This space is dedicated to the proposition that we need to know the history of the struggles on the left and of earlier progressive movements here and world-wide. If we can learn from the mistakes made in the past (as well as what went right) we can move forward in the future to create a more just and equitable society. We will be reviewing books, CDs, and movies we believe everyone needs to read, hear and look at as well as making commentary from time to time. Greg Green, site manager
Chelsea Manning's new Guardian op-ed: prosecute
CIA torturers
On Monday, March 9th, Chelsea
Manning's latest opinion article, "The CIA's torturers and the leaders who
approved their actions must face the law," was published by The
Guardian. Torture as a method of intelligence collection is not only,
"ineffective and counterproductive," explains Chelsea but, "the
techniques outlined in the Senate torture report were far outside the boundaries
of what is acceptable for the US intelligence community. Their supposed
effectiveness is irrelevant to the fact that torture is wrong. It is important to hold the officers, supervisors and, to a lesser
extent, the politicians involved in creating and executing these programs,
accountable."
Chelsea Manning, Guardian OpEd March 9, 2015 Successful intelligence gathering through interrogation and other forms
of human interaction by conventional means can be – and more often than not are
– very successful. But, even though interrogation by less conventional methods
might get glorified in popular culture – torture and the mistreatment of
detainees in the custody of intelligence personnel is, was and shall continue to
be unethical and morally wrong. Under US law, torture and mistreatment
of detainees is also very illegal. Even the most junior level intelligence officials know that this is, and
has been, the case for decades. ...It is important to hold the officers, supervisors and, to a lesser
extent, the politicians involved in creating and executing these programs,
accountable. To let their horrific actions go unanswered would send an
awful message to the world...
Chelsea can continue to be a powerful voice for reform,
but we need your help to make that happen. Help us support
Chelsea in prison, maximize her voice in the media, continue public education,
fund her legal appeals team, and build a powerful movement for presidential
pardon.
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