Mass Rally at Ft. Meade, Maryland, Saturday, June 1
Court Martial Begins on Monday, June 3
Military veterans are turning out in force to show support for Chelsea Manning this Saturday, June 1, 1 pm at Fort Meade, Maryland, on the eve of her historic court martial, which begins on Monday. The diminutive 25-year-old Manning, who has acknowledged giving classified Army documents to Wikileaks about U.S. conduct of the wars Iraq and Afghanistan, is facing the possibility of life in prison. In what many people see as “overkill,” the Army has charged her with “Aiding the Enemy,” the most serious of 22 charges.
Veterans For Peace is also organizing local marches and rallies on June 1, including in Seattle, Washington, (2 pm at Westlake Park, march to Victor Steinbreuck Park) and London, England (2 pm rally outside of US Embassy). See contact info for Seattle and London, below. Veterans For Peace and Iraq Veterans Against the War will also participate in International Days of Action, June 1-8, in over 100 cities around the U.S. and worldwide, to demonstrate widespread support for PFC Manning.
What Manning released through Wikileaks was evidence of the routine killing of civilians by US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the routine cover-up of these war crimes. The Iraq War Logs and the Afghan War Diaries also revealed that military and civilian leaders were lying to the U.S. people when they presented rosy assessments of the progress of those wars.
“Chelsea Manning is a hero who wanted to aid the public, not a traitor who wanted to aid the enemy”said Gerry Condon, a spokesperson for Veterans For Peace. “It is a shame that our nation did not pay more attention to the information she shared with us three years ago. Many lives could have been saved - hundreds of Afghani civilians and hundreds of U.S. soldiers.”
PFC Manning has been held in prison for over three years, much of it in solitary confinement and under other abusive treatment, as documented by the United National Special Rapporteur on Torture.
The Army's court martial of Manning, which begins on Monday, is expected to continue throughout the summer, with the prosecution presenting over 100 government witnesses, many of them in secret testimony. Veterans For Peace will participate in a daily vigil outside the front gate of Fort Meade.
The Army's persecution of Chelsea Manning coincides with the Obama Administration's crackdown on whistle-blowers and journalists alike. Over twice as many people are being prosecuted under the 1917 Espionage Act than in all previous administrations combined.
On Thursday, February 28, Manning detailed how she released classified military and government documents to Wikileaks, and she explained why he did so.
“I believed if the public, particularly the American public, could see this it could spark a debate on the military and our foreign policy in general as it applied to Iraq and Afghanistan. It might cause society to reconsider the need to engage in counter terrorism while ignoring the human situation of the people we engaged with every day.... I felt I accomplished something that would allow me to have a clear conscience.”
One of the most moving aspects of Manning’s testimony was her explanation as to why she released the so-called “Collateral Murder” video, which shows the gunning down in Baghdad of two Reuters journalists and bystanders by American soldiers in a US Apache helicopter. Manning described being deeply troubled by the video, especially the crew’s “lack of concern for human life” and lack of “concern for injured children at the scene.”
Veterans For Peace, an international organization with chapters in over 100 cities, demands that the US Army drop all charges against Chelsea Manning and release her from prison immediately.
For more information or interviews with Veterans For Peace, please call
Gerry Condon, VFP Media Coordinator, 206-499-1220
Mike Reid, VFP Executive Director, 314-725-6005
Patrick McCann, VFP President, 240-271-2246
Dan Gilman, Seattle VFP, 206-499-0226 (2 pm rally in Seattle)
Ben Griffin, London, England VFP, 0044 7866 559 312 (2 pm rally in London)