Daniel Ellsberg, co-founder of the Freedom of the Press
Foundation, leading Americans to stand up against Penatgon war crimes.
(Photo credit: Getty Images)
In one of the nation's most important rights battles in history,
Americans are clashing today with the U.S. military over Pfc. Bradley
Manning's case.
Defying the U.S. military ban on making recordings at Manning’s
pre-trial tribunal at the military court at Fort Meade, on Tuesday,
Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) released Manning’s February
account to the judge, explaining why he exposed military secrets.
FPF is urging other Americans to do the same by embedding the following leaked audio on their websites. (See: Help Spread Bradley Manning's Words Across the Internet)
Speech freedom advocacy group FPF released the audio of Bradley Manning’s testimony about why he leaked secret US government documents to WikiLeaks.
This marks the first time the public has heard Manning's voice since 2010 when he was arrested for exposing U.S. war crimes.
Watch the film Providence below by Laura Poitras,
courtesy of Freedom of the Press Foundation. It is the leaked audio
recording of Bradley Manning describing his response to the July 12,
2007 Baghdad Apache airstrike video that documented U.S. military troops
killing two Reuters journalists.
U.S. Army's 'delightful bloodlust
"We hope this recording will shed light on one of the most secret court
trials in recent history, in which the government is putting on trial a
concerned government employee whose only stated goal was to bring
attention to what he viewed as serious governmental misconduct and
criminal activity," FPF said in a written statement.
This is the first time anyone outside court has heard Manning explain
how and why he gave the Apache helicopter video that became known as Collateral Murder, Afghanistan and Iraq Wars Logs, and State Department Diplomatic Cables to WikiLeaks.
In the audio, one can hear Manning's firm belief that what he
identifies as US government wrongdoings need to be exposed to “spark a
domestic debate on the role of the military and our foreign policy in
general as it related to Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Regarding the Collateral Murder video, showing U.S. Apache
helicopters opening fire on and killing civilians, including Reuters
journalists, Manning said, “The most alarming aspect of the video to me,
however, was the seemingly delightful bloodlust they appeared to have.”
Pentagon works harder to cover up war crimes
Due to recording prohibited at Manning’s hearings, the Pentagon is now
pursuing measures to strengthen security and prevent information leaks
from the trial, according to Russia Today:
Military judge Denise Lind, who is trying Manning’s case, has been
informed by the Department of Defense that there was "a violation of the
rules for the court," a spokesman said in a statement sent to AFP, and
that the “US Army is currently reviewing the procedures set in place to
safeguard the security and integrity of the legal proceedings and ensure
PFC Manning receives a fair and impartial trial.”
Daniel Ellsberg is a co-founder of the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
Freedom of the Press Foundation board members
include writers and advocates for the human and Constitutional rights
to press freedom and transparency. Some of these are Guardian columnist
Glenn Greenwald, actor and activist John Cusack, Boing Boing co-editor
Xeni Jardin, Free Press' Josh Stearns, and documentary filmmaker Laura
Poitras.
Rainey Reitman, founder of a support network for suspected WikiLeaks
leaker Bradley Manning, serves as FPF chief operating officer.
It's been "disappointing" that major news organizations, many of whom
utilized WikiLeaks documents, did not strongly support FPF as "they were
having their financial livelihood taken away from them," said FPF's
Trevor Timm.
Bradley Manning, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee
On Feb. 1, the entire parliamentary group of The Movement in the
Icelandic Parliament, the Pirates of the EU; representatives from the
Swedish Pirate Party, and former Secretary of State in Tunisia for Sport
& Youth nominated Private Bradley Manning for the Nobel Peace
Prize.
"The lengthy personal statement to the pre-trial hearing February 28th
by Bradley Manning in his own words validate that his motives were for
the greater good of humankind," his nominees say.
The nomination statement includes:
Manning is a soldier in the United States army who stands accused
of releasing hundreds of thousands of documents to the whistleblower
website WikiLeaks. The leaked documents pointed to a long history of
corruption, war crimes, and a lack of respect for the sovereignty of
other democratic nations by the United States government in
international dealings.
These revelations have fueled democratic uprisings around the
world, including a democratic revolution in Tunisia. According to
journalists, his alleged actions helped motivate the democratic Arab
Spring movements, shed light on secret corporate influence on the
foreign and domestic policies of European nations, and most recently
contributed to the Obama Administration agreeing to withdraw all
U.S.troops from the occupation in Iraq.
Bradley Manning has been incarcerated for more then 1000 days by
the U.S. Government. He spent over ten months of that time period in
solitary confinement, conditions which expert worldwide have criticized
as torturous. Juan Mendez, the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on
Torture and Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, has
repeatedly requested and been denied a private meeting with Manning to
assess his conditions.
The documents made public by WikiLeaks should never have been kept
from public scrutiny. The revelations – including video documentation of
an incident in which American soldiers gunned down Reuters journalists
in Iraq – have helped to fuel a worldwide discussion about the overseas
engagements of the United States, civilian casualties of war and rules
of engagement. Citizens worldwide owe a great debt to the WikiLeaks
whistleblower for shedding light on these issues, and so we urge the
Committee to award this prestigious prize to accused whistleblower
Bradley Manning.
We can already be reasonably certain that Bradley Manning will not
have a fair trial as the head of State, the USA President Mr. Barack
Obama, stated over a year ago on record that Manning is guilty.
Private First Class Manning, 25, has been held and tortured in U.S. military custody since he was arrested in May 2010.
He pleaded guilty to 10 of the 22 charges set against him. The prosecution still intends to pursue the 12 remaining charges.
If convicted, Manning could face 20 years in jail.
See Help Spread Bradley Manning's Words Across the Internet to embed the full audio, plus excerpts from the audio, on your website, or use the embed code provided above.
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