Manning’s arrest in May 2010 for allegedly sharing the “Collateral Murder” video and other evidence of war crimes and government corruption with the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, progressives and human rights activists have been asking, “Why isn’t President Obama stepping in to help Bradley?”

After all, it was President Obama who in May 2011 declared with regards to protests in the Middle East,

“In the 21st Century, information is power; the truth cannot be hidden; and the legitimacy of governments will ultimately depend on active and informed citizens.”

On Thursday, August 16, US military veterans in Portland OR, Oakland CA, and Los Angeles CA, occupied Obama 2012 campaign offices and faxed a letter of demands to the Obama campaign’s central office. Those letters began:

As those who have spent years serving our country, we have faith that as Commander-in-Chief, President Obama will do the right thing in answering our request.

The letter went on to list the following demands:

That President Obama retract and apologize for remarks made in April 2011, in which he said Bradley Manning “broke the law.” Because President Obama is commander-in-chief, this constitutes unlawful command influence, violating Article 37 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), and prevents Bradley from receiving a fair trial.

That President Obama pardon the accused whistle-blower, taking into consideration his 800 days of pretrial confinement. UN torture chief Juan Mendez called Manning’s treatment “cruel and inhuman,” as it included nine months of solitary confinement at Quantico despite Brig psychiatrists recommending relaxed conditions.

The Bradley Manning Support Network maintains hope that justice will prevail and that President Obama can be the vehicle of change on this issue, but first he needs to hear loud and clear from veterans and civilians across the country that the American people want amends for the unlawful torture of Bradley Manning, and believe he should be freed.

Organizers of the August 16 West Coast actions are now urging others to join them in a nationwide effort to hold actions at many more local Obama campaign offices on September 6th, the day of candidate’s nomination acceptance speech. We want to share messages of support for Bradley with Obama campaign offices from coast to coast.

Please contact emma@bradleymanning.org for more information about attending and/or organizing an event.

Saturday, June 1, 2013

From Afghanistan: Thank you Bradley Manning

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By Kathy Kelly. May 31, 2013.

Afghan Peace Volunteers with a sign that thanks Bradley Manning (Photo credit: Hakim)

A few evenings ago, as the sky began to darken here in Kabul, Afghanistan, a small group of the Afghan Peace Volunteers, (APVs), gathered for an informal presentation about WikiLeaks, its chief editor Julian Assange, and its most prominent contributor, Bradley Manning. Basir Bita, a regular visitor to the APV household, began the evening’s discussion noting that June 1st will mark the beginning of Bradley Manning’s fourth year in prison. Two days later his trial will begin, a trial which could sadly result in his imprisonment for a life sentence. June 1st also begins an international week of support and solidarity, aimed at thanking Bradley Manning. #ThankManning!
Basir believes that the vast majority of Afghans are among myriads world-wide who have Manning to thank for information they will need in struggles for freedom, security, and peace. He wishes that more people would find the courage to stand up to military and government forces, especially their own, and act as “whistle-blowers.”
I often hear Afghan individuals and groups express longing for a far more democratic process than is allowed them in a country dominated by warlords, the U.S./NATO militaries, and their commanders. In the U.S., a lack of crucial information increasingly threatens democratic processes. How can people make informed choices if their leaders deliberately withhold crucial information from them? Manning’s disclosures have brought desperately needed light to the U.S. and to countries around the world, including struggling countries like Afghanistan.
Hakim, who mentors the Afghan Peace Volunteers, recalled that Bradley Manning passed on documents that record 91,730 “Significant Actions,” or “SIGACTS” undertaken here by the U.S. /ISAF forces, of which 75,000 were released by WikiLeaks.
These SIGACTS include attacks by drones, sometimes invisible drones, and night raids.
Our group turned to discussing the history of WikiLeaks, how it formed and how it now functions. Those most familiar with computers and internet explained the process of disclosing information by anonymously following a computerized route to a “dropbox.”
In fact, the Afghan Peace Volunteers themselves have been communicating with Julian Assange.
Last winter, Nobel peace laureate Mairead Maguire had stayed with them shortly before she traveled to London for a visit to Julian Assange. Through Mairead, they had sent Assange a letter of solidarity.
The APVs heard that Manning has been more isolated than Assange; they all shook their heads when Basir reminded them that Bradley Manning was initially in solitary confinement for eleven months.
Ghulamai thought through the ironic process of how governments designate some documents ‘secret,’ and how he would presume that the person who shares those secrets was a ‘criminal.’ But Ali said that governments chiefly hide ‘secrets’ from the public to maintain power. Hakim asked Abdulhai to imagine himself as the head of a government or of a large family. “If you are working for the good of the family or the state, would you need to do things secretly?” he asked.
“No,” Abdulhai replied. “If I have power, and I am truly working for the best interests of my people, I will not need to do things in secret.”
There was a keen conversation about who Bradley Manning was and what he did. Bradley Manning’s own words, which journalists had to actually smuggle out of his pre-trial hearing, described how Bradley’s mind had largely been made up by watching the secret video that he would come to release under the title “Collateral Murder:”
They dehumanized the individuals they were engaging and seemed to not value human life by referring to them as quote “dead bastards” unquote and congratulating each other on the ability to kill in large numbers. At one point in the video there’s an individual on the ground attempting to crawl to safety. The individual is seriously wounded. Instead of calling for medical attention to the location, one of the aerial weapons team crew members verbally asks for the wounded person to pick up a weapon so that he can have a reason to engage. For me, this seems similar to a child torturing ants with a magnifying glass.
While saddened by the aerial weapons team crew’s lack of concern about human life, I was disturbed by the response of the discovery of injured children at the scene. In the video, you can see that the bongo truck driving up to assist the wounded individual. In response the aerial weapons team crew– as soon as the individuals are a threat, they repeatedly request for authorization to fire on the bongo truck and once granted they engage the vehicle at least six times.
Together, the APVs watched the deeply disturbing “Collateral Damage” video itself. They were avid to learn what they could do to support and thank Bradley Manning. Yet they’re aware of the risks faced by people who organize public demonstrations in Afghanistan.
It’s far easier to stand up for Bradley where I live, back in the U.S. I hope many more of us will devote the time and energy we owe this young man for risking everything, as he did, to enlighten us and the world.
The Afghan Peace Volunteers are eager for ways to link with others worldwide to express thanks and concern for a remarkably brave and conscience-driven 25-year old man whose courage and whose light is so acutely needed in this darkening time. I’ve seen the fierce light of these young people and, knowing them, I’m certain that others will be seeing it too in the years ahead. Are we readying signals with which to answer them, are we preparing ways to show people like them, and like Julian Assange, and like Bradley Manning, that they are not alone?

From The Boston Bradley Manning Support Committee Archives (March 2012)

From The Pen Of Joshua Lawrence Breslin- The People Are War-Weary, Very War Weary Although There Is No End In Sight- Five-Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops From Afghanistan!-President Obama Pardon Private Bradley Manning!

Joshua Lawrence Breslin comment:

Recently my old back in the 1960s days friend, Peter Paul Markin, himself a war veteran, were comparing notes about the virtual “under the radar” place that American imperial war policies (there is no other name for it with over 1000 bases in the world and over 700 billion plus dollars eaten up by the war budget each year) has taken in this year’s presidential campaign. And, additionally, the almost total lack of organized public outcry about those policies, most notably the lingering death sore of Afghanistan. That despite the fact that some far-sighted, hell, even some jaded bourgeois commentators have placed the odds of civil war in that benighted country (I will not even dignify such a war lord and mercenaries run place as a state) after the alleged American troop draw down scheduled now for 2014 at two to one in favor of civil war. Even by the American government’s own self-serving estimates the forecast is almost as grim. I ask; what gives? Where are the mass rallies against the beast?

The reason for Peter Paul and me comparing notes on this subject was simple enough. Between the two of us we have attended over the past several months in various capacities a whole series of parades and marches only one of which I will mention more on later that was specifically a peace parade. I will describe our purpose in using those settings as a way to bring the anti-war message home below. However right now I can state that we have come to agree, without a doubt, there is a vast war-weariness that if not organized in a public way runs pretty deep just under the surface among the plebeian masses of this country.

For those who do not know, Peter Paul, over the past decade going back before the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003 has attempted to move might and main along with his fellow Veterans For Peace (VFP)to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (and lately to urge no war with Iran) to no avail. I, although not a veteran, have attempted in various journalistic endeavors and on the streets to make those same basic points to no avail as well. Those “no avails” though have never stopped us from continuing to push the rock up the mountain when the cause is righteous. And the struggle against these particular wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is righteous and has brought us closer together of late. That has not always been the case, as Peter Paul tends to take a harder anti-capitalist look at the wars as systematic of the need to bring down the whole damn American house of cards and I more from a more anti-imperialist perspective of just trying to hold the American military monster in check. We united on one idea earlier this year and that was the need to continue to get the anti-war message out to the general public. By any means necessary.

That is where the parades idea came in play, although we claim no originally for the idea, none at all. The parades notion actually kind of hit us in the face as a way to bring any kind of peace message to the folks whom we do not normally run into in our rarified big city radical circles. Of course the original focus started out last year in 2011 with Peter Paul’s chapter of Veterans for Peace in Boston, the aptly named Smedley Butler Brigade (“war is a racket”), attempts to march in the “official” South Boston Allied War Council’s Saint Patrick’s Day Parade. Without going into all the particulars of the denial of permission for VFP to march (involving reams of material from a 1995 U.S. Supreme Court decision permitting such exclusions for “private” parades) that organization was shut out of the official parade. Needless to say these resourceful vets (mainly long in the tooth Vietnam era vets who cut their teeth on such symbolic actions) just created their own peace parade to follow the official parade to let those who came to South Boston know there was another voice to be heard from on the questions of war and peace.

That parade in 2011 is where a first tentative recognition of war-weariness came in. Now for those not familiar with South Boston (“Southie”) this is, or was, according to Peter Paul, the last bastion of Irish-centered working class pro-war (or at least don’t question war policy) sentiment left in the world ( a little hyperbole from him, but I am used to it). His family roots stem from that community and I will defer to his analysis (although I would argue that my own hometown, Olde Saco up in Maine filled with grateful immigrant French-Canadians and old time Down East Yankees, would give his Irish a run for his money on unquestioning patriotic sentiment). Expecting the worst all were surprised by the positive reception in Southie.

This spring when we marched (yes, I marched with Peter Paul and his VFP brethren like in olden VVAW times) the response by those same plebeian masses was even more cordial to say the least. Not in the “down with the war, slay the dragon, down with the war budget, take care of things at home” sense that we have “preached” to high heaven about in this space, and others but in the tap of the fingers to the head salute, the ubiquitous throwing up of peace signs, the response when we called for troops out, and enough is enough, as we passed by. Salutes of the VFP flag by hoary old war veterans decked out in their military attire just put icing on the cake. And that is how the Breslin-Markin antiwar “spring offensive” (with, ah, a little help from VFP and others obviously) took off.

A Dorchester Day Parade just south of Southie in one of the more ethnically diverse Irish/Vietnamese/Latino/ Brazilian you name it neighborhoods of Boston (although neighborhoods like Southie that have provided more than their fair share of troops to America’s imperial adventures) produced an even more cordial response. Here some even took up our chants from the sidewalks, shook hands, and offered vocal support as we passed by. Ditto at several Memorial Day services in the area where there was much gnashing of teeth by those who have lost loved ones in the last decade’s wars (and over the post-service stresses that are only now coming to light in huge streams). More recently parades in affluence Rockport and working- class Portsmouth, New Hampshire have only confirmed the cordiality, openness to anti-war messages, and the war weariness. That last one, Portsmouth, by the way, held in a town that depends (read: would not survive) substantially for its local economy on naval appropriations for the huge shipyard there.

So the disconnect between American governmental war policy and the genuine war-weariness of the masses is real enough. But real enough as well, despite the openly expressed sentiments, is any sense of one being able to do anything about it other than patiently waiting for withdrawal due dates. And that is where my simple suggestion comes in.

I, as well as other honest and knowledgeable anti-warriors, have recognized that we did not have any serious effect on Bush-Obama war doctrine in Iraq and have had precious little thus far in Afghanistan. There is one place, and one thing that we can do to turn that around right now. Call on President Obama, who has the built-n executive constitutional power to do so, to pardon Private Bradley Manning now being held in pre-trail detention in Fort Leavenworth Kansas pending charges that could amount to a life sentence for the young soldier. For the forgetful Private Manning allegedly passed sensitive information about U.S. atrocities against civilians and other cover-ups in Iraq and Afghanistan to Wikileaks who then passed it on to a candid world. Thus Private Manning is the “poster person” for opposition to all that has failed, all that is wrong, all that was (and is )atrocious, and all that was (and is) criminal in Bush-Obama war policy. So raise the cry with us-Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops From Afghanistan! President Obama Pardon Private Manning!