WikiLeaks, the Abu Ghraib prison photos, the reports from Guantanamo Bay, Red Cross reports of secret prisons, intelligence reports and so many other sources of information show Americans what their government is doing.
Now that we know what the government is doing in our name, Americans must take action to stop it. Knowing the truth and not acting is complicity in their actions. More and more Americans are acting. It is not only the arrest of 131 vets and their supporters that show a rising tide of resistance. We see it in the publishing of documents by WikiLeaks and major media outlets as well as in the independent media around the globe. In the more than 1,000 mirror sites of WikiLeaks set up as the original site was under attack, we see resistance. When more than 100,000 people downloaded the WikiLeaks "insurance policy" and were prepared to release documents if Assange was harmed, it was an act of resistance. It is seen in intelligence officials leaking documents to the New York Times the day before the president spoke on Afghanistan, showing the country that the war is failing despite what the president says. It is seen in Americans organizing for their right to know, and to re-affirm Freedom of the Press, under the banner WikiLeaksIsDemocracy.org. It is also seen in those standing up for Bradley Manning in the Bradley Manning Support Network. Join us.
Do not feel powerless in the face of the American superpower and the manipulated U.S. democracy that prevents real change. It has always been small things that people do that leads to massive change. Everyone reading this can take action to challenge U.S. foreign policy, to help develop the culture of resistance that is essential to change. While the government has a lot of weapons at its disposal, its insecurity is evident in its reaction to the truth. The government shows more than embarrassment, it shows fear -" fear of their own words being exposed and people knowing what they do. Everyday that a truth is revealed, the government looses power and influence. It is a problem of its own making, do not blame the messengers.
And, while the U.S. military is the most powerful in the world, and the U.S. taxpayer spends as much as the whole world combined on weapons and war, everyone knows this truth -" it has not won a significant war in more than 50 years. Now, all this so-called superpower rests on a fragile economy that is in deep collapse and showing no signs of real recovery with a ship of state too dysfunctional to respond to multiple crisis facing the nation and world. The superpower is strong, but weak at the same time. These seem to be the signs of an empire that could collapse at anytime.
As you act, and see others act, more will be emboldened. As Julian Assange said -" "courage is contagious." Be part of spreading courage. Join or organize actions of resistance wherever there is injustice in your workplace, your school or your town. Speak out against war and militarism. Join Operation LeakSpin, review a WikiLeak cable and write about it wherever you can. Join the Bradley Manning Support Network and WikiLeaksIsDemocracy.org. Help build the tidal wave or resistance that will demand real change the change the nation urgently needs.
Kevin Zeese serves on the steering committee of the Bradley Manning Support Network and Voters For Peace, the organization he directs, is the initiator of WikiLeaksIsDemocracy.org.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
