Addressing confusion about Bradley Manning's case 8SEP11

COUNTERING the propaganda campaign by the government and the US military..

Our new article answers some common misconceptions about Bradley's case -- Council of Europe condemns treatment of Bradley Manning -- Please help us continue to advocate for this important whistleblower   Addressing confusion about Bradley Manning's case Our new article answers common misconceptions about Bradley's case-- for those who have just begun, or those who have been following his case for awhile. Here are just a few excerpts from some key points. Please read and share the complete text here. Bradley Manning fits the definition of a whistle-blower (not a traitor). In online discussions attributed to Bradley, he says that he hopes his actions will spur "discussion, debates, and reforms" and that he "want[s] people to know the truth, no matter who they are, because without information you cannot make informed decisions as a public." This is the classic definition of a whistle-blower... more It is inappropriate and abusive to attempt to use the Espionage Act against Bradley Manning. Bradley was given access to classified documents (of various levels of secrecy) as a military intelligence analyst. In the course of doing his job, it appears that he became aware of information that was classified not for legitimate purposes, but for purposes of political convenience... more Did Bradley leak documents "indiscriminately"? Bradley held a Top Secret clearance while working as an army intelligence analyst in Iraq. Yet the vast majority of documents he is accused of leaking consisted of low-level classified documents—about half of the documents were even "unclassified". Of those that were classified, most were simply "Confidential." About 11,000 documents were "Secret." None of the released documents were "Top Secret," the highest classification... more Council of Europe condemns U.S. treatment of Bradley Manning European Human Rights Watchdog Blasts "Cult of Secrecy" Two days ago the Council of Europe issued a draft resolution today condemning a "cult of secrecy" which the human rights organization says has allowed Western security and intelligence services to routinize the concealment of violent crimes and other rights abuses. The Council's Rapporteur, Dick Marty, stressed the "fundamental role" of whistleblowers like PFC Bradley Manning in holding governments accountable for their illegal and unjust behavior. "Bradley Manning acted as a whistleblower and should be treated as such," the report concluded. "We therefore join Amnesty International in expressing our worries as to the treatment he receives." read more Please help us continue to advocate for Bradley Manning! From the earliest days of the Bradley Manning campaign, the mainstream media has painted a false portrait of Bradley.  Bradley is a young working class man who overcame great challenges in his life. If Bradley did what he is accused of, he is a hero who risked everything for justice and transparency, to help make our country live up to its best ideals. But too often the mainstream media has ignored the truths revealed by the WikiLeaks cables. Instead, they focused their stories on Bradley’s sexual history and working-class childhood. The articles about him were filled with gossip, not insights into U.S. foreign policy. And few journalists covered the prolonged solitary confinement Bradley was suffering — conditions which have been likened to torture. Read More. Will Your Help Us Keep the Media Advocacy Work? Donations to the Bradley Manning campaign have dwindled. While at the outset there was a fund specific to the media advocacy for Bradley, the Support Network has had to absorb this expense for several months.  We’ve reached out to major donors to help cover the costs, but so far no one has stepped forward to ensure this effort continues. Our organizational costs are minimal.  We pay hard costs – like postage, website maintenance, and t-shirts – as well as the salaries of two part-time employees. While we sometimes have other costs (like a video or part-time help for big projects), our operating costs are remarkably low because we are mostly volunteers.  Our only major expenses are Bradley’s legal fees and the media advocacy campaign. Covering the costs of the media advocacy work for September and October will necessitate us raising $16,000.  As a network, we’ve previously raised over ten times that much, so we know this is possible.  But we need you. Will you donate today to help us win Bradley’s case in the court of public opinion?  follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend   view email in browser

Powered by YMLP.com

Ex-NSA official Thomas Drake to plead guilty to misdemeanor 9JUN11

THIS is a victory for whistle blowers and the civil rights and civil liberties of all Americans, and more justification for the alleged actions of Bradley Manning. The American people have the right to know of corruption, mismanagement, and violations of our constitution of and by our government, the Obama administration is wasting time and taxpayer dollars by prosecuting honest, patriotic whistle blowers and should be prosecuting the government officials, military commanders and corporations guilty of breaking the law. 

By Ellen Nakashima

Former National Security Agency manager and accused leaker Thomas A. Drake onThursday accepted a plea deal from the government that drops all charges in the indictment, absolves him of mishandling classified information and calls for no prison time.
In exchange, Drake, who could have faced 35 years in prison if he had been convicted of violating the Espionage Act, will plead guilty to a misdemeanor of misusing a government computer to share information with a person unauthorized to receive it.
He will pay no fine, and the maximum probation time he can serve will be capped at one year.
The deal is a victory for Drake, 54, who was indicted in May 2010 for willful retention of “national defense” or classified information, obstruction of justice and making a false statement.
Drake plans to appear in U.S. District Court in Baltimore Friday morning before Judge Richard Bennett to formally enter the plea.
The government’s case against Drake had greatly weakened, and on Wednesday he twice refused to accept offers of a plea bargain, according to people following the case. The trail was set to begin Monday.
Drake turned down a deal to plead guilty to unauthorized retention of classified documents. It was a deal similar to the one accepted in 2005 plea by former national security adviser Samuel R. “Sandy” Berger after he removed and shredded classified material relating to the Clinton administration’s record on terrorism from the National Archives.
“Why should you plead to something you didn’t do?” said Bill Binney, a friend and former colleague who, with Drake, tried to raise concerns about what they saw NSA corruption and constitutional violations. “That’s the whole point. People of character don’t do that.”
Prosecutors informed U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett this week that they would withhold documents they had planned to introduce as evidence to keep from disclosing sensitive technology. Drake is charged with unlawfully retaining classified information at a time when he was in touch with a Baltimore Sun reporter who later chronicled mismanagement at the agency.
The government had used the 1917 Espionage Act, which has been criticized as vague and overbroad, to charge Drake, one of five such cases against alleged leakers under the Obama administration. Drake was not accused of spying, but the law’s provisions criminalize the unauthorized retention of classified material.
The government’s decision to withhold certain documents appeared to complicate prosecutors’ efforts to prove a violation of the act, suggesting that the government might have overreached in using an espionage law to target a suspected leaker.
“By withdrawing several of the exhibits, at least a couple of the counts against Drake will almost certainly need to be dismissed,” Steven Aftergood, a national security expert with the Federation of American Scientists who has followed the case closely since Drake was indicted last year, said before the plea agreement was reached. “It changes the whole dynamic of the prosecution and may even set the stage for settlement or dismissal.”
Aftergood added, “What’s striking is that the government now seems more eager to reach some kind of resolution... It seems like right now the prosecutors are doing more pleading than Mr. Drake is.”
Transparency activists and media experts warn that such prosecutions could stanch the flow of information the public needs to judge policy, and George W. Bush administration officials see the prosecutions as selective — ignoring high-level officials who release sensitive information to advance their personal or policy agendas.
Justice Department spokesman Laura Sweeney declined to comment on the case.
Drake was a senior executive at the NSA — a “senior change leader” — who professed an ambition to change the agency’s insular culture. He became disillusioned with the agency’s handling of major technology programs and concerned that the NSA was needlessly violating Americans’ privacy through a massive surveillance program adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He raised concerns with officials and the inspector general, and later with the reporter, before leaving the agency in 2008.
Leak prosecutions under the Espionage Act had been relatively rare until the Obama administration. Daniel Ellsberg, who gave the Pentagon Papers to a reporter, was the first leaker indicted under the law, but his case ended with a mistrial after government misconduct.
The Obama administration is presiding over five cases involving the act, including those against Pfc. Bradley Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst accused of passing State Department and military war data to the anti-secrecy Web site WikiLeaks; Stephen Kim, a former State Department analyst accused of leaking to a television reporter; and Jeffrey Sterling, a former CIA analyst accused of passing classified information to author and New York Times reporter James Risen.
“Obama is prosecuting whistleblowers who made the kinds of disclosures that he said he wants — contractors bilking the government of billions of dollars,” said Jesselyn Radack, a former Justice Department whistleblower and director of national security at the Government Accountability Project. “That’s what Drake did.”