Only pic I want to see of this pos is him swinging from a noose. On Thu, Aug 19, 2010 at 8:41 PM, dick thompson <[email protected]>wrote:
> > Aug 19, 5:35 PM EDT > > Antiwar activists rally around soldier suspected of leaking classified > material to WikiLeaks > > By DAVID DISHNEAU > Associated Press Writer > [image: AP > Photo]<http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/photos/E/e394c2ac-f21a-45ca-9ce5-b05f6068689f.html?SITE=OHMOU&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT> > AP Photo > Advertisement > Buy AP Photo Reprints > <http://pictopia.com/perl/gal?provider_id=38> > > HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) -- The Army private suspected in one of the largest > unauthorized disclosures of classified information in U.S. history has > become a hero to many anti-war activists who have joined an international > effort to free him. > > At demonstrations this month in New York, Oklahoma City and Quantico, Va., > where Army Pfc. Bradley Manning is being held, dozens of supporters have > shouted that "Blowing the whistle on war crimes is not a crime." > > The same slogan appears beside Manning's smiling face on buttons and > posters offered by Courage to Resist, an Oakland, Calif.-based support group > for U.S. troops who refuse to fight. The group has raised about $45,000 from > nearly 750 people in 18 countries to help pay for a civilian defense lawyer > for Manning, project director Jeff Paterson said. > > "I think we have an imperative to support those people who've seen the > horrors of battle and want to share that reality with the American people," > Paterson said. > > Manning, 22, a former intelligence analyst in Baghdad, faces possible > court-martial on charges that he illegally downloaded classified material. > If tried and convicted, he could be sentenced to 52 years in prison. > > The material he allegedly leaked included 2007 video of a laughing U.S. > Apache helicopter crew gunning down 11 men who were later found to include a > Reuters news photographer and his driver. The Pentagon concluded the troops > acted appropriately. > > The video was posted in April on WikiLeaks, a self-professed whistleblower > website, and labeled "Collateral Murder." > > The Pentagon suspects Manning is also the source of 77,000 classified > Afghan war reports that WikiLeaks posted in July and 15,000 more such > documents that WikiLeaks says it intends to publish in coming weeks. U.S. > officials say the disclosures have endangered innocent people or > confidential informants. > > Manning, a Crescent, Okla., native who lived in Potomac, Md., before > joining the Army, has been assigned military lawyers who declined to comment > on the charges. He has not yet retained a civilian attorney. > > He was arrested in May after telling an online confidant, who later turned > him in to authorities, that he had sent classified information to WikiLeaks. > > Some consider Manning's alleged actions treasonous. Rep. Mike Rogers, > R-Mich., has said that if Manning is charged and convicted of leaking the > Afghan war documents, he should be executed for aiding the enemy. > > But JoAnna Pease, 27, a graduate student in women's studies from Venice, > Calif., said watching the Apache helicopter video made her want more > unvarnished facts about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. > > "Somebody needed to stand up and provide this information," she said. > "Regardless of who it is, they're really more an American hero than any sort > of criminal." > > Pease and 28-year-old Laraine Reitman, a San Diego writer, are steering > committee members of the Bradley Manning Support Network, launched by Mike > Gogulski, a U.S. citizen living in Bratislava, Slovakia. Neither woman > considered herself an anti-war activist before seeing the helicopter video; > now they find themselves plotting strategy alongside seasoned demonstrators > like Paterson and Gerry Condon, a Vietnam-era war protester who heads the > Seattle branch of Veterans for Peace. > > Some of the causes Manning embraced haven't embraced him. He told his > online confidant, former computer hacker Adrian Lamo, "I want people to see > the truth ... because without information, you cannot make informed > decisions as a public," according to their chat logs. > > But open-records advocates don't necessarily support Manning. Steven > Aftergood, who heads a project on government secrecy at the Federation of > American Scientists, said WikiLeaks has been indiscriminate in releasing the > Afghan war logs - and that Manning, if he is the source, would bear some > responsibility for that. > > A U.S. crackdown on WikiLeaks could hurt freedom-of-information reform > efforts, he said. > > "Any tools that are used against WikiLeak are likely to be used against > other organizations and media outlets, and that would do long-term damage to > freedom of the press," Aftergood said. > > Manning expressed support on his Facebook page for gay rights including > Repeal the Ban, which seeks to end the "don't ask, don't tell" policy on > homosexuals serving in the military. > > But the American Veterans For Equal Rights, which also opposes "don't ask, > don't tell," says Manning is a traitor. > > "The guy is disturbed and it's not because he's gay," said Denny Meyer, the > group's national spokesman. "If he were sentenced to death, I'd volunteer to > pull the trigger." > > © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be > published, broadcast, rewritten or > redistributed.<http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_WIKILEAKS_SAVING_PRIVATE_MANNING?SITE=OHMOU&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT#89fb0622-a643-48e9-b861-ff2909647f63>Learn > more about our Privacy > Policy <http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/privacy> and Terms of > Use<http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/terms> > . > [image: [Get Copyright Permissions]]Click here for copyright > permissions! <http://license.icopyright.net/3.5721?icx_id=D9HMQ79G0> > Copyright 2008 Associated Press > > > <http://oascentral.hosted.ap.org/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/OHMOU.hosted.ap.org/NATIONAL/501147475/x02/default/empty.gif/474f2b55646b786b6431494142437746?x> > > -- > Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. > For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum > > * Visit our other community at > http://www.PoliticalForum.com/<http://www.politicalforum.com/> > * It's active and moderated. 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