Wars occur and persist through the nourishment of secrecy. Support war protesters, leakers, whistleblowers, investigative journalists, freedom of the press, Bradley Manning, Julian Assange, WikiLeaks by your calls and money. Dick
Contents
Bradley Manning (3)
Freedom of the Press (2)
Haiti in WikiLeaks
Larry Flynt Gives $50,000
Satire
The following statement was written by Carl Mirra, a member of the HAW Steering Committee and author of Soldiers and Citizens: An Oral History of Operation Iraqi Freedom from the Battlefield to the Pentagon (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008).
Appeal to Support Bradley Manning:
Bradley Manning, a 22 year old U.S. Army Private, allegedly released a video of a U.S. helicopter assault in Iraq that killed some seven Iraqi civilians and two Reuters reporters. Manning is also accused of leaking the “Afghan War Diaries.” These military reports reveal widespread civilian deaths, corruption, Special Forces engaged in targeted killings and a generally dismal picture of the US/ISAF occupation of Afghanistan.
Too many wars in US history were propelled by lies and misinformation, from the USS Maine explosion in the Spanish-American War in 1898 to the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964 to the more recent deceptions about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. The Afghan War dairies reveal similar misinformation and misconduct, and the US government wishes to deflect our attention from the content of these documents.
It is precisely this type of information that can turn public opinion against the war and revitalize the antiwar movement.
While Manning has not been convicted of a crime, he is being held in solitary confinement under conditions that have been described as cruel and unusual. (See Glenn Greenwald, “The Inhumane Conditions of Bradley Manning,” Salon.com. December 15, 2010,
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/12/14/manning/index.html)
Some actions you may take to support Bradley Manning and transparency in government:
1. Sign a petition in support of Bradley at www.standwithbradley.org
2. The Bradley Manning Support Fund and Courage to Resist are raising funds for Bradley’s defense. Information on donations is available at:
http://www.couragetoresist.org/x/content/view/858/1/
3. Letters and postcards to Bradley Manning can be sent to:
Bradley Manning
c/o Courage to Resist
484 Lake Park Ave #41
Oakland CA 94610
haw-info mailing list
haw-info@stopthewars.org
http://stopthewars.org/mailman/listinfo/haw-info_stopthewars.org
Bradley Manning's Life Behind Bars
Denver Nicks, The Daily Beast
Intro: "Bradley Manning, who allegedly leaked hundreds of thousands of secret government documents to Julian Assange's WikiLeaks, turns 23 in jail Friday. The Daily Beast's Denver Nicks, in an exclusive interview with Manning's attorney, reports on his solitary confinement, what he's reading (from George W. Bush to Howard Zinn), and his legal strategy."
READ MORE https://mail.google.com/mail/?hl=en&shva=1#inbox/12d023863046f35a
Friends say Bradley Manning's health is starting to deteriorate after seven months in solitary confinement, the Guardian reports. They say it is clear that solitary confinement and his lack of a pillow, sheets, the freedom to exercise, or the ability to view televised current events were enacted as a means of punishment, although Manning has been convicted of no crime. - https://mail.google.com/mail/?hl=en&shva=1#inbox/12cf6bddb4cceaa5
Why Shouldn't Freedom of the Press Apply to WikiLeaks?
Tim Dickinson, Rolling Stone
Tim Dickinson writes: "Here's a thought experiment: Imagine for a moment that the quarter of a million secret government cables from the State Department had been leaked, not to Julian Assange of WikiLeaks, but to Bill Keller, the executive editor of the New York Times."
READMORE https://mail.google.com/mail/?hl=en&shva=1#inbox/12cfac10193dccea
Bogus Afghan "Review" Shows Need for Journalism on Classified Information
U.S. intelligence agencies say Pakistan remains unwilling to stop providing support and sanctuary for members of the Afghan Taliban. Experts inside and outside of the government think there is no reason to expect Pakistan's policy will change, because it is based on Pakistani perception of core national security interests and opposition to what the Pakistanis see as a pro-India U.S. policy in Afghanistan, which the U.S. has no plans to change. The clear implication of the intelligence agencies assessment is that the current U.S. war policy is doomed to costly failure.
The reason that we know this is because news outlets like the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times report on classified information, and because of WikiLeaks. That's why the attacks on WikiLeaks are not only attacks on freedom of the press, but also attacks on the ability of the public to end the Afghanistan war and prevent new wars.
http://www.truth-out.org/robert-naiman-bogus-afghan-review-shows-need-journalism-classified-information66027
HAITI IN WIKILEAKS
One area of US foreign policy that the WikiLeaks cables help illuminate is the occupation of Haiti, writes Mark Weisbrot in the Guardian. In 2004, the country's democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was overthrown through an effort led by the US. A UN Security Council resolution was passed just days after the coup, and UN forces, headed by Brazil, were sent to the country…..
The participation of these governments in the occupation of Haiti is a serious political contradiction, and it is getting worse. The WikiLeaks cables show the agenda of the US in Haiti remains basically the same as it was during the coup: prevent the emergence of a government independent of Washington…… https://mail.google.com/mail/?hl=en&shva=1#inbox/12cf6bddb4cceaa5 [
LARRY FLYNT GIVES $50,000 TO WIKILEAKS
Larry Flynt | Why I Am Donating $50,000 to WikiLeaks
Reader Supported News | 19 December 10 PM
Larry Flynt concludes: "Julian Assange should not face a prison sentence. We should have a ticker-tape parade for this brave man."
READ MORE https://mail.google.com/mail/?hl=en&shva=1#inbox/12d023863046f35a
WIKILEAKS SATIRE
From: borowitzreport.com
December 17, 2010
“Julian Assange to Launch Social Network for Diplomats, Twofacebook: WikiLeaks Founder Plans ‘Portal of Deceit’”
LONDON (The Borowitz Report) – Moments after being released on bail, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was already making plans for his next venture, a social network for diplomats called Twofacebook.
Mr. Assange said he came up with the idea for the new site while combing through hundreds of thousands of pages of WikiLeaks documents: “I realized that diplomats didn’t have a way to reconnect with old colleagues so they could lie to them.”
Saying that he hopes to build the site into a “portal of deceit,” Mr. Assange said, “This will be a must-visit destination on the Internet for sworn enemies to friend each other.”
The WikiLeaks founder said that Twofacebook would also enable members of the diplomatic community to share information about music, movies and TV shows “that they say they like but actually detest.”
Additionally, he said he had high hopes for the site’s first online game, Harmville, in which diplomats can kill or maim each other’s sheep.
Elsewhere, President Obama said he was “delighted” by his new deal with Republicans, in which he agreed to give them his lunch money.
The Los Angeles Times says Andy Borowitz has “one of the funniest Twitter feeds around.” Follow Andy on Twitter here.
The Borowitz Report: Waste Someone's Time: Forward to a Friend. (from Patricia Mikkelson)
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