All right, it's anti-war radio.
I'm Scott Horton and our next guest on the show today is Emma Cape from bradleymanning.org.
Welcome to the show.
How's it going?
It's going good.
Thanks for having me on Scott.
Well, I'm very happy to have you here.
And, um, I'm very happy every time I hear about anyone doing anything, at least trying to do something for Bradley Manning, who I think is the greatest American hero.
So why don't you tell us all about what's going on?
Well, right now, the pretrial hearing concluded in December, um, to our disappointment, but not to our surprise, all of the charges, including the ridiculous charge of aiding the enemy through indirect means have been referred to a court martial.
So February 23rd is when he will be arraigned at Fort Meade.
Um, it should be a short, a short process, maybe lasting only one hour, but the public will be allowed in the courtroom and we're encouraging people to go to watch that's when he'll enter his formal plea.
And then the majority of the court proceedings will probably happen beginning early May.
Aiding the enemy through indirect means.
Boy, I really have not been following this closely enough.
Uh, is that really one of the charges?
The charge is aiding the enemy and on his charge sheet, it specifies aiding the enemy through indirect means.
So the military is basically saying that by making information public, because somebody is somewhere in the world who might be an enemy of the United States could access it.
That is the same as aiding the enemy.
Tell us about, uh, the, uh, activism, uh, how people can take part in, uh, what sort of, uh, different things you say you're, you're urging people to come and actually be spectators at the court martial in the room supporting.
Yes, absolutely.
Um, when the court martial begins, the public will be allowed.
What happened during the pre-trial hearing was they would allow about 20 people, 20 members of the public in to view at any given time.
And for the first couple of days, um, when we held our big rally, there were lots and lots of people there, but after that, um, it probably would have been much easier for everybody who wanted to get the courtroom.
Um, and we're certainly looking for people who can go, who can take notes, who can send them to us so we can publish comprehensive notes on our blog.
Because one of the things the military is doing is they are not releasing a comprehensive transcript of these proceedings for the rest of the public to know what's going on.
But in addition to that, there are lots of other actions people can take.
Um, we will be, we will be organizing large demonstrations at the start of the court martial, and people can actually go to event.bradleymanning.org to learn more about those events and how they can help organize them.
And until then, until May, when most of the court proceedings will begin, we have other actions going on.
Well, now hold it right there on the organizational supporters.
This is basically you guys helping to organize or at least educate people who then can, uh, be in charge of bringing together groups to do their own events in different places around the country.
Maybe do a protest, uh, here, there, the other place, that kind of thing.
Am I right?
Exactly.
Exactly.
Yeah, that's great.
So, and again, that's events.bradleymanning.org.
And, uh, you can find become an organizer is a big blue tab right there on the right side of the page there.
And, uh, you know, that's really important that people know that they can do that.
People oftentimes you hear them and Hey, I do it too.
What, what is it that we can do though about any of this?
Well, here's something that you can do and not just show up, but you could actually help organize a thing for people to show up to in whatever town you're in.
Exactly.
And we'll provide people with assistance.
We'll provide free materials, prevent organizers, advice, and ways to reach out to other organizations before the actual date.
So we'll be happy to assist people and making sure those are strong events.
Okay.
Right on.
And then I'm sorry, cause I interrupted you there to say all that.
So, uh, go on to your third thing that's also happening.
Well, so there are other things we're working on before those days.
We're continuing to try and pressure the military to allow UN chief investigator of torture Juan Mendez to visit with Bradley Manning.
We want to pressure the presiding authorities to allow Bradley Manning's attorney to present all of his evidence at the trial, because that is something he was not allowed to do during the pretrial hearing.
And in addition to that, we're also working on pressuring the Obama administration.
We have a petition going where many members, um, many people who previously volunteered or donated to help get Obama elected in 2008 are now saying that unless Obama supports Bradley Manning, they are not going to work for him again.
Um, and we will escalate that having actions outside Obama campaign offices.
So there are many ways for people who are interested in getting involved to do so over the next few months.
Yeah.
I like the sound of that one.
Um, I don't know exactly how much good it will do, but it should help draw some attention.
After all, you know, for people who aren't all that familiar, cause a lot of people aren't, this guy said plain as day in the transcripts of his conversations with the guy that turned him in that the only reason he liberated these documents was so that the people of America and the world would know the truth so that we could do the right thing and there would be reforms or something he did.
And it, and it's none of his top secret.
None of it got anyone hurt like in the mythology of the story here.
Um, but there were a lot of, uh, what the secretary of defense, Robert Gates, the former secretary of defense, uh, called embarrassing things in there, but nothing to really, you know, get too upset about and, and they're treating like he was guilty of spying on this country on behalf of a foreign power, uh, or like he did it for the money or something horrible like that, when it's plain as day, the most whistleblower case of all whistleblowers, it's right there in his own words, you can read them at wire.com, the transcripts from the snitch.
That's absolutely true.
His words for, I want people to know the truth, no matter who they are, because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public.
Clearly, clearly he was acting selflessly.
He was acting courageously and he was acting in a way that he thought would benefit the American people because this young man loved his country.
Yeah.
Well, it's a, it's a tremendous thing.
And now I wanted to ask you, and I'm sorry, I just have fallen so far behind on this, um, during the hearings, uh, do you know, did the, did his lawyers already try to bring up the fact that Barack Obama, the president, the commander in chief of the armed forces has already announced his guilt and declared him a violator of the law, uh, in this case and, uh, try to get the, the case thrown out on those grounds.
And have they already been overruled on that?
Does that, what it means that, is that what it means that they're saying he's bound for trial now?
Well, that's far, um, David Coombs, Bradley Manning's defense, um, who we fund requested 48 witnesses to testify at the pre-trial hearing.
And president Obama was one of the witnesses he wanted to testify.
He wanted him to testify about that statement he made publicly, but also about what statements he may have made the military personnel behind closed doors, very relevant to this case.
Yes.
The presiding authority does not tell president Obama to testify.
So that's one thing we're working on.
We're calling officials, we're writing letters, we'll be doing actions outside their offices every week up until the case to try to show them that the public demands that all of this evidence be laid out clearly.
And do they allow, or I guess, did the lawyers try at least to bring in, uh, people to testify about his treatment while he was still being held at Quantico?
Yes.
The lawyers also requested a number of witnesses who would testify to that.
And those also, um, were denied by the presiding officer.
And now, is it still the case that he's facing 52 or 57 years in prison?
Do I remember correctly?
Well, with all 22 charges, um, excluding the aiding the enemy charge, my understanding is he's facing 150 years.
Oh no.
Um, that may be including the aiding the enemy charge.
Either way.
I know it's over a hundred years that he's facing.
That he's facing.
So he is facing life in prison for doing the right thing.
All right.
You can help bradleymanning.org.
Thank you very much for your time, Emma.
Emma Cape, everybody.
Thank you for having me.
