Wikileaks

Courtesy of Right Now I/O

Photographer:  ArunRath

Resilient protesters stand in the rain at Fort Meade Gate yesterday supporting Bradley Manning.

News released that Bradley Manning should be testifying today in the widely publicized army wikileaks case whereby the private whistleblower released documentation of American soldiers killing unarmed Iraqi civilians and two Reuters journalists.  His testimony will reportedly involve his treatment during captivity, arguing that his detainment has constituted illegal pretrial punishment, also including testimony by two military psychiatrists that recommendations for more humane conditions for the prisoner were disregarded.  The Guardian reports today that the former commander of Quantico Marine Base has now stated that he warned his Pentagon superiors that the base was not prepared to host Manning's long-term incarceration.  As blogged earlier, Bradley Manning is also attempting the equivalent of a plea bargain;  Salon reports,

If the motion judge chooses to accept the plea notice, Manning could plead guilty without accepting the government’s charge that he ‘aided the enemy’ or ‘exceeded authorized access’ on his computer. If the plea notice is accepted, Manning could thus avoid life in prison, even if found guilty. However, if the plea offer is not accepted,  prosecutors can still bring Manning to court martial on the very serious charges of aiding the enemy and misusing classified information.

More here from Huffington Post yesterday.

And here from RT.

From the wikileaks website, the disturbing video footage of civilian and journalist killings released by the army whistleblower, and shown below, including a shorter version, full version, and U.S. soldier Ethan McCord's eyewitness story. 

The group reports:

The military did not reveal how the Reuters staff were killed, and stated that they did not know how the children were injured.

After demands by Reuters, the incident was investigated and the U.S. military concluded that the actions of the soldiers were in accordance with the law of armed conflict and its own "Rules of Engagement".

Consequently, WikiLeaks has released the classified Rules of Engagement for 2006, 2007 and 2008, revealing these rules before, during, and after the killings.

More news emerged Wednesday identifying specific members of Congress behind the wikileaks financial blockade; Julian Assange decried these actions today from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, and via video to reporters in Brussels.  In the footage below, he states that Wikileaks shall continue, though its rightful growth as a media organization has been wrongly compromised, and that these practices cannot be allowed to continue, as it sets a precedent for monopolies to exercise "financial death penalties" over organizations and companies "of political controversy."