Gosztola: The world is deeply indebted to whomever is responsible for the high-profile WikiLeaks releases in 2010. There is so much more the world knows now, mostly about how the Bush administration was prosecuting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and how it was carrying out daily U.S. diplomatic operations around the world.
Here's a short list of some of what we now know from just the diplomatic cables released: Monsanto got the U.S. to help fight Argentina environmentalists/farmers; the U.S. pushed foreign governments to buy Boeing aircrafts instead of Boeing's European rival, Airbus; the U.S. trained and funded Costa Rican security forces to suppress anti-free-trade agreement protests; Yemen president Ali Abdullah Saleh agreed to cover up U.S. drone strikes; the U.S. and China conspired to block reform on climate change at the Copenhagen talks; the U.S. interfered in Spain's judicial process to prevent U.S. military servicemen from being prosecuted for killing Spanish journalist Jose Couso; and U.S. diplomats were ordered to spy on UN officials.
There are details on war, rendition, torture, extrajudicial killings, prisons and other human rights abuses that could have potentially been kept secret for 30 to 40 years before people in the world found out this information. And then, of course, there's also the fact that the cables Manning is alleged to have released on Tunisia and Egypt are said to have been a catalyst in the uprisings in 2011 that became known as the Arab Spring.
So, the case is important because of the information. It is worth following because of the fact that Manning could be in jail for life because he allegedly released this information. And it is something people should tune into and care about regardless of whether one thinks it is a done deal that Manning will be convicted and imprisoned in some supermax prison for life. People who pay attention now and show support can have an impact on the proceedings. Protests by people in the United States already forced the Pentagon to move him from Quantico. There was no guarantee that would happen. If people stand up as they did then and bring attention to how the government is prosecuting Manning, they could get charges dropped. They could force the government to drop the "aiding the enemy" charge, which would be huge because the government would like nothing more than to put him away in prison and have history remember him as a traitorous individual who betrayed his country after 9/11 and helped al Qaeda by leaking national security secrets. Supporters are certain that Manning is a selfless, courageous individual, and people can help him clear his name by standing up for him now.
Over the past two years, thousands have either donated to the defense fund or given freely of their time to support Pfc. Bradley Manning. The support provided has come in many forms including signing petitions at standwithbrad.org; standing up to say "I am Bradley Manning" (iam.bradleymanning.org); writing to military/government authorities and the editors of local and national papers; attending marches, rallies, and other public events to raise awareness about Bradley Manning; donating to the legal defense fund; or volunteering with the Bradley Manning Support Network and Courage to Resist. For more information on what's happening in Bradley's case and how you can help, go to bradleymanning.org and the website of Bradley's lawyer, David Coombs: http://www.armycourtmartialdefense.info.
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Larry Everest is a correspondent for Revolution newspaper (revcom.us), where this interview* first appeared, and the author of Oil, Power & Empire: Iraq and the U.S. Global Agenda (Common Courage 2004). He can be reached via http://www.larryeverest.org.
* The Revolution Interview: A special feature of Revolution to acquaint our readers with the views of significant figures in art, theater, music and literature, science, sports, and politics. The views expressed by those we interview are, of course, their own; and they are not responsible for the views published elsewhere in our paper.
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