The following
is a press release issued by the ANSWER Coalition on Aug. 8
Supporters of Private Bradley Manning had a rally and march
today at Quantico Marine Base in Virginia. Manning, who was arrested and
charged with releasing a graphic videotape showing killing of civilians and
journalists in Iraq, is in prison at Quantico Marine Base.
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The demonstration was called by numerous organizations,
including the ANSWER Coalition, Code Pink, Courage to Resist, March Forward!,
IVAW-DC, Veterans for Peace, and others.
Speaking at the rally today in Quantico, Va, Andrew Castro
of the ANSWER Coalition said:
“We stand here today in defense of all those who dare to
tell or reveal the truth about a criminal war. During the Vietnam War, the
government wanted to send Daniel Ellsberg to jail for releasing the Pentagon
Papers, which proved that the government had lied to the people about the war.
But the American people realized that Ellsberg was right and the war was wrong,
and the protests against the war intensified.
“Forty years after the release of the Pentagon Papers, the
government is now trying to criminalize, intimidate and repress those who tell
the truth about U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. The White House and
the Pentagon brass want to send a threatening message to all rank-and-file
soldiers who are witnessing or learning of atrocities, and who want to expose
both these crimes and the government’s lies about the war. All of us are here
today to demand freedom for Bradley Manning.”
Bradley Manning is a 22-year-old soldier who was
stationed in Iraq. He was arrested and has been held incommunicado for months.
He is charged with releasing a graphic video of an attack in April 2007 by a
U.S. Apache helicopter that killed a group of journalists and civilians. The
Pentagon had refused to release the video of the attack, which had been
requested in a Freedom of Information Act request by Reuters news service. Two
Reuters employees were killed, numerous civilians were massacred and two
children were severely wounded in the attack. The video became a major scandal
when it was released by WikiLeaks. Manning is now imprisoned at the Marine Base
in Quantico, Va.
News reports suggest that Bradley Manning may be charged
with the release of the 75,000 documents that WikiLeaks posted on its website
recently. Those documents paint a grim picture of the repeated killing of
Afghan civilians in a deteriorating military occupation by U.S. and other
foreign forces.
