From: Michael Whitney, Firedoglake <act@firedoglake.com>
Date: Thu, Mar 3, 2011 at 11:46 AM
Subject: What enemy?
To: Bruce Majors <majors.bruce@gmail.com>
Bruce, The US has essentially declared pro-democracy protesters in the Middle East and North Africa "enemies" of the state. Today, the US Army announced new, more serious charges against accused WikiLeaker Pfc. Bradley Manning, The government is now charging Manning with aiding the enemy - a crime that carries a maximum penalty of life in prison without parole. If the government claims that Manning leaked documents which aided and abetted the enemy, who exactly are they labeling as 'the enemy?' The millions of non-violent, pro-democracy demonstrators in Tunisia and Egypt who overthrew despots, in part sparked by the release of the Wikileaks cables that exposed corruption in their countries? Manning is being charged under military law, which is administered by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. We're calling on Secretary Gates to drop the charges of 'aiding the enemy' so wrongfully leveled against Manning - can you join us? The government's new accusations against Bradley Manning are far beyond what those with which he has already been charged. It's one thing to accuse Manning of leaking information; it's quite another to charge him with helping our enemies. Manning sits alone in his cell for 23 hours a day as a prisoner abused by his own government. Meanwhile, revelations of official corruption and abuse from the cables he allegedly leaked have helped spark a firestorm in the Middle East and North Africa, inspiring popular uprisings to overthrow brutal dictatorships from Tunisia to Libya. To put it in perspective, the government wants to imprison Manning for life as someone who "aided the enemy," when the documents in question helped bring about democratic change in some of the most authoritarian and oppressive countries in the world. The US government has held Manning under restrictions that have kept him in severe isolation for 10 months and counting, as they struggle to bring charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Since they can't make a case against Assange, they are upping the pressure on Manning. All of this takes place as the US struggles to bring charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for merely unearthing embarrassing state cables. Since they can't make a case against Assange, they are upping the pressure on Manning in hopes that prosecuting one will lead to the arrest of the other. Manning's treatment by the US government has been appalling so far, and their latest tact as enemies of pro-democratic movements abroad has taken this saga in a disturbing direction. We must stand up for Manning and the protestors he allegedly inspired abroad. Thanks for all you do. Michael Whitney Firedoglake's community of 350,000 activists is supported by small donations from people like you. Can you chip in to keep us strong? Click here to contribute: This email was sent to: majors.bruce@gmail.com To unsubscribe, go to: http://action.firedoglake.com/unsubscribe |
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