Click on the headline to link to the Private Bradley Manning Support Network for the latest information on his case and activities on his behalf .
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We of the international anti-war movement were not able to do much to affect the Bush- Obama Iraq war timetable or, as of now, the Afghanistan one, but we can save the one hero of that war, American soldier Private Bradley Manning. The Manning legal case, and Private Manning as an exceptionally brave individual, can and should serve to rally all those looking for a concrete way to express their anti-war outrage at the continuing atrocious American imperial war policies. The message below can serve as a continuing rationale for my (and your) support to this honorable whistleblower.
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The following are remarks that I have been focusing on of late to build support for Private Manning’s cause at stand-outs, marches and rallies.
Veterans for Peace proudly stands in solidarity with, and in defense of, Private Bradley Manning.
I stand in solidarity with the alleged actions of Private Bradley Manning in bringing to light, just a little light, some of the nefarious war-related doings of this government, under Bush and Obama. Those precious bits of information leaked to Wikileaks about American soldiers committing war atrocities in Iraq as chronicled in the tape known on YouTube as “Collateral Murder” and the Iraq and Afghan War Diaries. If he did such acts they are no crime. No crime at all in my eyes or in the eyes of the vast majority of people who know of the case and of its importance as an individual act of resistance to the unjust and barbaric American-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I sleep just a shade bit easier these days knowing that Private Manning may have exposed what we all knew, or should have known- the Iraq war and the Afghan war justifications rested on a flim-flam house of cards. American imperialism’s gun-toting flim-flam house of cards, but cards nevertheless.
I am standing in solidarity with Private Bradley Manning because I am outraged by the treatment meted out to Private Manning, presumably an innocent man, by a government who alleges itself to be some “beacon” of the civilized world. Bradley Manning has been held in solidarity at Quantico, other locales, and now at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas for over two years, and has been held without trial for longer, as the government and its military try to glue a case together. The military, and its henchmen in the Justice Department, have gotten more devious although not smarter since I was a soldier in their crosshairs over forty years ago.
Many of us have become somewhat inured to the constant cases of jackboot torturous behavior on the part of the American military in places like Guantanamo, Bagram and other national security hellhole black box locations against foreign nationals. We have also become inured, or at least no longer surprised, when American civilian citizens are subject to such actions, and more likely death. However, as recent allegations of pre-trial torturous conduct condoned by high military authority (see the allegations and motion to dismiss charged on the Bradley Manning Support Network website) by Private Manning’s civilian defense lawyer David Coombs make clear, those acts are not confined to foreign nationals and American civilian citizens. The torture of Private Manning, an American soldier, by the American government should give us all pause. And should have us shouting to the heavens for his release.
These are more than sufficient reasons to stand in solidarity with Private Manning and will be until the day this brave soldier is freed by his jailers. And I will continue to stand in proud solidarity with Private Manning until that great day.
I urge everyone to sign the petition calling on the American military to free Private Bradley Manning either here or on the Bradley Manning Support Network website. And if we cannot get Private Manning freed that way I urge everyone to begin a campaign in your area to call on President Barack Obama, or whoever is president while Private Manning is incarcerated, to pardon this brave soldier. The American president has the constitutional authority to grant pardons to the guilty and innocent, the convicted and those facing charges. I call on President Obama to pardon Private Manning now.
Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal of All U.S./Allied Troops And Mercenaries From Afghanistan! Hands Off Iran! Free Private Manning Now! President Obama Pardon Private Manning!
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Reports from protests at Obama campaign offices for Bradley nationwide
Obama must live up to campaign promises by freeing whistle-blower Bradley Manning, say protesters
Supporters march in San Francisco demanding Obama uphold his campaign promise to protect whistle-blowers.
By the Bradley Manning Support Network. September 7, 2012.
On the day of President Obama’s DNC nomination acceptance speech, protesters in 34 cities acoss the United States targeted local Obama campaign headquarters to demand the President free accused WikiLeaks whistle-blower and Nobel Peace Prize nominee PFC Bradley Manning. International supporters, in Australia and the U.K., also protested at U.S. embassies.
In each city, supporters delivered a letter to the campaign, outlining their demands. The letter called on President Obama to release Bradley Manning and account for the abusive treatment he endured in the Quantico Marine Brig.
Michael Thurman, of the Bradley Manning Support Network and Iraq Veterans Against the War said, “Bradley Manning showed great courage in risking his life to do what’s right, by exposing evidence of war crimes and corruption our own government had hidden from us. Now we’re waiting for Obama to show a little courage and make good on his promise to have ‘the most transparent government in history’ by freeing whistle-blower Bradley Manning.”
Austin, TX San Francisco San Francisco Tuscon, AZ
Washington, DC New York City New Hampshire Medford
Campaign staffers in some cities, such as Sacramento, Washington D.C., and Tucson, were receptive to the efforts, forwarding the letter and discussing Manning’s case with demonstrators. In San Francisco, a DNC delegate offered to submit a resolution to the national DNC on the activists’ behalf.
Elsewhere, staff members refused to engage. In New York, building security wouldn’t let Manning supporters visit the office. In Concord, NH, staffers locked the campaign office doors and closed the blinds.
Though he’s spent 837 days in prison, Bradley’s trial won’t begin until at least February 4. On November 27, defense lawyers will argue a pretrial motion to dismiss charges, based on his unlawful treatment at Quantico.
In the meantime, Manning supporters encourage more actions at Obama campaign offices nationwide, calling on the president to live up to his 2008 promise to protect whistle-blowers.
Actions where organized in the following cities: Anchorage, AK, Birmingham, AL, Tucson, AZ, Culver City, CA, Los Angeles, CA, Menlo Park, CA, San Francisco, CA, Sacramento, CA, Washington, DC, Orlando, FL, Tallahassee, FL, Honolulu, HI, Des Moines, IA, Chicago, IL, Boston, MA, Minneapolis, MN, St. Louis, MO, Charlotte, NC, Concord, NH, Albuquerque, NM, Santa Fe, NM, New York, NY, Syracuse, NY, Toledo, OH, Medford, OR, Portland, OR, Philadelphia, PA, Austin, TX, Dallas, TX, Roanoke, VA, Olympia, WA, Seattle, WA, Madison, WI, Milwaukee WI
See more photos from the actions here.
See the letter protesters mailed to Obama here,
Featured reports:
Report from NYC action. bradleymanning.org.
Report from Washington, DC action. bradleymanning.org
Reports from Toledo, Tallahase, Seattle and Boston. bradleymanning.org
”Protesters tell Obama to free Bradley Manning”. San Francisco Bay Guardian.
“Free Bradley Manning protest in Menlo Park”. indybay.org
“Protesters Occupy Obama Volunteer Center in Menlo Park”. patch.com
“Bradley Manning Demonstrations Planned for September 6″. The New American.
“DNC Dispatch: Occupy Movement Marches in Support of Bradley Manning“. The Dissenter.
“Free Whistleblower Bradley Manning Protest in New York City“. Demotix.com.
Video from Sacramento protest. Facebook.
”Protesters tell Obama to free Bradley Manning”. San Francisco Bay Guardian.
Photos from Washington D.C. Democratic National Headquarters Bradley Manning Action Sept 6,2012.
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