Ten Revelations From Bradley Manning's WikiLeaks Documents
Ten Revelations From Bradley Manning's WikiLeaks Documents:In 2010, Army Pfc. Bradley Manning was detained in Iraq on suspicion of passing classified U.S. government documents to WikiLeaks. On Monday, after more than three years in military jail, his trial finally began at Fort Meade, Md. The 25-year-old intelligence analyst admitted earlier this year to passing documents to…In 2010, Army Pfc. Bradley Manning was detained in Iraq on suspicion of passing classified U.S. government documents to WikiLeaks. On Monday, after more than three years in military jail, his trial finally began at Fort Meade, Md.
The 25-year-old intelligence analyst admitted earlier this year to passing documents to the whistle-blowing website, though he denies the charge of "aiding the enemy," an offense that carries a life sentence or the death penalty. Manning said at a pretrial hearing in February that he leaked information, including diplomatic cables and U.S. military war logs from Afghanistan and Iraq, in order to "spark a domestic debate on the role of the military and our foreign policy."
Below is a list of 10 revelations disclosed by Manning's leaked documents that offer insight into the breadth and scope of what he revealed, help explain his motivation for leaking, and provide context for the ongoing trial. The list, in no particular order, is far from comprehensive but encompasses some of the most significant information brought to light by the leaked documents.
- During the Iraq War, U.S. authorities failed to investigate hundreds of reports of abuse, torture, rape, and murder by Iraqi police and soldiers, according to thousands of field reports.
- There were 109,032 "violent deaths" recorded in Iraq between 2004 and 2009, including 66,081 civilians. Leaked records from the Afghan War separately revealed coalition troops' alleged role in killing at least 195 civilians in unreported incidents, one reportedly involving U.S. service members machine-gunning a bus, wounding or killing 15 passengers.
- The U.S. Embassy in Paris advised Washington to start a military-style trade war against any European Union country that opposed genetically modified crops, with U.S. diplomats effectively working directly for GM companies such as Monsanto.
- British and American officials colluded in a plan to mislead the British Parliament over a proposed ban on cluster bombs.
- In Baghdad in 2007, a U.S. Army helicopter gunned down a group of civilians, including two Reuters news staff.
- U.S. special operations forces were conducting offensive operations inside Pakistan despite sustained public denials and statements to the contrary by U.S. officials.
- A leaked diplomatic cable provided evidence that during an incident in 2006, U.S. troops in Iraq executed at least 10 Iraqi civilians, including a woman in her 70s and a 5-month-old, then called in an airstrike to destroy the evidence. The disclosure of this cable was later a significant factor in the Iraqi government's refusal to grant U.S. troops immunity from prosecution beyond 2011, which led to U.S. troops withdrawing from the country.
- A NATO coalition in Afghanistan was using an undisclosed "black" unit of special operations forces to hunt down targets for death or detention without trial. The unit was revealed to have had a kill-or-capture list featuring details of more than 2,000 senior figures from the Taliban and al-Qaida, but it had in some cases mistakenly killed men, women, children, and Afghan police officers.
- The U.S. threatened the Italian government in an attempt to influence a court case involving the indictment of CIA agents over the kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric. Separately, U.S. officials were revealed to have pressured Spanish prosecutors to dissuade them from investigating U.S. torture allegations, secret "extraordinary rendition" flights, and the killing of a Spanish journalist by U.S. troops in Iraq.
- In apparent violation of a 1946 U.N. convention, Washington initiated a spying campaign in 2009 that targeted the leadership of the U.N. that sought to gather top officials' private encryption keys, credit card details, and biometric data.
Although Manning's disclosures totaled some 720,000 records—the largest security breach in U.S. history—the leak still amounted to less than 1 percent of the almost 77 million documents reportedly classified by U.S. government agencies in 2010. The soldier's actions are at the center of an ongoing debate about a spike in extreme state secrecy in the U.S. since Sept. 11—an issue regularly covered here on Future Tense—that has resulted in several aggressive leak investigations and surveillance of journalists. During the first day of Manning's trial, the government accused the soldier of indirectly assisting al-Qaida and leaking the information to "gain the notoriety he craved." Manning's defense attorney described him as "young, naive, but good intentioned," passing documents to WikiLeaks in a bid to "make the world a better place."
Manning's trial is expected to last through the summer.
Wow wow wow. I'm aligned more with the hero side of Manning than traitor.
I like Elementary, but I'd be more happy if they genderswapped both characters.
Because
1) the idea of male super genious main character + female occasionally helpful sidekick is so damn old
2) they obviously did this so that the Holmes/Watson relationship could grow in a healthy heterosexual environment =\
This is a rather silly argument.
First of all, yes, genderswapping Holmes would be a really interesting touch for a Holmes adaption to take, however, that does not make Elementary's choice any less appealing.
By keeping Holmes a man, Elementary is able to examine, critique, and subvert much of the sexism from the source material in ways that a woman!Holmes would not allow.
And NO. They did not do this for some sort of cheap queer-erasure move. There IS NO CANON QUEERNESS IN THE BOOKS TO ERASE for one thing. Do not confuse queerbaiting for queer representation. And Holmes and Watson, in Elementary, are platonic. It has been said again and again and again. Non-romantic. non-sexual. Platonic.
Um…there was no "queer baiting" in the original texts because there was no such thing as "queer baiting" in the time of Canon-Doyle. Queer baiting is a distinctly modern phenomenon connected heavily to the influence of fan culture and slash; slash did not come into existence until the late 60s and wasn't a notable influence on dominant pop culture until at LEAST the late 90s/early 2000s.
It is true that some MODERN interpretations of Sherlock (like the current BBC series) engage in deliberate queer-baiting. But the original texts could not have possibly done so because there was no audience to bait at that point in time. Arguably the original texts did have SOME homoerotic subtext, most of which was probably highly unintentional.
And frankly I do think, because of that, there is a kind of strange straight-washing going on with the CBS Sherlock. Part of my problem with making them a platonic opposite-sex dyad is that it seems to engage in a "no-homo" discourse in at least two senses. First, it seems to want to deflate the inherent homoeroticism of the original, by making their intimacy safely heteronormative, if not heterosexually requited. Second, by making them platonic, it's trying to suggest there was no eroticism in the Watson-Holmes relationship to begin with. Which I'm sorry but there kind of was.
I understand they were not textually gay or romantically involved. But there has always been a homoerotic aspect to the Watson-Holmes dynamic. And to try to cover over that now by making them platonically heterosexual seems to engage in a dual denialism around the textual nature of their original 'queerness' (And I use the word queerness here NOT as a synonym for gay but simply to mean non-heteronormative)
As a homo who has read all those books, I never found any thing about them homoerotic or “homo” anything. For you to say that “there always been a homoerotic aspect” is IMO more an act of interpretation by the reader than intention of the author.
impostoradult: whenindoubtapplymoreglitter: impostoradult: gastly-haunter: I am literally...
I am literally sexually attracted to intelligence.
Sapiosexual. That's what that is called.
Apparently, sapiosexual and homosexual don't mix 'cause otherwise I would have gotten laid a lot more. Just sayin'.
Not to brag or anything… :)
Stating the obvious is not bragging. *smirk* Considering the number of men who lost interest as soon as I mentioned that I was a scientist, I have come to the conclusion that men, however generalized, want someone smart but just not smarter than themselves.
These would go nicely in my lab.
These would go nicely in my lab.
impostoradult: gastly-haunter: I am literally sexually attracted to intelligence. Sapiosexual....
I am literally sexually attracted to intelligence.
Sapiosexual. That's what that is called.
Apparently, sapiosexual and homosexual don’t mix ‘cause otherwise I would have gotten laid a lot more. Just sayin’.
New Report Highlights Police Hostility Toward Transgender Women of Color
New Report Highlights Police Hostility Toward Transgender Women of Color:It was broad daylight, Kerri says, when she and a gay friend were stopped by a cop while walking down…
amandamarieblog: Pink Gorgonian Coral in Tahsis BC,...
Gorgonian Coral, Tahsis, BC, Canada
Gorgonian Coral, Tahsis, BC, Canada
Gorgonian Coral, Tahsis, BC, Canada
Gorgonian Coral, Tahsis, BC, Canada
Gorgonian Coral, Tahsis, BC, Canada
Pink Gorgonian Coral in Tahsis BC, Canada
These photos are from a great trip to Tahsis, BC, Canada, one of the only places to see this type of Coral. Thanks to Scott and Jude Schooner of Tahtsa Dive Charters for introducing me to this awesome dive site and thanks to Peter Luckahm of Divemaster.ca for organizing the trip.
Dear everyone: Chris Christie is conservative
Dear everyone: Chris Christie is conservative:Chris Christie in swimming in Democratic money as he runs for reelection. His Democratic opponent, Barbara Buono, is ignored by the national press and the sort of people that would usually be writing checks for the Democratic challenger to a Republican governor in a large, liberal state.
Hugging Barack Obama was maybe the best political decision New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has ever made, and he's made some very canny ones. I'm not saying his embrace of the president following Hurricane Sandy was entirely cynical, but it was very boisterous, and it continued through last week, when Obama visited the Jersey Shore and once again made nice with Christie before the national TV news cameras.
Here's what's odd about this Republican governor who currently seems much more popular with Democrats than national Republicans: He's quite conservative. Especially for the Northeast. That was, in fact, his original appeal, back when conservatives were thrilled about him: He's the most conservative possible successful statewide officeholder for a blue state like New Jersey.
In his first term, Christie torpedoed a much-needed mass transit tunnel project, same-sex marriage and early voting. He vetoed a minimum wage hike. He vetoed legislation designed to eliminate the gender wage gap. He withdrew from a regional carbon cap-and-trade agreement. He killed a Jersey version of the DREAM Act and cut funding for women's health services, including eliminating funding for Planned Parenthood. Remember how pissed everyone got when Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives tried to do the same thing? Many liberals seem to give Christie a pass for his antiabortion views that they'd never give a "red state" Republican. (This is maybe because he used to be pro-choice, meaning he made the exact switch on the issue everyone trashed Romney for making.)
mucholderthen: The Shapes Of Hydrogenby *DarkSilverflame ...
The Shapes Of Hydrogen
by *DarkSilverflame Allen [Germany] - physicist
Poster [Designs & Interfaces / Infographics]
2012I wrote a program to plot the volumes in which electrons can be found in a hydrogen atom, according to the laws of quantum mechanics [shown in upper right].
Brighter areas represent higher probability of the electron being there. These volumes are the orbitals or electron shells of the atom, which have beautiful shapes in the form of spherical harmonics.
- (n, l, m) are the quantum numbers of the orbitals,
- where n is the principal number associated with its order and energy,
- while l and m are associated with angular momentum and spin of the electron.
The number n=1,2,3,4,5… is the number of the electron shell in Bohr's old model of the atom.
unicorn-meat-is-too-mainstream: strange clouds Various cloud...
unicorn-meat-is-too-mainstream:
Various cloud formations might be one of the most beautiful and romantic sights in nature, but these masses of liquid droplets is also a complex and scientifically interesting phenomena.
sharkchunks: deepsea: 【画像】クラゲってすごく綺麗な生き物なんだな・・・(50枚） Turtle...
Turtle of FIRE.
I’m loving all of the new Kurtofsky fic for the Gift Exchange. Y’all are sharing just as...
I’m loving all of the new Kurtofsky fic for the Gift Exchange.
Y’all are sharing just as I submitted my grant.
It’s like y’all were just waiting for me to have the time to read it all.
I really appreciate that.
sexybowlegs: X
astronomy-to-zoology: Secretary Bird (Sagittarius...
Secretary Bird (Sagittarius serpentarius)
…a unique species of bird related to raptors, found throughout the grasslands of Sub-Saharan Africa. Secretary birds are nomadic and are usually found on the savanna or in grasslands where they spend their time hunting for snakes, insects, birds, and mammals (they also have reportedly taken young gazelles). Using their long legs to deliver the killing blow, they will also user their legs to stomp on vegetation in attempt to flush any potential prey out. Although they are primarily terrestrial secretary birds are surprisingly accomplished flyers. Secretary birds have immense cultural significance in Africa and are featured on many symbols throughout Africa.
Phylogeny
Animalia-Chordata-Aves-Falconiformes (Accipitriformes)-Sagittariidae-Sagittarius-serpentarius
Trans women & POC overrepresent as anti-LGBTQ murder victims in new AVP report. Though homicides decreased in 2012 from 30 to 25 murders, trans women increased from 40% to 53% in just a year.
Trans women & POC overrepresent as anti-LGBTQ murder victims in new AVP report. Though homicides decreased in 2012 from 30 to 25 murders, trans women increased from 40% to 53% in just a year.Max Adler as Jimmy in "Detention of the Dead".
Max Adler as Jimmy in "Detention of the Dead".
and sometimes when you're on you're really fucking onand your...
and sometimes when you're on you're really fucking on
and your friends they sing along and they love you
but the lows are so extreme that the good seems fucking cheap
and it teases you for weeks in its absence
but you'll fight and you'll make it through
you'll fake it if you have to
and you'll show up for work with a smile
Photo
Photo
willcub: Okay, that was the laugh I've needed!
Okay, that was the laugh I've needed!
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