united colours of vruz

by Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com

Last week, New York Magazine published a somewhat tabloidy profile of Bradley Manning by Steven Fishman, focusing on the purported personal and psychological aspects of his life as a means of understanding his alleged leaking, and I responded to it the following day.  Now there is another response that I hope as many people as possible read; with permission, I’m publishing it in its entirety below.  It’s by former Army Specialist Ethan McCord, who served in Bravo Company 2-16, the ground troops involved in the “Collateral Murder” video released by Wikileaks in April of last year and allegedly leaked by Manning (McCord can be seen in the video carrying the wounded children from the bullet riddled van).  Just consider what Spc. McCord says about Manning (“a hero of mine”), the media coverage of these leaks, and what all of this reveals about American wars and how we’re propagandized about them:

Serving with my unit 2nd battalion 16th infantry in New Baghdad Iraq, I vividly remember the moment in 2007, when our Battalion Commander walked into the room and announced our new rules of engagement:

“Listen up, new battalion SOP (standing operating procedure) from now on: Anytime your convoy gets hit by an IED, I want 360 degree rotational fire. You kill every [expletive] in the street!”

We weren’t trained extensively to recognize an unlawful order, or how to report one. But many of us could not believe what we had just been told to do. Those of us who knew it was morally wrong struggled to figure out a way to avoid shooting innocent civilians, while also dodging repercussions from the non-commissioned officers who enforced the policy. In such situations, we determined to fire our weapons, but into rooftops or abandoned vehicles, giving the impression that we were following procedure.

On April 5, 2010 American citizens and people around the world got a taste of the fruits of this standing operating procedure when WikiLeaks released the now-famous Collateral Murder video. This video showed the horrific and wholly unnecessary killing of unarmed Iraqi civilians and Reuters journalists.

I was part of the unit that was responsible for this atrocity. In the video, I can be seen attempting to carry wounded children to safety in the aftermath.

The video released by WikiLeaks belongs in the public record. Covering up this incident is a matter deserving of criminal inquiry. Whoever revealed it is an American hero in my book.

Private First Class Bradley Manning has been confined for over a year on the government’s accusation that he released this video and volumes of other classified documents to WikiLeaks — an organization that has been selectively publishing portions of this information in collaboration with other news outlets.

If PFC Bradley Manning did what he is accused of doing, then it is clear — from chat logs that have been attributed to him — that his decision was motivated by conscience and political agency. These chat logs allegedly describe how PFC Manning hopes these revelations will result in “worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms.”

Unfortunately, Steve Fishman’s article Bradley Manning’s Army of One in New York Magazine (July 3, 2011) erases Manning’s political agency. By focusing so heavily on Manning’s personal life, Fishman removes politics from a story that has everything to do with politics. The important public issues wrapped up with PFC Manning’s case include: transparency in government; the Obama Administration’s unprecedented pursuit of whistle-blowers; accountability of government and military in shaping and carrying out foreign policy; war crimes revealed in the WikiLeaks documents; the catalyzing role these revelations played in democratic movements across the Middle East; and more.

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DemocracyNow.org

On the eve of the extradition hearing for WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange in London, we spend an exclusive hour with David House, who co-founded the Bradley Manning Support Network after U.S. Army Private Manning was arrested for allegedly releasing classified U.S. military documents to WikiLeaks.

House refused to testify last month in Alexandria, Virginia, before a grand jury hearing on WikiLeaks and the disclosure of thousands of classified U.S. diplomatic cables. Democracy Now! spoke to House at the Frontline Club in London about the significance of WikiLeaks, how he helped found the Bradley Manning Support Network, his visits with Manning at the Quantico Marine Base in Virginia, the federal surveillance he and his associates have come under, and his experience before the grand jury.

“In my mind, this reeks of the Pentagon Papers investigation,” says House. “Richard Nixon’s [Department of Justice] 40 years ago attempted to curtail the freedoms of the press and politically regulate the press through the use of policy created around the espionage investigation of the New York Times. I feel the WikiLeaks case we have going on now provides Obama’s DOJ ample opportunity to continue this attempt to politically regulate the U.S. media.”

MP3 audio | MP4 video | MP4 torrent | TXT transcript

vruz: check your sources guys. it’s safe to say that if the “research” is based on ad hominem attacks and hearsay, you’re just spreading bullshit and propaganda.  did you notice who funded that “research”? on to better things…

follows transcript of Daniel Ellsberg’s commentary on DemocracyNow.org, via Daniel Ellsberg’s Website

ELLSBERG: The conditions under which Manning is being held clearly violate the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution against cruel and unusual punishment—even for someone being punished, having been convicted. Here we have someone who has not yet been tried, not yet convicted, being held in isolation, solitary confinement, for something over 9 months. This is something that is likely to drive a person mad, and may be the intent of what’s going on here.

The Wikileaks revelations that Manning is charged with having revealed, having to do with Iraq, show that in fact the US military in which Manning was a part, turns over suspect to the Iraqis with the knowledge that they will be and are being tortured. Turning these suspects over, with that knowledge, is a clear violation of our own laws and of international law. It makes us as much culpable for the torture as if we were doing it ourselves.

Moreover, the Wikileaks logs show, the order is given: “Do not investigate further.” That’s an illegal order, which our president could change and should change and must change with one call.

Reportedly, Manning was very strongly motivated, at one point, to try to change this situation, because he was involved in it actively, and knew that it was wrong. He found that it was not being investigated within the government and was not being dealt with at all.

That’s a big difference between the Pentagon Papers and the WIkileaks logs. The former were higher level things which didn’t reveal field-level war crimes. The Wikileaks actually do.

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by Adam Martin, The Atlantic

Last November, federal agents at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport seized a laptop belonging to computer scientist David House, an activist who helped found a group supporting Bradley Manning, the Army private currently in custody and charged with leaking classified information that reached Wikileaks. House says the agents took the laptop “without a hint that it contained evidence of wrongdoing,” according to the Washington Post, and he and the ACLU sued the federal government on Friday. House also went on a message board at Firedoglake to answer questions about the suit and said, among other things, that the State Department and Army had offered to bribe him to give them tips on Boston-area hackers. Here are some of the highlights from House’s Q&A

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by Michael Withney, FDL

Accused Wikileaks whistleblower PFC. Bradley Manning will be removed from solitary confinement and placed in medium security at Fort Leavenworth prison, according to reports from journalists who took a tour of the Kansas facility today.

The first report of Manning’s move came from National Catholic Review reporter Joshua J. McElwee, who said that after the tour of the Leavenworth facility, military officials announced that Manning would be moved to medium security tomorrow morning.

Suspected WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning, whose treatment in custody has spurred protests from supporters and human rights groups, is now considered a “medium custody” prisoner and is allowed three hours of recreation a day, the U.S. Army announced this afternoon. […]

The commandant of the facility, Lt. Col. Dawn Hilton, said the suspected Army private will be classified as a medium custody prisoner “starting tomorrow morning.”

The new classification allows Manning to receive Army inspected mail freely, make phone calls, and meet with preapproved visitors, Hilton said.

Kevin Zeese from the Bradley Manning Support Network seemed to confirm that report with a tweet saying that Manning would be removed from solitary confinement. The AP also reports that Manning will be housed with about 10 other pre-trial detainees at Leavenworth, and will have access to common areas during the day.

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