[haw-info] Appeal to support Bradley Manning

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
USA