Update on Bradley Manning

http://deconstructingmyths.com/2013/08/06/manning-down/

“The arc gets longer” from Deconstructing Myths

Further, it is imperative to grasp the concept that you control the narrative by controlling the discourse. Every word (sequester, grand bargain, fiscal cliff) is analyzed, vetted and studied, like the candidates themselves, before rolling them out to the public sphere to test the limits of what the public will endure. Fortunately, for the ruling class, the American public has shown they will put up with a whole hell of a lot as long as it doesn’t interfere with their NFL/MLB/NBA/NHL seasons. For Main Street and the mainstream media, there are no lessons to be learned or warnings to be heeded from the economic (austerity) crises in Greece/Spain/Ireland/Iceland. America is an exceptional country filled with exceptional people that will never suffer the same fate as the rest of the world. Too bad the ruling class doesn’t care about us any more than they care about one single person outside of their sphere of inbred influence.

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Because its all connected, this week Bradley Manning finally spoke on his behalf at his court-martial hearing in Fort Meade, MD, and took full responsibility for leaking classified documents to Wikileaks. Let that sink in, in a country where our leaders in government, business and the military have difficulty taking responsibility for anything, a 25 year-old former Army Private First Class, facing the possibility of the rest of his natural born life in a cell, willingly admitted to his actions before the world. This, dear readers, is what courage looks like. Journalists present in the courtroom reported on Manning’s statements, here is an excerpt regarding the infamous helicopter gunship attack on civilians in Baghdad in 2010 that involved reporters and children:

“The dehumanized the individuals they were engaging and seemed to not value human life by referring to them as quote “dead bastards” unquote and congratulating each other on the ability to kill in large numbers. At one point in the video there is an individual on the ground attempting to crawl to safety. The individual is seriously wounded. Instead of calling for medical attention to the location, one of the aerial weapons team crew members verbally asks for the wounded person to pick up a weapon so that he can have a reason to engage. For me, this seems similar to a child torturing ants with a magnifying glass.”

Read the complete article here

Would you send a postcard to a prisoner for peace?

Dear students and other net surfer visiting this tiny blog,

War Resisters’ International, an international pacifist network based in London, publishes a list of people imprisoned for CO/Total resistance (conscientious objection to military and civil services), Nonviolent Direct Action, making public information about war crimes, and other kind of actions related to fighting for a less violent and juster world. This is called the Prisoners for Peace campaign and it is about sending postcard/letters to people in prison.

This year there is someone who has done a lot in defense of human rights and democracy and has been imprisoned for it, and I wonder if you would send him a postcard so he knows it’s a great deal of people in the world who support him. His name is Bradley Manning. He is a soldier, and since 2010 he is in pre-trial detention in the USA. His crime, allegedly having leaked military video and documents showing evidence of US war crimes.

Bradley Manning (Nov 2011 warresisters)
JRCF
830 Sabalu Road
Fort Leavenworth
KS 66027
USA

Mailing Address (March 2012, http://www.armycourtmartialdefense.info/search/label/Manning%20Case)

The new mailing address for PFC Manning is the following:

Commander, HHC USAG
Attn: PFC Manning
239 Sheridan Ave, Bldg 417
JBM-HH, VA 22211

If you want to get some guidelines on how to write your postcard, and/or you wish to send postcards to more prisoners, you’ll find their info here:

 

http://wri-irg.org/node/4718