A statement has been released by Chelsea Manning, formally known as Bradley Manning, referencing her recent Sean McBride Peace Prize award.
The Chelsea Manning statement included: 'I don't consider myself anti-war or a conscientious objector'
The full letter be can read here: http://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/oct/09/chelsea-manning-statement-full-document
The full letter be can read here: http://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/oct/09/chelsea-manning-statement-full-document
I have been following the Manning/Wikileaks situation ever since the Guardian published the first of more than 700,000 classified US documents (that should never have been classified to start with ) which had been transmitted to Wikileaks in 2010-11. I have spent months reading through the records and watching video tapes.
What became clearly obvious from the early days was that Chelsea Manning acted with conviction and haste. That what she was witnessing in military documents were so horrendous that she felt compelled to do "something," yet she had no idea what to do. In fact, legally she had to do something. To not act was an illegal act in itself.
She was betwixt the devil and the deep blue sea.
The initial reaction to the release was as explosive as the material itself.
The spin doctors went to work in high gear. Fox news had a number of "shock jocks" demanding that Manning be executed, Congressman Mike Rogers from Michigan and Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said that she should be executed, a "hit" was suggested. A Facebook page appeared gathering momentum demanding her execution.
A barrage of defamatory statements were made by the media and politicians alike about her gender, or height, or weight. It was as if insulting her on a personal level would lessen the severity of the war crimes that she had revealed.
What we learned through Chelsea Manning, was not only the war crimes, some so earth shattering you can hardly watch and breath at the same time.
But that the world still yearns for truth. For every one who wanted to execute a hundred thousands rose up demanding unvarnished truth! The common man has a genuine desire to be told black and white truth. And that desire formed an international movement in defense of the one who stood alone in the US with conviction.
It became a defining moment for humanity. We will never be the same again.
What became clearly obvious from the early days was that Chelsea Manning acted with conviction and haste. That what she was witnessing in military documents were so horrendous that she felt compelled to do "something," yet she had no idea what to do. In fact, legally she had to do something. To not act was an illegal act in itself.
She was betwixt the devil and the deep blue sea.
The initial reaction to the release was as explosive as the material itself.
The spin doctors went to work in high gear. Fox news had a number of "shock jocks" demanding that Manning be executed, Congressman Mike Rogers from Michigan and Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said that she should be executed, a "hit" was suggested. A Facebook page appeared gathering momentum demanding her execution.
A barrage of defamatory statements were made by the media and politicians alike about her gender, or height, or weight. It was as if insulting her on a personal level would lessen the severity of the war crimes that she had revealed.
What we learned through Chelsea Manning, was not only the war crimes, some so earth shattering you can hardly watch and breath at the same time.
But that the world still yearns for truth. For every one who wanted to execute a hundred thousands rose up demanding unvarnished truth! The common man has a genuine desire to be told black and white truth. And that desire formed an international movement in defense of the one who stood alone in the US with conviction.
It became a defining moment for humanity. We will never be the same again.
The Sean McBride Peace Prize can be viewed here: http://www.ipb.org/web/index.php?mostra=content&menu=about%20ipb&submenu=Sean%20MacBride%20Peace%20PrizeInternational Peace Bureau
Every year the IPB awards a special prize to a person or organisation that has done outstanding work for peace, disarmament and/or human rights. These were the principal concerns of Sean MacBride, the distinguished Irish statesman who was Chairman of IPB from 1968-74 and President from 1974-1985. MacBride began his career as a fighter against British colonial rule, studied law and rose to high office in the independent Irish Republic. He was a winner of the Lenin Peace Prize, and also the Nobel Peace Prize (1974) – awarded for his wide-ranging work, which included roles such as co-founder of Amnesty International, Secretary-General of the International Commission of Jurists, and UN Commissioner for Namibia. While at IPB he launched the Bradford Proposals on World Disarmament, which laid the ground for the first UN Special Session on Disarmament, held in 1978.
He also launched the MacBride Appeal against Nuclear Weapons, which gathered the names of over 11,000 international lawyers from all parts of the world, many of them at the very highest level. This effort paved the way for the World Court Project on nuclear weapons, in which IPB played a major role. This resulted in the historic 1996 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Use and Threat of Nuclear Weapons.MacBride died in 1988, but the Prize was not established until 1992, IPB's centenary year.
The award is decided by the IPB Steering Committee. IPB members are welcome to make suggestions and provide background documentation on potential candidates.
The Prize is a non-monetary one, consisting of a medal cast by the California-based company From War to Peace: "We recycle copper from disarmed nuclear missile systems to create Peace Bronze, the most precious metal in our world".
IPB wishes to record its deep appreciation of the contribution made by the Irish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, who have covered the production costs and made the arrangements for the medal every year since the inception of the Prize.
My own opinion is neither here nor there but I am going to give it anyway. I think Chelsea Manning should be released and we should campaign for a section of Leavenworth to be designated the "Political Wing." And we should throw all politicians who lie, deceive, commit illegal acts, or cover up illegal acts into military prison.
For 35 years.
And for that I would be willing to accept 30 lashes..
Bradley Manning Support Network: http://www.bradleymanning.org/
*Title borrowed from Ron Paul
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