We are setting up an Bradley Manning dfense
Information station at the SM and
Mar Vista Farmers Markets
TO HELP VOLUNTEER please email us at
pdwamerica@gmail.com
LINKS:
www.bradleymanning.org
www.CouragetoResist.org
www.wikileaks.ch - only working site is Swiss (CH)
www.KPFK.org
Snail Mail to Bradley Manning
c/o Courage to Resist
484 Lake Park Avenue #41
Oakland, CA 94610
(Only a few "designated" people may send mail to Bradley)
ADVISORY Activists (Bradley Manning Defense):
Medea Benjamin, Code Pink: Women for Peace
Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, National Whistleblower Center
Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers whistleblower
Kathleen Gilberd, Co-Chair of the Military Law Task Force of the National Lawyers Guild
Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst and activist
Michael Moore, documentary filmmaker, author and activist
Jose Vasquez, Iraq Veterans against the War
Ann Wright, US Army Colonel (retired)
Kevin Zeese, co-founder and Executive Director,
Voters for Peace
Documentary FILM called "WIKI REBELS" made by Public TV
in Sweden (!) - recommended and available at www.KPFK.org
Bradley Manning Defense
SM-VENICE ACTION MEETING
SATURDAY JANUARY 8th
Location TBA
www.pdwamerica@gmail.com
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Wikileaks Exposes American Empire
War. Wikileaks. Protest: New Evidence Demands End to Wars
By Medea Benjamin, Leslie Cagan, Tim Carpenter, Gael Murphy,
Cindy Sheehan, David Swanson, Debra Sweet
While only a tiny fraction of the U.S. diplomatic cables scheduled for publication by Wikileaks have thus far been made available, some conclusions can already be drawn. These cables and the Iraq and Afghan War Diaries provide an opportunity for Americans to see our government for what it is. Our government is seen here as controlling a global military and espionage empire that impacts every region of the globe and deceives its own population. Secrecy, spying, and hostility have infected our entire government, turning the diplomatic corps into an arm of the CIA and the military, just as the civilian efforts in Afghanistan are described by Richard Holbrooke, who heads them up, as "support for the military."
Secret war planning, secret wars, and lies about wars have become routine. The United States is secretly and illegally engaged in a war in Yemen and has persuaded that nation's government to lie about it. The United States has supported a coup in Honduras and lied about it. We have long known that the war on terrorism was increasing, rather than diminishing, terrorism. These leaks show Saudi Arabia to be the greatest sponsor of terrorism, and show that nation's dictator, King Abdullah, to be very close to our own government in its treatment of prisoners. He has urged the United States to implant microchips in prisoners released from Guantanamo. And he has urged the United States to illegally and aggressively attack Iran. Congress should immediately block what would be the largest weapons sale in U.S. history, selling this country $60 billion in weapons.
Congress should drop any idea of "updating" the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force to permit presidents to unconstitutionally launch more wars.
We see what sort of wars our allies urge on our presidents.
We learn that while dictators urge war, other branches of the same governments, the people, and the evidence weigh against it. We learn from a cable from last February that Russia has refuted U.S. claims that Iran has missiles that could target Europe. We learn from September 2009 that the United States and Britain planned to pressure Yukiya Amano, the then incoming head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to produce reports suggesting Iranian nuclear developments, whether or not merited by the facts, and that National Security Adviser Gen. Jim Jones proposed the propaganda strategy of baselessly tying Iran's nuclear program to North Korea's.
Much of the pressure for war appears to come from within the United States, whose representatives treat the entire world as a hostile enemy to be spied on, lied to, and exploited. The secrecy that permits this behavior must be broken if the United States' approach to the world is to change. Those who have helped to fulfill President Obama's campaign promise of transparency must be protected from his vengeance, while those who have abused positions of diplomatic trust to advance agendas of espionage and war planning must be held accountable.
While other countries may offer residency and protection to Wikileaks' Julian Assange, it is the United States that has most benefitted from his work. We encourage U.S. cities to offer him sanctuary. Our Department of Justice has granted immunity for aggressive War, kidnapping, torture, assassination, and warrantless spying, while pursuing the criminal prosecution of Bradley Manning for allegedly leaking materials to Wikileaks. Were our government to indict Assange or support the extradition or rendition of Assange from anywhere in the world to Sweden, while maintaining that his work and not the Pentagon's has endangered us, our nation's moral standing would reach a new low. Our government should cease any actions it is taking to prosecute Julian Assange for absurd criminal charges, to pressure Sweden to do so, or to sabotage Wikileaks' servers.
Coverups of leaks have a history in Washington of backfiring in the form of larger leaks and scandals. Our State Department should focus on diplomacy and mutually beneficial partnerships with the world community.The undersigned express our gratitude to those doing the job a representative government and an independent media are each supposed to do. We demand an end to all overt and covert wars, a ban on the use of State Department employees and contractors in spying or warfare, and a full investigation of the facts revealed in the Wikileaks cables.
We support the Protest of our current wars planned for December 16th, 10 a.m., at the White House.
Signed
Medea Benjamin, Leslie Cagan, Tim Carpenter, Gael Murphy, Cindy Sheehan, David Swanson, Debra Sweet, Ann Wright, Kevin Zeese
By Medea Benjamin, Leslie Cagan, Tim Carpenter, Gael Murphy,
Cindy Sheehan, David Swanson, Debra Sweet
While only a tiny fraction of the U.S. diplomatic cables scheduled for publication by Wikileaks have thus far been made available, some conclusions can already be drawn. These cables and the Iraq and Afghan War Diaries provide an opportunity for Americans to see our government for what it is. Our government is seen here as controlling a global military and espionage empire that impacts every region of the globe and deceives its own population. Secrecy, spying, and hostility have infected our entire government, turning the diplomatic corps into an arm of the CIA and the military, just as the civilian efforts in Afghanistan are described by Richard Holbrooke, who heads them up, as "support for the military."
Secret war planning, secret wars, and lies about wars have become routine. The United States is secretly and illegally engaged in a war in Yemen and has persuaded that nation's government to lie about it. The United States has supported a coup in Honduras and lied about it. We have long known that the war on terrorism was increasing, rather than diminishing, terrorism. These leaks show Saudi Arabia to be the greatest sponsor of terrorism, and show that nation's dictator, King Abdullah, to be very close to our own government in its treatment of prisoners. He has urged the United States to implant microchips in prisoners released from Guantanamo. And he has urged the United States to illegally and aggressively attack Iran. Congress should immediately block what would be the largest weapons sale in U.S. history, selling this country $60 billion in weapons.
Congress should drop any idea of "updating" the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force to permit presidents to unconstitutionally launch more wars.
We see what sort of wars our allies urge on our presidents.
We learn that while dictators urge war, other branches of the same governments, the people, and the evidence weigh against it. We learn from a cable from last February that Russia has refuted U.S. claims that Iran has missiles that could target Europe. We learn from September 2009 that the United States and Britain planned to pressure Yukiya Amano, the then incoming head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to produce reports suggesting Iranian nuclear developments, whether or not merited by the facts, and that National Security Adviser Gen. Jim Jones proposed the propaganda strategy of baselessly tying Iran's nuclear program to North Korea's.
Much of the pressure for war appears to come from within the United States, whose representatives treat the entire world as a hostile enemy to be spied on, lied to, and exploited. The secrecy that permits this behavior must be broken if the United States' approach to the world is to change. Those who have helped to fulfill President Obama's campaign promise of transparency must be protected from his vengeance, while those who have abused positions of diplomatic trust to advance agendas of espionage and war planning must be held accountable.
While other countries may offer residency and protection to Wikileaks' Julian Assange, it is the United States that has most benefitted from his work. We encourage U.S. cities to offer him sanctuary. Our Department of Justice has granted immunity for aggressive War, kidnapping, torture, assassination, and warrantless spying, while pursuing the criminal prosecution of Bradley Manning for allegedly leaking materials to Wikileaks. Were our government to indict Assange or support the extradition or rendition of Assange from anywhere in the world to Sweden, while maintaining that his work and not the Pentagon's has endangered us, our nation's moral standing would reach a new low. Our government should cease any actions it is taking to prosecute Julian Assange for absurd criminal charges, to pressure Sweden to do so, or to sabotage Wikileaks' servers.
Coverups of leaks have a history in Washington of backfiring in the form of larger leaks and scandals. Our State Department should focus on diplomacy and mutually beneficial partnerships with the world community.The undersigned express our gratitude to those doing the job a representative government and an independent media are each supposed to do. We demand an end to all overt and covert wars, a ban on the use of State Department employees and contractors in spying or warfare, and a full investigation of the facts revealed in the Wikileaks cables.
We support the Protest of our current wars planned for December 16th, 10 a.m., at the White House.
Signed
Medea Benjamin, Leslie Cagan, Tim Carpenter, Gael Murphy, Cindy Sheehan, David Swanson, Debra Sweet, Ann Wright, Kevin Zeese
NO Pemanent Bases in Afghanistan
Oakland, CA Congress Membe Barbara Lee Responds to GOP Senator Lindsey Graham's Endorsement of Permanent U.S. Bases in Afghanistand
“I am appalled by Senator Graham’s comments supporting the indefinite presence of U.S. armed forces in Afghanistan. “Both the House and Senate
have passed, and President Obama has signed intolaw, on multiple occasions, legislation including provisions I authored prohibiting the establishment of permanent U.S. military bases in Afghanistan. “Rather than advocating for a permanent extension of the costly and counterproductive military occupation of Afghanistan, it is time to finally end America’s longest war and bring our men and women in uniform home.
“I will continue my work in Congress to ensure the United States lives up toPresident Obama’s pledge that ‘we do not want to keep our troops inAfghanistan. We seek no military bases there.’”
Congress Member Barbara Lee
Nicole Y. Williams
Communications Director
The Honorable Barbara Lee (CA-9)
2444 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 226-0323 (Direct)
(202) 579-1925 (Cell)
(202) 225-9817 (Fax)
**www.lee.house.gov *
“I am appalled by Senator Graham’s comments supporting the indefinite presence of U.S. armed forces in Afghanistan. “Both the House and Senate
have passed, and President Obama has signed intolaw, on multiple occasions, legislation including provisions I authored prohibiting the establishment of permanent U.S. military bases in Afghanistan. “Rather than advocating for a permanent extension of the costly and counterproductive military occupation of Afghanistan, it is time to finally end America’s longest war and bring our men and women in uniform home.
“I will continue my work in Congress to ensure the United States lives up toPresident Obama’s pledge that ‘we do not want to keep our troops inAfghanistan. We seek no military bases there.’”
Congress Member Barbara Lee
Nicole Y. Williams
Communications Director
The Honorable Barbara Lee (CA-9)
2444 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 226-0323 (Direct)
(202) 579-1925 (Cell)
(202) 225-9817 (Fax)
**www.lee.house.gov *
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