Showing posts with label free bradley manning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label free bradley manning. Show all posts

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Flyer For The Smedley Butler Brigade- Veterans For Peace 2012 Veterans Day/Armistice Day Commemoration –Sunday November 12 in Boston At Noon


President Obama Pardon Private Bradley Manning Now!

 

Free The Alleged Wikileak Whistleblower Now!

 

 
 

Bradley Manning in his own words:

 

"God knows what happens now. Hopefully worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms...

 

I want people to see the truth... because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public."

*************

The Smedley Butler Brigade of Veterans for Peace proudly stands in solidarity with, and defense of, Private Bradley Manning and his fight for freedom from his jailers, the American military.

 

Private Manning is facing a February 2013 court-martial for allegedly simply blowing the whistle on something that is a hard fact of war- war crimes by American soldiers through release of the “Collateral Murder” tape and what have become known as the Iraq and Afghan War logs.

 

Private Manning has paid the price for his alleged acts with almost 900 days of pre-trial confinement, including allegations of torture during this period, and is now facing life imprisonment for simple acts of humanity. For letting the American people know what they perhaps did not want to know but must know- when soldiers, American soldiers, go to war some awful things can and do happen.

 

For more information about the Private Manning case and what you can do to help or to sign the online petition to the Secretary of the Army for his release contact:

 

Bradley Manning Support Network: http://www.bradleymanning.org/ or the Courage To Resist Website:http://www.couragetoresist.org/

 

Smedley Butler Brigade- Veterans for Peace Website: http://smedleyvfp.org/  - on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/smedleyvfp -on Twitter: http://twitter.com/SmedleyVFP#

 

 

Monday, October 29, 2012

Flyer For The Smedley Butler Brigade- Veterans For Peace 2012 Veterans Day/Armistice Day Commemoration –Sunday November 12 in Boston At Noon


President Obama Pardon Private Bradley Manning Now!

 

Free The Alleged Wikileak Whistleblower Now!

 

 
 

Bradley Manning in his own words:

 

"God knows what happens now. Hopefully worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms...

 

I want people to see the truth... because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public."

*************

The Smedley Butler Brigade of Veterans for Peace proudly stands in solidarity with, and defense of, Private Bradley Manning and his fight for freedom from his jailers, the American military.

 

Private Manning is facing a February 2013 court-martial for allegedly simply blowing the whistle on something that is a hard fact of war- war crimes by American soldiers through release of the “Collateral Murder” tape and what have become known as the Iraq and Afghan War logs.

 

Private Manning has paid the price for his alleged acts with almost 900 days of pre-trial confinement, including allegations of torture during this period, and is now facing life imprisonment for simple acts of humanity. For letting the American people know what they perhaps did not want to know but must know- when soldiers, American soldiers, go to war some awful things can and do happen.

 

For more information about the Private Manning case and what you can do to help or to sign the online petition to the Secretary of the Army for his release contact:

 

Bradley Manning Support Network: http://www.bradleymanning.org/ or the Courage To Resist Website:http://www.couragetoresist.org/

 

Smedley Butler Brigade- Veterans for Peace Website: http://smedleyvfp.org/  - on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/smedleyvfp -on Twitter: http://twitter.com/SmedleyVFP#

 

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Join Iraq Vets Against the War at Ft. Meade for Bradley!

Join Iraq Veterans Against the War at Ft. Meade for PFC Bradley Manning!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Gather and vigil at 10am, press conference and speak out at noon
Fort Meade, Maryland, Main Gate


Before the Iraq Veterans Against the War convention kicks off in Baltimore MD, IVAW will be out at Ft. Meade MD in front of the main gate, showing support for accused Wikileaks whistle-blower Pfc. Bradley Manning during his pre-trial hearing at the court house on base. We will be showing support for Bradley Manning the day before the judge in the case will decide to dismiss all the charges base on lack of a speedy trial. Bradley will have been in pre-trial confinement for over two and a half years before he goes to court martial. Stand with us to oppose the unjust prosecution and support Pfc Manning!

Iraq Veterans Against the War will hold a vigil outside of the main gate beginning around 10:00am. We will hold visuals and have a strong presence there. A speakout and press conference will be held at 12:00pm noon. After lunch time (food will be provided), those who wish to enter the court room on base to witness the proceedings can while the rest will remain holding visuals at the main gate until around 3:00pm.

We will be converging on the main gate of Ft. Meade at Annapolis rd and Reece rd. There is parking right down the street at Grace Garden. See you there!
IVAW Event: http://www.ivaw.org/ivaw-deploys-ft-meade-md-bradley-manning
Facebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/events/387982691275252/
IVAW

Government to argue speedy trial doesn’t apply to Bradley, veterans to rally in support

By Nathan Fuller, Bradley Manning Support Network. October 24, 2012.

As Army Private First Class Bradley Manning nears 900 days in jail without trial, his lawyer moves to dismiss all charges for lack of a speedy trial. Beginning Tuesday, October 30, the government’s witnesses will try to explain away the prosecution’s extensive delays. Meanwhile, over 14,000 supporters of Bradley Manning have now donated to his defense fund—over the last three weeks alone raising $50,000 during a matching grant challenge by the Brightwater Fund. On Thursday, November 1, members of Iraq Veterans Against the War will lead a rally and speak-out for Bradley at Fort Meade, Maryland.

Bradley’s constitutional rights deprived

When Bradley Manning returns to Ft. Meade on Tuesday, October 30, he’ll have spent nearly 900 days in jail awaiting court-martial trial. That’s almost two and a half years wondering whether he’ll be spending the rest of his life in jail, and whether he’ll get to see the “debates, discussions, and reforms” that chat logs suggest he sought. That’s two and a half years too long.

Bradley’s lawyer, David Coombs, will argue his most recent motion to dismiss charges with prejudice for lack of a speedy trial, which denounces and seeks accountability for the government’s inaction, unjustifiable delays, and sheer disregard for PFC Manning’s constitutional rights (1). RCM 707 affords 120 days from arrest to arraignment, but Bradley was arraigned nearly two years after his arrest in May 2010. UCMJ Article 10 compels the prosecution to act diligently and expediently, yet the government was inactive or needlessly slow for months prior to Bradley’s first pretrial hearing.
Judge Denise Lind and the parties have agreed to bifurcate this speedy trial motion: from October 30 to November 2, the government will bring its witnesses to testify. But the defense won’t be able to argue its portion of the motion until the December 10-14 hearing, which comes after the Article 13 motion to dismiss based on Bradley’s conditions at Quantico, which Coombs will litigate November 27-December 2. By that time, Bradley will have surpassed 900 days in jail without trial.

Government witnesses

Next week, the government will call three witnesses to the stand, to attempt to account for the several pre- and post-arraignment delays that have protracted Bradley’s proceedings. The defense had also requested two of these witnesses, Col. Carl Coffman and Master Sgt. Monica Carlile.
Carl Coffman is the Special Court Martial Convening Authority for Bradley’s pretrial proceedings, so he signed off on almost all of the government’s delays, marking them as excludable from the speedy trial clock. In January, Coffman denied the defense’s request to depose nine essential witnesses, including Defense Sec. Robert Gates and State Secretary Hillary Clinton, citing the “difficulty, expense, and/or effect on military operations outweighed the significance of the expected testimony.” Coombs derided this decision as “yet another example of the government improperly impeding the defense’s access to essential witnesses” (2).

Coffman is expected to explain why he signed off on the government’s delays, and why they were excluded from the speedy trial clock.

Monica Carlile was a paralegal at the Office of the Staff Justice Advocate in the Military District of Washington (apparently before she was promoted to Master Sergeant), when she signed one of the government’s delays for Coffman. Carlile is expected to explain why she signed off on that delay, why it was excluded from the speedy trial clock, and her authority to sign in Coffman’s place.

Third is Bert Haggett, whom the prosecution deems a classification expert and whom the Army cites as an Information Security Point of Contact. Kevin Gosztola writes that the government will call Haggett to testify to “how long it takes to clear documents requested by defense for discovery evidence. He apparently worked on a classification review of the unclassified portion of the Army CID investigation into Manning.”

With these witnesses, the government will try to show that it had no choice but to wait nearly two years to arraign PFC Manning, and that the mere scope of information and lengthy classification review process takes a long time. But Coombs’ motion preempts those arguments multiple times, noting that the government has vastly more resources than the defense to wade through these myriad documents, and that the prosecution both didn’t need to wait for the reviews to go to trial and didn’t sufficiently pressure the Original Classification Authorities to conduct the reviews more quickly.

Support grows despite government delays

Suspending the pretrial process is only to the government’s advantage. The defense is paid by grassroots donations from around the world, and two and a half years of delays have pushed legal expenses to nearly $250,000.

But Bradley’s supporters have countered this effort in inspiring ways. The Brightwater Fund recently announced that it would match donations to the defense fund dollar for dollar up to $50,000, and we’ve surpassed that goal already, now up to $55,000 and counting (3). That number will continue to rise this week, as rock-and-roll legend Graham Nash will perform in Santa Monica, CA, and ticket proceeds from that event will go to the Bradley Manning Support Network (4).

Veterans are responding as well. At an anti-NATO rally this summer, several Iraq Veterans Against the War publicly disowned their military medals, some in honor of PFC Bradley Manning. Those and more veterans are holding a rally and speak-out for Bradley on Thursday, November 1, just outside of Ft. Meade while he’s in court (5).

When Bradley Manning’s court-martial trial finally gets underway on February 4, 2013 – if it isn’t delayed yet again – he’ll have been imprisoned for nearly 1,000 days. This trial is anything but speedy, and the government has thus far enjoyed total immunity for violating Bradley’s basic rights. It’s long been time for that to change.

Footnotes:
  1. The government has made an “absolute mockery” of Bradley Manning’s right to a speedy trial
  2. David Coombs’ blog post on Col. Coffman rejecting his request for government witnesses
  3. Brightwater Fund to match donations to the Bradley Manning Support Network
  4. Graham Nash to perform in support of Bradley Manning
  5. Iraq Veterans Against the War to rally at Ft. Meade for Bradley Manning

Monday, October 22, 2012

Flyer For The Smedley Butler Brigade- Veterans For Peace 2012 Veterans Day/Armistice Day Commemoration –Sunday November 12 in Boston At Noon


President Obama Pardon Private Bradley Manning Now!

 

Free The Alleged Wikileak Whistleblower Now!

 

 

Bradley Manning in his own words:

 

"God knows what happens now. Hopefully worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms...

 

I want people to see the truth... because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public."

*************

The Smedley Butler Brigade of Veterans for Peace proudly stands in solidarity with, and defense of, Private Bradley Manning and his fight for freedom from his jailers, the American military.

 

Private Manning is facing a February 2013 court-martial for allegedly simply blowing the whistle on something that is a hard fact of war- war crimes by American soldiers through release of the “Collateral Murder” tape and what have become known as the Iraq and Afghan War logs.

 

Private Manning has paid the price for his alleged acts with almost 900 days of pre-trial confinement, including allegations of torture during this period, and is now facing life imprisonment for simple acts of humanity. For letting the American people know what they perhaps did not want to know but must know- when soldiers, American soldiers, go to war some awful things can and do happen.

 

For more information about the Private Manning case and what you can do to help or to sign the online petition to the Secretary of the Army for his release contact:

 

Bradley Manning Support Network: http://www.bradleymanning.org/ or the Courage To Resist Website:http://www.couragetoresist.org/

 

Smedley Butler Brigade- Veterans for Peace Website: http://smedleyvfp.org/  - on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/smedleyvfp -on Twitter: http://twitter.com/SmedleyVFP#

 

Thursday, October 18, 2012

The Latest From The Private Bradley Manning Support Network-Free Bradley Manning Now! President Obama Pardon Bradley Manning- Update

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 .

*********

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.
*********
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.
**********

Update 10/18/12: Hearing regarding motion witnesses begins, defense gains access to more evidence

Yesterday was the beginning of a two-day hearing in which the defense and prosecution will argue over which witnesses will testify about delays in court proceedings. Coombs wants to use witnesses to argue that Bradley Manning has been denied a speedy trial as guaranteed by law, and thus his charges should be dismissed. Read our notes from Day 1. You can also read about Day 1 and Day 2 of the court proceedings on Firedoglake’s website.
Judge Lind has ruled that the government must turn over an additional 600 e-mails to Bradley Manning’s defense. The emails discuss the military’s plans to respond to queries from reporters about Manning’s detention, preparing for protests, changes to Manning’s list of visitors and other details, according to the judge. This is a small victory in these court proceedings, and will give the defense a fuller picture into the motivations behind Bradley’s solitary isolation at Quantico. Read more here.

Bradley Manning supporter Peter Van Buren is known as the author for “We Meant Well: How I helped lose the battle for the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people.” He says “I am a former US State Department employee and I wore my Free Bradley Manning T-shirt to work on my last day to remind my former State colleagues what freedom of speech means.” Thank you, Peter.

The Latest From The Private Bradley Manning Support Network-Free Bradley Manning Now! President Obama Pardon Bradley Manning- Pre-Trial Hearings


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 .

*********

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.

*********

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.
***********

“Why can’t you be reasonable?” judge asks military in case to limit secrecy in Bradley’s trial

The CCR argued its case at the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces today for transparency in Bradley Manning’s court-martial trial. Judges questioned why the government forced the issue to come to court at all.
By Nathan Fuller. October 10, 2012.
The CCR’s Shayana Kadidal
During oral arguments in the Center for Constitutional Rights’ lawsuit against the government seeking public access to basic court documents in Bradley Manning’s court-martial trial, judges for the Court of Appeals of the Armed Forces demanded the government explain why it wouldn’t simply provide these documents in the first place.

When Army lawyer Capt. Chad Fisher said that the court wasn’t constitutionally required to provide public access to documents like prosecution briefs, transcripts, and rulings, Judge Margaret Ryan interrupted him to ask what she called a “common sense” question.
“Why can’t you just give it to them? Instead of making this a constitutional case, why can’t you just be reasonable?”

Fisher was unable to directly answer the question. Instead, he gave an array of responses that circumvented the basic issue: he repeated his belief that the court wasn’t obliged to make these records public, he said the fact that the public could attend the hearings meant they were “open,” he complained that the defense wasn’t asking the proper authority, and he reiterated the government’s position that the availability of FOIA provided sufficient public and press access.

The five judges repeatedly questioned and challenged each of Fisher’s points, particularly the idea that FOIA requests, to which the government frequently takes weeks, months, or even years to respond, provided sufficient and contemporaneous access, especially considering the fact that FOIA requests in this case have already been denied. They also pushed back on Fisher’s claim that “Nothing has been withheld” from the public and the press, based on the idea that attending the hearings amounts to fully accessing the proceedings.

“How is oral argument sufficient if you can’t read the briefs?” one judge asked.

“It’s not as if they’re speaking a foreign language,” Fisher responded.

But as journalists from the 30 major media outlets who submitted a supportive brief in this case explained, the media (and therefore the public) needs these documents to adequately cover the case:
“Journalists rely heavily on court documents to gain and provide to readers the background of and context surrounding a legal controversy — awareness and understanding of which is often necessary to accurately report on the dispute. Prior access to the materials also allows reporters, the overwhelming majority of whom have no legal background or education, to process the oftentimes complex legal theories at their own pace, or to interview a legal expert who could explain the issues, so they are better equipped to understand what is transpiring in a proceeding they attend.”
Shayana Kadidal, the CCR lawyer arguing in court today, similarly contended earlier this year that providing openness-in-name-only effectively “choked off” coverage of Manning’s hearings.
But the judges, not seemingly satisfied with Fisher’s responses, kept returning to the more elemental point that the government could avoid this litigation and a potential ruling that would affect courts-martial to come by simply turning over the documents requested. The court already has a process in place to redact documents, the judges noted, and parties settle extrajudicial matters with a compromise out of court all the time, so it seems perfectly feasible for the government to comply with the CCR’s reasonable request for access to the documents.

In the midst of this questioning, Fisher did concede what the CCR has long observed: that Guantanamo tribunals – hardly beacons of transparency – were less secretive than Bradley Manning’s court-martial, because the public could access filed briefs and transcripts to those proceedings.
The CCR’s Kadidal fielded a similar though not quite as lengthy barrage of questioning from the appeals court judges. The first issue they raised was whether this court even has jurisdiction to make a ruling on this case, as their jurisdiction has been narrowly limited and it isn’t clear that they have standing to make a ruling that affects the press and public alike. Kadidal responded that the government hadn’t raised this issue in their replies, and so he would need an additional 10 days to file a supplement that addresses the court’s jurisdiction.

Judge Ryan also wanted to know whether there was precedent for this court to compel the production of documents that didn’t yet exist. She was referring to the CCR’s request for transcripts of RCM 802 conferences, the private telephonic meetings Judge Denise Lind holds between Ft. Meade hearings with both the defense and the prosecution. She also wanted Kadidal to account for how exactly the documents would hypothetically be produced: who would transcribe the hearings, or who would pay a stenographer?

Kadidal responded that an audio file would be acceptable, but on the issue more generally, he said he believes the court should make a First Amendment ruling granting the press the right to these documents and let lower courts adjudicate the logistics. Judges replied that it was unclear that the First Amendment affords contemporaneous access to these documents: in other words, it might be wholly constitutional for the court to provide these documents after the fact.

Kadidal will submit his jurisdictional supplement in 10 days, and the government will submit a reply less than a week later. It’s unclear when or if this court will issue a ruling, or when exactly the parties might return to court. We’ll update our coverage of this case as it unfolds.
 

The Latest From The Private Bradley Manning Support Network-Free Bradley Manning Now! President Obama Pardon Bradley Manning- Take action! Pressure the military to improve media access to the Bradley Manning trial

 
http://www.bradleymanning.org/
 
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 .
*********
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.
*********
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.

****

Take action! Pressure the military to improve media access to the Bradley Manning trial

Pressure the military to do the right thing. Call the military Public Affairs Office at Fort Meade and demand that transcripts, judge decisions, prosecution motions, and other basic documents must be made available to the press and public! Call 301-677-1361 then sign the letter below!
By the Bradley Manning Support Network. October 9, 2012.
Bradley Manning will have spent 983 days in prison before his trial begins in February.
This Wednesday, October 10th, lawyers for the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) will argue before the Court of Appeals of the Armed Forces to bring transparency to the secretive trial of accused WikiLeaks whistle-blower Army PFC Bradley Manning. This hearing is open to the media and public. CCR attorneys will argue that the military must make transcripts, judge decisions, prosecution motions, and other basic documents available to the press and the public.
“Public scrutiny plays a vital role in government accountability. Media access to the Manning trial proceedings and documents is critical for the transparency on which democratic government and faith in our justice system rests,” said CCR Legal Director Baher Azmy at the time of the initial filing. CCR has called Manning’s proceedings more secretive than tribunals at Guantanamo Bay in many aspects.
Let’s show our support by putting pressure on the military to do the right thing. Transcripts, judge decisions, prosecution motions, and other basic documents must be made available to the press and public!

Call the military Public Affairs Office at
301-677-1361.
Ask them what can be done to improve the situation.

Ask the Fort Meade Public Affairs Office to improve media access to the Bradley Manning trial

Share this with your friends:

The Latest From The Private Bradley Manning Support Network-Free Bradley Manning Now! President Obama Pardon Bradley Manning- Pre-Trial Hearings


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 .
*********
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.

*********

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.       
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Courtroom notes, Bradley Manning’s motions hearing: October 17, 2012

Bradley Manning returned to Ft. Meade today for another motions hearing. Judge Lind will rule tomorrow on the defense motion to compel witnesses in the next hearing and on whether an author made Collateral Murder’s contents public at least a year before Bradley’s arrest.

By Nathan Fuller. October 17, 2012.
AP photo of PFC Bradley Manning
Developments since last hearing in August:
To start today’s motion hearing for PFC Bradley Manning, Judge Denise Lind recapped for the press and public what has taken place since court was last in session. 1) After reviewing the approximately 700 Quantico emails that the prosecution had tried to hold back from the Defense, Lind ruled against the prosecution, finding all but 12 were relevant. 2) On September 28, Lind largely granted the government’s redactions and substitutions for DHS, Department of State, and CIA documents. 3) Before litigating the defense’s speedy trial motion, the parties need to agree on a chronology of relevant events thus far. The prosecution sent the defense a 231-page document, which was rejected because it was a non-searchable PDF, mostly consisting of extraneous content. Continuing their strategy of ongoing delay, the prosecution then sent a 20-page Word document still containing irrelevant information, which the defense will be forced to review and whittle down into an appropriate timeline.

The prosecution refuses to provide an accurate portrayal of the pretrial timeline, because, as Coombs noted in his motion, the prosecution’s repeated and unjustifiable delays point “unmistakably to the conclusion that PFC Manning’s statutory and constitutional speedy trial rights have been trampled upon with impunity.”

Innocent until proven guilty: could others have been responsible?

A major issue today was David Finkel’s 2009 book The Good Soldiers, which the defense says includes verbatim transcript excerpts of the ‘Collateral Murder’ video. The government doesn’t believe the court should recognize that the transcripts are “verbatim” and doesn’t believe they definitively prove that Finkel was in possession of the video before its 2010 release. Judge Lind will compare the video and the book excerpts and rule tomorrow on whether she’ll take judicial notice of Finkel writing a “verbatim” transcript.

On the defense’s motion to compel witnesses, Lind will rule tomorrow when the court resumes at 1:00pm EST. The witness testimony requested would give more background on the prosecution’s extensive and potentially illegal pretrial delays.

Prosecution continues to block evidence showing lack of harm.

Fearing that evidence be introduced showing Bradley Manning to be a whistleblower deserving judicial protection, the prosecution continued its attempts to gag all references to the lack of harm caused, particularly a defense list of statements made by government officials. These include comments by the Defense Department’s Geoff Morrell, a White House press release, letters between Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Senator Carl Levin, a Defense Department briefing, a State Department briefing, Andrea Mitchell’s interview of Joe Biden, and a transcript of Congressman John Conyers speaking to the House of Representatives on the beneficial effects of WikiLeaks’ releases.

The government initially rejected most of these items because the defense submitted a number of news articles citing the quotes at issue, calling the news stories “hearsay” that didn’t directly reflect the government’s positions. But since Coombs has now provided the government briefs themselves, the prosecution opposes the majority of the statements on relevancy grounds. The prosecution’s Captain Morrow appeared to take issue with a CNN article as opposed to a newspaper article (such as from the New York Times), because the CNN post appeared on the Internet instead of in print.
The only reason the government wants to suppress these already-public statements, Coombs contends, is to obscure the fact that the whistleblower who released these cables to WikiLeaks brought no harm to U.S. national security.
 

 

FromThe Partisan Defense Committee- Free Bradley Manning!


Monday, October 15, 2012

Flyer For The Smedley Butler Brigade- Veterans For Peace 2012 Veterans Day/Armistice Day Commemoration –Sunday November 11 in Boston Common At Noon

President Obama Pardon Private Bradley Manning Now!
Free The Alleged Wikileak Whistleblower Now!
 
Bradley Manning in his own words:
"God knows what happens now. Hopefully worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms...
 
I want people to see the truth... because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public."
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The Smedley Butler Brigade of Veterans for Peace proudly stands in solidarity with, and defense of, Private Bradley Manning and his fight for freedom from his jailers, the American military.
 
Private Manning is facing a February 2013 court-martial for allegedly simply blowing the whistle on something that is a hard fact of war- war crimes by American soldiers through release of the “Collateral Murder” tape and what have become known as the Iraq and Afghan War logs.
 
Private Manning has paid the price for his alleged acts with almost 900 days of pre-trial confinement, including allegations of torture during this period, and is now facing life imprisonment for simple acts of humanity. For letting the American people know what they perhaps did not want to know but must know- when soldiers, American soldiers, go to war some awful things can and do happen.
 
For more information about the Private Manning case and what you can do to help or to sign the online petition to the Secretary of the Army for his release contact:
 
Bradley Manning Support Network: http://www.bradleymanning.org/ or the Courage To Resist Website:http://www.couragetoresist.org/
 
Smedley Butler Brigade- Veterans for Peace Website: http://smedleyvfp.org/  - on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/smedleyvfp -on Twitter: http://twitter.com/SmedleyVFP#