teifidancer: Bradley Manning in his own words.

Wednesday 18 January 2012

Bradley Manning in his own words.

Here are Bradleys words as used in chat logs.
Lamo's bits have been cut out,
so we have Bradley talking to himself so to speak,
talking things through.... it becomes a prose poem
of much depth.
thanks to all at http://wiseupforbradleymanning.wordpress.com/
and those who are keeping his torch alive.

"one of the more significant documents of our time, removing the fog of war and revealing the true nature of asymmetrical warfare."

EXCERPTS FROM CHAT LOGS

hypothetical question: if you had free reign over classified networks for a long time... say 8-9 months... and you saw incredible things, awful things... things that belonged in the public domain, and not on some server stored in a dark room in Washington DC... what would you do?

or Guantanamo, Bagram, Bucca, Taji, VBC for that matter
things that would have an impact on 6.7 billion people

say... a database of half a million events during the iraq war... from 2004 to 2009... with reports, date time groups, lat-lon locations, casualty figures... ? or 260,000 state department cables fromembassies and consulates all over the world, explaining how the first world exploits the third, in detail, from an internal perspective?

Hilary Clinton, and several thousand diplomats around the world are going to have a heart attack, when they wake up one morning, and finds an ntire repository of classified foreign policy is available, in searchable format to the public...

uhm... crazy, almost criminal political backdealings... the non-PR versions of world events and crises... uhm... all kinds of stuff like everything from the buildup to the Iraq War during Powell, to what theactual content of "aid packages" is: for instance, PR that the US issendind aid to Pakistan includes funding for water/food/clothing... that much is true, it includes that, but the other 85% of it isfor F-16 fighters and munitions to aid in the Afhanistan effort, so the US can call in Pakistanis to do aerial bombing instead of americans potentially killing civilians and creating a PR crisis

theres so mush... it affects everybody on earth... everywhere there's a US post... there's a diplomatic scandal that will be revealed... Iceland, the Vatican, Spain, Brazil, Madagasgar, if its a country, and its recognised by the US as a countyr, its got dirt on it

it's open diplomacy... world-wide anarchy in CSV format... its Climategate with a global scope, and breathtaking depth... its beautiful, and horrifying...

and... its important that it gets out... i feel' for some bizarre reason.

it might actually change something

i dont believe in good guys verses bad guys anymore... i only a plethora ofstates acting in self interest... with varying ethics and moral standards of course, but self-interest nonetheless

i mean, we're better in some rspects... we're much more subtle... use a lot more words and legal techniques to legitimise everything

its better than dissapearing in the middle of the night

but just because something is more subtle, doesn't make it right

i guess i'm too idealistic

i think the thing that got me most... that made me rethink the world more than anything was watching 15 detainess taken by the Iraqi Federal Police... for printing "anti-Iraqi literature" the Iraqi Federal Police would not cooperate with US forces, so i was instructed to investigate te matter, find out who the "bad guys" were, and how significant this was for the FPs... it turned out, they had printed a scholarly critique against PM Maliki... i had an interpreter read it for me... and when i found out that it was a benign critical critique titled "Where did the money go?" and following the corruption trial within the PM's cabinet.. i immediately took the information and ran to the officer to explain what was going on... he didn't want to hear any of it... he told me to shut up and explain how we could assist the FPs in finding MORE detainees....

verything started slipping after that... i saw things differently

i had alays questioned the things worked, and investigated to find the truth... but that was a point where i was a part of something. i was actively involved in something that i was completely against.

but i was part of it...
and completely helpless...

event occurs in 2007,
i watch video in 2009,
with no context,
do research,
forward indfomation to group of FOI activists,
more research occurs, video is released in 2010, those involved come forward to discuss publically, even add them as friends on FB. without them knowing who i am.

they touch my life, i touch their life, they touch my life again.. full circle

i just couldn't let these things stay inside ofthe system...and inside of my head

i recognised the value ofsome things.

knew what they meant..dug deeper

i watched that video cold, for instance

at first glance it was just a bunch of guys getting shot up by helicopter... no big deal... about 2 dozen more where that came from right. but something struck me as odd with the van thing... and also the fact it was being stored in a JAG officers's directory... so i looked inyo it, eventually tracked down the date, and then the exact GPS co-ord.. and it was like ok, so thats what happened.. cool... then i went to the regular internet.. and it was still on my mind... so i typed into google, the date and the location.

and then i see this

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/13/world/middleeast/13iraq.htn

( this is NEW YORK TIMES REPORT OF INCIDENT as it DIDN't happen.

i kept this in my mind for weeks. probably a month and a half... before i forwarded it to them

it was unreal.. i mean, i've identified bodies before.. it's rare to do so, but usually it's just nobody

it humanized the whole thing... re-sensitized me

i dont know... im just, wierd i guess
i can't seperate myself from others
i feel connected to everybody.. . like they were distant family
i care?

i probably shouldn't have read sagan, feynman, and so many intellectual authors last summer...

(sigh)

we're human... and we're killing ourselves... and no-one seems to see that....
and it bothers me

apathy

apathy is far worse than the active participation
i prefer a painful truth over any blissful fantasy.
i think i've been traumatised too usch by reality, to care about consequences of shattering the fantasy
i'm not brave, im weak

like i've said before... im not so much scared of getting caughtt and facing the consequences at this point... as i am of being misunderstood, and never having the chance to live the life i wanted to...

well, it was forwarded to WL and god knows what happens now, hopefully worlwide discussion, debates and reforms... if not.. then we're doomed...as a species

i will officially give up on the society we have if nothing happens

the raction of the video gave me immense hope. CNN's iReport was overwhelmed... Twitter EXPLODED

people who saw, knew there was something wrong

i want people to see the truth
regardless ofwho they are
because without infomation
you cannot make onformed decisions as a public

if i knew then, what i knew now.... kind of thing...
or maybe im just young, naive and stupid

im hoping for the former
it cant be the latter

because if it is
... we're FUCKING SCREWED

well,

IT SHOULD BE BETTER

its sad
i mean what if i were someone more malicious
i could've sold to russia or china, and made bank

Why didn't you

Lamo asks.

because it's publc data, Bradley replied

i mean, the cables Lamo asks

it belongs in the public domain
infomation should be free
it belongs in the public domain

because another state would just take advantage
of the infomation.... try and get some edge

if its out in the open...
it should be a public good...

i'm just me
im crazy like that.

END OF EXTRACTS

Jack Omer - Song for Brasley Manning