Rogue State

After the Manning verdict, four big issues remain untouched

"Mr. Manning’s lawyer, David Coombs, was ambiguous: 'We won the battle, now we need to go win the war... Today is a good day, but Bradley is by no means out of the fire.' WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, himself a fugitive and holed up in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, described the verdict on Twitter as 'dangerous national security extremism.' If reflecting on what to make of the verdict seems difficult, consider this. The most critical issues of public policy raised by the Manning case have yet to be broached." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAfter the Manning verdict, four big issues remain untouched

Guilty of Aiding the American People

"The 'aiding the enemy' accusation presumed that Manning’s distribution of classified material assisted al Qaeda. Actually, the information helps Americans by exposing U.S. war criminality. War criminality ranks among the most important types of government wrongdoing warranting transparency. We cannot debate foreign policy without knowing about its indecencies. What U.S. forces do abroad can endanger Americans at home. Some see the leaks, not the crimes, as the true scandal, but the Muslim and Arab world already know of these atrocities. The American people need to understand what U.S. occupations are like." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGuilty of Aiding the American People

Jacob Hornberger: The Real Criminals Under Our National-Security State System

"People Who Are Considered Heroes by the National-Security State: 1. The officials who devised the scheme that plunged America into the illegal world of torture. 2. The officials who actually committed the crime of torture. 3. The officials who induced private telecommunication firms to engage in illegal monitoring of their customer’s telephone calls. 4. The officials who devised the scheme that plunged America into the illegal world of assassination. 5. The officials who have actually committed the assassinations. 6. The officials who devised the scheme to establish a Constitution-free torture and indefinite-incarceration zone at Guantanamo Bay. [...]" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJacob Hornberger: The Real Criminals Under Our National-Security State System

U.S. allowed Italian kidnap prosecution to shield higher-ups, ex-CIA officer says

"A former CIA officer has broken the U.S. silence around the 2003 abduction of a radical Islamist cleric in Italy, charging that the agency inflated the threat the preacher posed and that the United States then allowed Italy to prosecute her and other Americans to shield President George W. Bush and other U.S. officials from responsibility for approving the operation. De Sousa is one of only a handful of former CIA officers who’ve spoken openly about the secret renditions in which suspected terrorists overseas were abducted without legal proceedings and then interrogated by other nations’ security services. More than 130 people were 'rendered' in this way." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. allowed Italian kidnap prosecution to shield higher-ups, ex-CIA officer says

J’ACCUSE … !

"I address you as 'president' only as a concession to popular convention. In truth, your claimed authority is a fraud, and your actual status is that of defendant in the matter of the persecution of Bradley Manning. It was clear to all who cared to notice that Manning is no criminal but rather the worthy nemesis of a crime syndicate formally headed by yourself. He was wrongfully arrested, illegally detained without charge for a period far in excess of the legally prescribed maximums, and finally and illegally put on trial not for his alleged criminal acts but for exposing your crimes and the crimes of your gang, 'the government of the United States.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJ’ACCUSE … !

What we know thanks to Bradley Mannning’s leaks to WikiLeaks

"Bradley Manning, a 25-year-old US private, downloaded more than 700,000 classified documents from US military servers and passed them to WikiLeaks. The Guardian was one of several news organisations to publish a series of stories based on the contents of the files. Below are 10 of the most revelatory." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhat we know thanks to Bradley Mannning’s leaks to WikiLeaks

The Bradley Manning verdict is still bad news for the press

"The public needs to awaken to the threat to its own freedoms from the Obama crackdown on leaks and, by extension, journalism and free speech itself. We are, more and more, a society where unaccountable people can commit unspeakable acts with impunity. They are creating a surveillance state that makes not just dissent, but knowledge itself, more and more dangerous. What we know about this is entirely due to leakers and their outlets. Ignorance is only bliss for the unaccountable." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Bradley Manning verdict is still bad news for the press

Statement by Julian Assange on Verdict in Bradley Manning Court-Martial

"Today Bradley Manning, a whistleblower, was convicted by a military court at Fort Meade of 19 offences for supplying the press with information, including five counts of ’espionage’. He now faces a maximum sentence of 136 years. The ’aiding the enemy’ charge has fallen away. It was only included, it seems, to make calling journalism ’espionage’ seem reasonable. It is not. Bradley Manning’s alleged disclosures have exposed war crimes, sparked revolutions, and induced democratic reform. He is the quintessential whistleblower. This is the first ever espionage conviction against a whistleblower. It is a dangerous precedent." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingStatement by Julian Assange on Verdict in Bradley Manning Court-Martial

The Manning Show Trial: These Teachable Moments

"I’m shocked — shocked! — that Colonel Denise Lind, the military judge who ruled in February that Bradley Manning could be tried on various charges even after being held prior to arraignment for more than five times the absolute longest time specified in the US Armed Forces’ 'speedy trial' rules, has now also ruled that Manning can be convicted of aiding an enemy that does not exist. Yes, you read that right: There’s only an 'enemy' to aid, in any legal sense, if the United States is at war, a state created by a congressional declaration. There’s been no such declaration since World War II. Lind had only one legal duty as judge in this case: To dismiss all charges." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Manning Show Trial: These Teachable Moments

Internet Society Statement on the Importance of Open Global Dialogue Regarding Online Privacy

"The Internet Society has noted recent revelations regarding the apparent scope of U.S. government efforts to gather large amounts of end user information from U.S. Internet and telecom service providers for intelligence purposes. We are deeply concerned that the unwarranted collection, storage and potential correlation of user data will undermine many of the key principles and relationships of trust upon which the global Internet has been built. The Internet Society strongly believes that real security can only be realized within a broader context of trust and the respect of fundamental rights, such as privacy.." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingInternet Society Statement on the Importance of Open Global Dialogue Regarding Online Privacy