Update 9/19/13: Manning’s leaks: Syria’s Chemical Weapon trove was no secret to Obama

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Manning’s leaks: Syria’s Chemical Weapon trove was no secret to Obama:

President Obama made a deal with Russia to convince Syria to hand over its chemical weapons and give up the program altogether. This may have saved lives from being killed by U.S. strikes if they were executed, but the U.S. administration had the opportunity to prevent the chemical attack in Syria long before the civil war erupted. In documents leaked by Pvt. Chelsea Manning and published by WikiLeaks, the Obama administration was well aware of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s possession of ingredients for such weapons, as mentioned in a recent article in the NYTimes:

“Soon after Mr. Obama came to office, newly installed officials grew increasingly alarmed by the ease with which Mr. Assad was using a network of front companies to import the precursors needed to make VX and sarin, deadly chemical poisons that are internationally banned . . .”

The Obama administration could have made an extra effort to stop the importing of chemical weapons and avoided a massacre in Syria. Thanks to Chelsea Manning, the world is now more aware of the U.S. priorities in world politics.
To read the full article, click here.
Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange: our new heroes
Slovenian philosopher and cultural critic Slavoj Zizek considers Edward Snowden, Pvt. Chelsea Manning, and Julian Assange our modern-day heroes.

He writes in the Guardian:

“Assange, Manning, Snowden, these are our new heroes, exemplary cases of the new ethics that befits our era of digitalised control. They are no longer just whistleblowers who denounce the illegal practices of private companies to the public authorities; they denounce these public authorities themselves when they engage in ‘private use of reason’.”

To read the full article, click here.

Artist’s Enormous Pixelated Portrait of Chelsea Manning Will Debut at DUMBO Arts Festival

Artist Kyle Goen’s Pvt. Chelsea Manning piece will be showcased at the DUMBO Arts Festival in Brooklyn, New York. Titled “Who’s Chelsea Manning?” the massive, 26-by-70-foot work will consist of 1,600 translucent, red-tinted flags — the number referencing the White House’s address, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue — creating a portrait of Manning when viewed from a distance. The art piece will span Water Street between Main and Washington streets in Brooklyn.

To read full article and details on the festival, please click here.