Bradley Manning: Wikileaks hero was outspoken at school

The child was father to the man even back at school. Bradley Manning, perhaps the real hero of the massive Wikileaks saga, was outspoken in his challenge of authority as a schoolboy in Wales, according to a Channel 4 News report. He'd stand up for what he thought was important and knew he would "right a big wrong" one day.

Manning moved to Wales from the US in 2001 at 13, later joining the army where his impressive computer skills put him at the heart of government skullduggery as an intelligence analyst. Disillusioned with what he found there, such as the Iraq video designated "Collateral Murder", he released a repository of classified foreign policy so that the public could make informed decisions.

Prometheus was an ancient Greek mythical character, a Titan who stole the secret of fire from the gods and gave it to humanity, and was then punished by having his liver pecked out every day by an eagle, growing back each night so his torture was never-ending. In the same way, Bradley's prospects are looking pretty grim what with the American eagle being so mightily pissed off.

His fearless attitude is needed even more now that the large swathes of the media opinionati still in thrall to our political masters slip the truth a rohypnol, rationalising outrages and naturalising horrors. In Britain and the UK, with any luck, the student protests will be a fertile ground for Bradley's brand of integrity and idealism to take root once more.

Website: bradleymanning.org

Jack Of Kent speaks to Mark Stephens, Julian Assange's lawyer.

Glenn Greenwald on Manning being kept in inhuman conditions in Salon.com.

Free Assange: China should nominate Wikileaks founder for Nobel Prize

"FREE JULIAN ASSANGE!" declaims my mate Gauche on Facebook, to which the reply, surely, can only be, "... with every packet of condoms."

"Try our new Assange range. So featherweight, you'll never know it's on."

With US politicians calling for Wikileaks whistleblowing founder Julian Assange to be abducted and assassinated and not necessarily in that order, and his current incarceration in Her Majesty's Wandsworth Prison for alleged todger offences, one way or another this blond beast is being brought down for his Promethean release into the public domain of knowledge about the behaviour and attitudes of the people we pay for. At least he's not getting his liver pecked out every day by the US eagle, but don't tell Sarah Palin and start giving her ideas ... even if she does need a few.

It's like we've switched realities or someone has put a hallucinogen in the water supply. Or perhaps we're in the Matrix and this is the best story the system controllers can come up with: a sub-James Bond plot as life imitates schlock. There's even a sex subplot and a fine treacherous role for Sharon Stone as cooked up by Joe Esterhas in five coke-frenzied minutes.

Meanwhile, back at the funny farm: in another bit of cold war gamesmanship, Chinese Charter 8 dissident Liu Xiaobo gets his Nobel Peace Prize in a couple of days, joining that noble Nobel firmament of famous peaceniks such as Henry Kissinger and Tony Blair. While it is an utter disgrace that he should be imprisoned for disseminating ideas that challenge the government – and his wife shouldn't be banged up, either – I'd like to know exactly for which services to world peace Liu is being honoured.

I was hoping that China would nominate Julian Assange, as he really does seem to have ruffled hawkish feathers around the globe. But the Chinese have gone one better and created their own ceremony: the Confucius Peace Prize. Nominees include Bill Clinton (Somalia!), Bill Gates (oh dear!) and the Panchen Llama (cue Dalai hissy-fit). But they do seem to have missed a trick here and ignored the West's most persecuted dissident.

Which brings me back to America. In a further irony, the US will be hosting Press Freedom Day in 2011. Wow. ONE WHOLE DAY!

China should offer Julian Assange political asylum.

UPDATE: Tariq Ali on Liu Xiaobo.

For the record, Liu Xiaobo has stated publicly that in his view:
(a) China's tragedy is that it wasn't colonised for at least 300 years by a Western power or Japan. This would apparently have civilised it for ever;

(b) The Korean and Vietnam wars fought by the US were wars against totalitarianism and enhanced Washington's 'moral credibility';

(c) Bush was right to go to war in Iraq and Senator Kerry's criticisms were 'slander-mongering';

(d) Afghanistan? No surprises here: Full support for Nato's war.

China should offer Julian Assange political asylum: Wikileaks dissident persecution

So the powers that be are circling like whitetip sharks at a Sharm el-Sheikh eat-all-u-can scuba feast, and are about to round up Julian Assange (thought to be hiding out in South East England — my bet's Brighton) on an extraordinary charge of refusing to wear a condom during consensual sex.

There must be many blokes out there shuddering at the thought of their own irresponsible sex-lives and fearing the midnight knock at the door. Wimmin, ladies, gurls, if you really care about Julian and freedom of information, go to Sweden with a sweetie, have unprotected sex and then shop your beau to the authorities, yelling, "I am Spartacus. And so is he. We shall not rubber up." Clog up the machinery, bruthas and sistahs.

China should give the Wikileaks dissident political asylum before he is arrested on trumped-up rape charges. (More about the charming Ms Anna Ardin and her unfortunate CIA connections here and here.) So what if he stirred it up between China and its spoilt child, North Korea? Offering asylum promises a few laughs and an embarrassment of riches — or a treasure trove of embarrassment.

Amazon and PayPal have played politics with their business, dumping their client, and now the Swiss Post Office has shut down one of Julian's bank accounts (this is Switzerland, fer cryin' out loud) — so much for market forces. Presidential hopeful Sarah Palin calls for him to be hunted down like a bear-shoot from a helicopter, and senior Republican Mick Huckabee demands his execution. Thank heavens I don't live in China where they shut down internet dissidents and freedom of speech.

What's the betting that the next Bond movie has a pussy-stroking villain eerily similar to our eccentric Antipodean idealist? (That pussy will get you into trouble every time!)

Talk about breaking a butterfly on a wheel.

UPDATE Tuesday 7th Dec 2010: Julian Assange has been arrested. It'll take a couple of days for the UK courts to decide whether or not he has a case to answer and whether he'll be extradited. Given the pressure from the US, it'll be a brave judge who frees him.

No condom Assange sex smear.

UPDATE 2: An interesting comment by Harpy Marx with links to some strong counterarguments, such as at Feministe.

China should nominate Assange for Nobel Peace Prize.

Wikileaks Assange sex smear: no condom or not taking no for an answer?

"I'm not bovvered." The Swedish prosecution puts up an appallingly weak defence in the above Al Jazeera interview. Has to be seen to be believed.

More about the dropped sex charge against Julian Assange raising suspicion that this is the US authorities pursuing their vendetta through dirty tricks.

Consensual sex may have taken a turn when Assange neglected to use a condom. Amid subsequent health checks and accusations, Assange was never asked for his side of the story.

At the moment, I'm hoping this intelligent and socially-aware man did not coerce his partners into having unprotected sex — which is a far cry from rape but a violation nevertheless. I'm waiting to see if he emerges as yet one more progressive figure who can't apply his high principles to his personal life, with the likes of whom I have found the left to be littered. Certainly, the timing is most convenient for the Pentagon. Julian, I am willing you to come through this with your reputation intact, because I can't imagine someone in your position being so stupid as to do what these women have claimed. And we need people like you.

In Nick Davies's report, Assange says, "I never, neither in Sweden nor in any other country, had sex with someone in a way that is not built on total consent from both sides." On the other hand, one of the two women says he "has a twisted attitude to women and a problem with taking 'no' for an answer." I do question, though, why these women who purport to be supporters and who freely entered into sexual contact with him exactly at a time when he is a hunted man, are wreaking maximum destruction. It's not as if he has a track-record in these matters. Prosecutors are due to decide today on their immediate course of action.

However it turns out, damage has been done to the man who has done more than most to expose the hypocritical murderous wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Cui bono?

UPDATE: NYT report here. If it does transpire that Assange was merely a two-timing creep who got caught out by his lovers, then the women are not only guilty of trivialising serious misogyny and are no sistahs in any definition of mine, but they have discredited a courageous organisation which is trying to halt mass murder.

UPDATE: From Craig Murray, no stranger to the sex smear himself.

The women's story.

Anna Ardin:alleged links with CIA here and here.

No condom, no freedom? China should offer political asylum to Assange.

Even better, China should nominate Assange for Nobel Peace Prize.

Wikileaks' Julian Assange victim of dirty tricks rape accusation

Utter bastards! We knew US officials were out to get Julian Assange of Wikileaks, a hero of our sad times, but this scrapes the bottom of the barrel and breaks through to a whole new bottom we never knew existed.

One worry was that the US would kidnap Assange through the blandly named "rendition" process for his public service in exposing the murders of civilians in the Afghanistan conflict. But now the Swedes have issued a warrant for the arrest of the Australian for rape! So if they can't shut him up by fair means or foul, the authorities will smear his reputation in a plot riffing on The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

John Pilger documents Assange's brave work in a recent article:

In file after file, the brutalities echo the colonial past. From Malaya and Vietnam to Bloody Sunday and Basra, little has changed. The difference is that today there is an extraordinary way of knowing how faraway societies are routinely ravaged in our name. WikiLeaks has acquired records of six years of civilian killing in both Afghanistan and Iraq, of which those published in the Guardian are a fraction.

What Pilger makes clear is that Assange held back on papers that would endanger anyone, in the absence of any help from the US authorities who refused to even acknowledge his request to say which files jeopardised people's lives. Because of this, many files are still not in the public domain and yet the very forces who have killed innocent people accuse Assange of endangering lives. How perverse is that?

Read The New Yorker's profile of Julian Assange.

UPDATE: Johan from Sweden has just left a comment here where he says something very interesting:

The two women actually went to police in order to try to make sure Assange was NOT accused of rape!
Because the prosecutors had decided to go for a rape case without asking the supposed victims! This is not the first time prosecutors in Sweden have taken orders from Americans, a similar thing happened with the famous Pirate Bay case some year ago which is a small issue for the US compared to this. What they did that time was to say that the Pirate Bay was full of child porn, even though they couldn't actually find any. Also the standards for sentencing someone for rape have often been criticized in Sweden for not really being appropriate. In many cases the accused has to prove his innocence rather than the other way around. So it's a pretty obvious choice of crime if you want to throw dirt on someone in Sweden.

UPDATE: News is breaking on CNN, Sky and others (16:30 Saturday) that the arrest warrant has been revoked and the prosecutor says there is no reason to believe Assange committed rape.

Wikileaks' Julian Assange victim of dirty tricks rape accusation

Utter bastards! We knew US officials were out to get Julian Assange of Wikileaks, a hero of our sad times, but this scrapes the bottom of the barrel and breaks through to a whole new bottom we never knew existed.

One worry was that the US would kidnap Assange through the blandly named "rendition" process for his public service in exposing the murders of civilians in the Afghanistan conflict. But now the Swedes have issued a warrant for the arrest of the Australian for rape! So if they can't shut him up by fair means or foul, the authorities will smear his reputation in a plot riffing on The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

John Pilger documents Assange's brave work in a recent article:

In file after file, the brutalities echo the colonial past. From Malaya and Vietnam to Bloody Sunday and Basra, little has changed. The difference is that today there is an extraordinary way of knowing how faraway societies are routinely ravaged in our name. WikiLeaks has acquired records of six years of civilian killing in both Afghanistan and Iraq, of which those published in the Guardian are a fraction.

What Pilger makes clear is that Assange held back on papers that would endanger anyone, in the absence of any help from the US authorities who refused to even acknowledge his request to say which files jeopardised people's lives. Because of this, many files are still not in the public domain and yet the very forces who have killed innocent people accuse Assange of endangering lives. How perverse is that?

Read The New Yorker's profile of Julian Assange.

UPDATE: Johan from Sweden has just left a comment here where he says something very interesting:

The two women actually went to police in order to try to make sure Assange was NOT accused of rape!
Because the prosecutors had decided to go for a rape case without asking the supposed victims! This is not the first time prosecutors in Sweden have taken orders from Americans, a similar thing happened with the famous Pirate Bay case some year ago which is a small issue for the US compared to this. What they did that time was to say that the Pirate Bay was full of child porn, even though they couldn't actually find any. Also the standards for sentencing someone for rape have often been criticized in Sweden for not really being appropriate. In many cases the accused has to prove his innocence rather than the other way around. So it's a pretty obvious choice of crime if you want to throw dirt on someone in Sweden.

UPDATE: News is breaking on CNN, Sky and others (16:30 Saturday) that the arrest warrant has been revoked and the prosecutor says there is no reason to believe Assange committed rape.

Secret video of Iraq massacre released by Wikileaks

Welcome to the true face of war.

When you start something as nightmarish as war, you open up the inevitability of atrocities, dead on all sides, the murder of innocents and the death of the souls of the perpetrators.

Wikileaks has just released video of the massacre of a dozen Iraqi civilians that shows the US military shooting civilians as sport. It is truly horrific. What sort of people can carry out such an insane cowardly act from the safety of their little cockpit screens?

The murdered men in this case include two men working for Reuters: a talented young war photographer, Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and his driver, Saeed Chmagh, 40. Two children were injured when rescuers tried to help the victims.

The Apache pilot's excuse is that the group were carrying weapons and were shooting. Yet Namir's bag, identified as weaponry, was actually his camera kit. Besides, possessing weapons is legal in Iraq. If you shot up all Americans with weapons in their home country you'd decimate the population.

The Pentagon fought to suppress the video but Wikileaks have now spread this far and wide.

The real criminals, of course, are the politicians, the arms industry and the banks that set this illegal war in motion and have made their money. It's no wonder that former Prime Minister Tony Blair tried to keep secret the fact that he's taken Iraqi oil money, and that's on top of the £2 million a year he's been given by the bank organising the pillaging of Iraq, J P Morgan. For me, this far exceeds the expenses scandal. Look on your handiwork and despair, Tony and Dubya.

For the media cheerleaders who supported the Iraq war, I'll let George Orwell have the last word:

Bullets hurt, corpses stink, men under fire are often so frightened that they wet their trousers ... A louse is a louse and a bomb is a bomb, even though the cause you are fighting for happens to be just ... If there was one thing that the British intelligentsia were committed to, it was the debunking version of war; the theory that war is all corpses and latrines and never leads to any good result. Well, the same people who in 1933 sniggered pityingly if you said that in certain circumstances you would fight for your country, in 1937 were denouncing you as a Trotsky-Fascist if you suggested that the stories in New Masses about freshly wounded men clamouring to get hack into the fighting might he exaggerated. And the Left intelligentsia made their swing over from "War is hell" to "War is glorious" not only with no sense of incongruity but almost without any intervening stage.

More at the Guardian and Independent. Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com (hat tip Nevin for the Greenwald link).

Secret video of Iraq massacre released by Wikileaks

Welcome to the true face of war.

When you start something as nightmarish as war, you open up the inevitability of atrocities, dead on all sides, the murder of innocents and the death of the souls of the perpetrators.

Wikileaks has just released video of the massacre of a dozen Iraqi civilians that shows the US military shooting civilians as sport. It is truly horrific. What sort of people can carry out such an insane cowardly act from the safety of their little cockpit screens?

The murdered men in this case include two men working for Reuters: a talented young war photographer, Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and his driver, Saeed Chmagh, 40. Two children were injured when rescuers tried to help the victims.

The Apache pilot's excuse is that the group were carrying weapons and were shooting. Yet Namir's bag, identified as weaponry, was actually his camera kit. Besides, possessing weapons is legal in Iraq. If you shot up all Americans with weapons in their home country you'd decimate the population.

The Pentagon fought to suppress the video but Wikileaks have now spread this far and wide.

The real criminals, of course, are the politicians, the arms industry and the banks that set this illegal war in motion and have made their money. It's no wonder that former Prime Minister Tony Blair tried to keep secret the fact that he's taken Iraqi oil money, and that's on top of the £2 million a year he's been given by the bank organising the pillaging of Iraq, J P Morgan. For me, this far exceeds the expenses scandal. Look on your handiwork and despair, Tony and Dubya.

For the media cheerleaders who supported the Iraq war, I'll let George Orwell have the last word:

Bullets hurt, corpses stink, men under fire are often so frightened that they wet their trousers ... A louse is a louse and a bomb is a bomb, even though the cause you are fighting for happens to be just ... If there was one thing that the British intelligentsia were committed to, it was the debunking version of war; the theory that war is all corpses and latrines and never leads to any good result. Well, the same people who in 1933 sniggered pityingly if you said that in certain circumstances you would fight for your country, in 1937 were denouncing you as a Trotsky-Fascist if you suggested that the stories in New Masses about freshly wounded men clamouring to get hack into the fighting might he exaggerated. And the Left intelligentsia made their swing over from "War is hell" to "War is glorious" not only with no sense of incongruity but almost without any intervening stage.

More at the Guardian and Independent. Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com (hat tip Nevin for the Greenwald link).