On September 16th, Daniel Ellsberg, US Army Col. and diplomat Ann Wright (ret.), senior CIA analyst Ray McGovern (ret.), and KPFA morning host Aimee Allison spoke in Oakland to kick off a nationwide campaign to free alleged whistleblower Bradley Manning, accused of leaking thousands of documents and combat video showing the gunning down of Iraqi civilians and journalists. The event started at 7pm in Oakland's Humanist Hall, and was broadcast live on Indybay as well as Michael Moore's website.
View the recorded live broadcast |
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Event Announcement
Courage to Resist and other organizations also led a
march and rally to free Bradley Manning in San Francisco on Saturday, September 18th, starting at 2pm in front of the SF War Memorial Building and ending at 4pm in Union Square.
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Event Announcement
Daniel Ellsberg, who helped end the war in Vietnam when he leaked the Pentagon Papers to the press in 1970, says “Soldiers' sworn oath is to defend and support the Constitution. Bradley Manning has been defending and supporting our Constitution."
Former senior CIA analyst McGovern, who prepared daily security briefings for both President’s Reagan and George H.W. Bush, says combat video of civilians being machine-gunned should be released: “And it is that video that Private Manning is accused of giving to Wikileaks.” In contrast he says, “Our Secretary of Defense had not one word of regret about the dozen human beings, including two employees of Reuters, murdered on that fateful day in July 2007—or about the now-fatherless children who were seriously wounded.”
The combat videos and other documents released by
Wikileaks and available at
collateralmurder.com led to the arrest of Manning, now being held in Quantico, Virginia. If convicted, he faces up to 52 years in prison and is currently being held in solitary confinement.
Courage to Resist press release |
Open Letter from Ann Wright
On a small hill next to Deer Hill Road in the City of Lafayette, over 6,000 crosses have been erected and displayed as an on-going tribute, and to memorialize the soldiers, who have been killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. The hillside has been marked with controversy, and has sparked anger and even attracted counter protests to its existence.
