PROTEST 12 noon at US Supreme
Court
Washington DC
Inauguration Day. World Can't Wait is helping
to plan a day of dramatic protest against U.S. drone war and indefinite
detention on the day Obama is inaugurated. Plan on being in DC 10-4 near the
White House, details to come.
We are hearing good things from many of you as
you contribute to the year-end goal of $27,000 to fund the World Can't Wait
national office, 4 websites, phones, mailings, and stipend for our director.
We're at 30% of our goal, with 3+ weeks to go. Please be a part of this
collective conscience in action!
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Tuesday, we gave you a sense
of how much World Can't Wait is appreciated for our role in sticking to
principle, and supporting others who do. Today, I want to shout-out to some
of the many who show courage and fortitude in the effort to show the rest of
the world that there are people living in this country who don't go along with
the program of war and repression. I'm concentrating today on people who expose
and resist U.S. wars, drone strikes, and indefinite detention.
 First, and in a class by himself, is Bradley
Manning:
Brad Manning finally got to speak publicly last week in
military court, which significantly enhanced our knowledge of the motivation for
leaking information to the public on U.S. wars, torture, and bullying of other
nations. Now that he is claiming responsibility, we can say, with no restraint,
that Bradley is a hero, and should be freed and given a medal for his
courageous whistle blowing. I urge you to watch and read the
following:
Glenn Greenwald writes: “...Whatever one thinks of Manning's alleged acts, he
appears the classic whistleblower. This information could have been sold for
substantial sums to a foreign government or a terror group. Instead he
apparently knowingly risked his liberty to show them to the world because – he
said when he believed he was speaking in private – he wanted to trigger
"worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms".
Compare this aggressive
prosecution of Manning to the Obama administration's vigorous efforts to shield
Bush-era war crimes and massive Wall Street fraud from all forms of legal
accountability. Not a single perpetrator of those genuine crimes has faced court
under Obama, a comparison that reflects the priorities and values of US
justice.”
From Revolution
newspaper:
“Julian Assange, the founder of Wiki-Leaks, told Democracy Now!
(November 29), “What is happening this week is not the trial of Bradley Manning.
What is happening this week is the trial of the U.S. military. This is Bradley
Manning’s abuse case . . . [he’s been] subject to conditions that the U.N.
special rapporteur, Juan Méndez, special rapporteur for torture, formally found
amounted to torture.
“Why was that treatment placed on him for so long,
when so many people—independent psychiatrists, military psychiatrists—complained
about what was going on in extremely strong terms? His lawyer and support team
say that he was being treated in that manner, in part, in order to coerce some
kind of statement or false confession from him that would implicate WikiLeaks as
an organization and me personally . . . this young man’s treatment . . . is
directly as a result of an attempt to attack this organization by the United
States military, to coerce this young man into providing evidence that could be
used to more effectively attack us, and also serve as some kind of terrible
disincentive for other potential whistleblowers from stepping
forward.””
Shaker Aamer is the last British subject held
at Guantanamo. He was singled out for the most brutal treatment because he has
continually spoken up for the prisoners. He was set to be released many years
ago, having been held now for almost 11 years with no evidence that he did
anything to warrant imprisonment. Reports from recent years have made us
very concerned for his life, especially after "suicides" of other prisoners. We
are very glad to see this recent photo, and urge you to sign the petition to get him out NOW.
 Andy Worthington has spent many years now documenting
U.S. abuse of prisoners at Guantanamo, even as the Obama administration moved
"forward" past its promise to close Guantanamo. His work is unique and
invaluable. We hope we can get him to the U.S. again next month for the 11th
anniversary of Guantanamo. See The Long Pursuit of Accountability
for the Bush Administration’s Torture Program.
Nancy Talanian created the Bill of
Rights Defense Committee after the  Bush
regime went crazy with the USA PATRIOT Act. She went on to form the No
Guantanamos Project, bringing the challenge directly to U.S. communities to take
released prisoners from the prison, if they could not be released to their home
countries. Without her weekly newsletter, (subscribe here) I would not have known that Ryan Townsend, a student
at USC, thinks Congress must close
Guantanamo.
Upstate NY Coalition to Ground the
Drones. These friends live in upstate New York, folks! Where, even with
climate change, it snows a lot. Still, they protest at the gate of Hancock Air
Force Base with astounding regularity and
commitment. This kind of action
should spread to every base and every university where the U.S. Defense
Department is handing out billions for drone research and development.
Brian Terrell of Voices for Creative
Non-Violence is in prison for six
months, the maximum sentence for trespassing on a US base near Kansas City for
protesting U.S. drone wars last spring. View his story. His colleague Kathy Kelly travels constantly
to the sites of U.S. occupations, identifying with the victims and bringing
their stories to us. Read her message from Gaza in We Want It to Stop.
Bill Maher??? Sometimes people you
don't agree with on much, say things that are strikingly prescient and true.
See for yourself:
“We
can now visit death upon our enemies without having to show up in person, look
them in the eye and have an actual fight. It just feels wrong -- like breaking
up with a girl via text message. If you're going to vanquish your enemy,
shouldn't you have to confront them? How does a warrior willing to die for his
cause in the Takhar Province fight a guy operating a joystick in
Tallahassee?...We utilize the best means at our disposal to go into foreign
lands and blow up the people we consider the bad guys even if that means
collateral damage in the form of civilian casualties. When someone does that
exact same thing to us, don’t we call it "terrorism"?”
Send me your nominations. Anytime people do and say
things that are right on the mission of stopping the crimes of our government,
please
share. |
Debra Sweet, Director, The World Can't Wait
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