End Illegal War: Support Bradley Manning

He is also be investigated in the leaks of the “Afghan War Diary” documents also released by Wikileaks--in conjunction with the New York Times, The UK Guardian and the German magazine Der Spiegel-- exposing the war in Afghanistan as a costly quagmire that has cost countless civilian Afghan lives, as well as those of US soldiers.

The Iraq war over the last seven years has seen the heaviest death toll for journalists in a war since World War II; The Wikileaks website posted on April 5, 2010, a video showing a US helicopter crew killing 12 Iraqi civilians including Reuters photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and his driver Said Chmagh, 40. Wikileaks wrote that it had come from unspecified “military sources.” Reuters had filed a formal request, under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), in 2007 to access documents that might explain the death of its media workers. FOIA requires federal government agencies to release documents to all persons requesting them unless specifically exempted by the law. Reuters received any documents. Reporters Without Borders, the international journalists association writes of Bradley Manning, “If this young soldier had not leaked the video, we would have had no evidence of what was clearly a serious abuse on the part of the US military.”
http://en.rsf.org/iraq-the-iraq-war-the-heaviest-death-07-09-2010,38294.html

Much of my military background concerns the law of warfare. Most Americans do not realize that our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have violated domestic and international law, violations that have been fully exposed in the Wikileaks documents Manning is accused of releasing. When I joined the US military, I like Bradley Manning, took my oath to protect the constitution and the American people. This led me to resign my position when the US invaded Iraq in 2003. Protecting the constitution outweighs following orders and Manning should be supported for choosing to do the right thing. Bradley Manning is a patriot of our democracy, who stayed loyal to what is right, risking his own security. His loyalty to the Constitution and the American people transcends partisan politics.

Just as Daniel Ellsberg blew the whistle on the lies of the Vietnam War by releasing the Pentagon Papers that exposed the lies of the leaders of that war, Manning is accused of blowing the whistle on the illegality of today’s wars. What will our response to the information Manning is charged with releasing be? Can make today’s Pentagon Papers lead to an end to illegal and wasteful wars abroad and the return of our troops home.
Please join me, Daniel Ellsberg, senior CIA analyst (ret.) Ray McGovern, Army veteran Aimee Allison at an open public speaking event THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 7pm. Humanist Hall, 390 27th Street, Oakland, California.

to kick off a nation-wide series of support events for Bradley Manning in 18 US cities.
Also please join me SATURDAY. SEPTEMBER 18, for a March and Rally to Free Bradley Manning at 2pm in front of the SF War Memorial Building, 401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, California. 3pm march. 4pm end at Union Square.
For more information go to http://www.bradleymanning.org.



Ann Wright is a Colonel, US Army Reserves (Retired) and US Diplomat who resigned in March 2003 in opposition to the War on Iraq.