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<p class="headline"><strong>Bradley's defense argues
Obama must testify</strong></p>
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<div align="center"><a
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Fort Meade Main Gate (<a
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Vigil Friday, Dec. 16th, 8am-5pm<br>
Rally Saturday, Dec. 17th, noon<br>
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<p><strong>Legal team for Army PFC Bradley Manning
fights for fair deal at pre-trial “Article 32”
hearing, supporters rally</strong></p>
<p>Jeff Paterson<br>
Courage to Resist<br>
December 12, 2011</p>
<p>Lead lawyer for accused WiliLeaks whistle-blower
US Army PFC Bradley Manning, attorney David Coombs
released the <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.politico.com/static/PPM170_111204_defense32.html"
target="_blank">defense’s witness list for his
pre-trial hearing</a>,
known as an “Article 32” hearing in military
lingo, last week. On
December 16th, PFC Manning may finally get his
first day in court
following his arrest in May 2010. The pre-trial
phase is scheduled to
begin at Fort Meade, just northeast of Washington
DC, and last through
December 22nd. The witness list represents an
expansive range of 48
witnesses that offer significant insight into the
brewing legal battle.</p>
<p>PFC Manning, a 23-year-old Army intelligence
analyst, is accused of
blowing the whistle on the “Collateral Murder”
video of a US helicopter
attack that killed a dozen unarmed Iraqis, the
“Iraq War Logs”, the
“Afghan Diaries”, the “Gitmo Files”, and a trove
of embarrassing US
State Department cables by providing these files
to the WikiLeaks
website. In short, he is being charged with
telling us the truth.</p>
<p>The actual charges are “various offenses under
Article 92 and Article
134” of the Uniform Code of Military Justice,
noted Mr. Coombs in last
week’s court filling. “The offenses deal with the
incorporation, under
Article 134, of the Espionage Statute 18 U.S.C
793(e),” along with
property and computer fraud statutes. According to
the Army, PFC Manning
faces “confinement for life”, followed by a
dishonorable discharge.</p>
<p>The most significant witnesses listed are
President Barack Obama,
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and former
Secretary of Defense
Robert Gates. Two health care professionals on
staff at the Quantico
Marine Brig--where PFC Manning was subjected to
torturous conditions for
nine months--are also noteworthy.</p>
<h3>President Obama’s unlawful declarations and
commitment to transparency questioned</h3>
<p><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ViWtnjRw9bM"
target="_blank"><img moz-do-not-send="true"
src="http://couragetoresist.org/images/stories/manning/obamavid250.jpg"
alt="obama" vspace="10" width="250"
align="right" border="0" height="200"
hspace="10"></a>The
headline witness requested by the defense is
President Barack Obama.
While all witness names were redacted, the
identity of witness #36 is
not in question. The court document reads:</p>
<blockquote class=" cite" id="Cite_9">
<p>The defense requests the presence of ---
in order to discuss the issue of Unlawful
Command Influence (UCI)...
Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice
(UCMJ), a superior officer in
the chain of command is prohibited from saying
or doing anything that
could influence any decision by a subordinate in
how to handle a
military justice matter. As the --- made
improper comments on 21 April
2011, when he decided to comment on PFC Manning
and his case. On that
date, he responded to questions regarding PFC
Manning’s alleged actions
by concluding that “We’re a nation of laws. We
don’t let individuals
make their own decision about how the laws
operate. He [PFC Manning]
broke the law.” The comments by --- are UCI. The
defense intends to
question --- on the nature of his discussions
with members of the
military regarding this case and whether he has
made any other
statements that would either influence the
prosecution of this case or
PFC Manning’s right to a fair trial.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In addition to President Obama’s views of the
release of Afghanistan
related documents by WikiLeaks, the defense
believes Obama will:</p>
<blockquote class=" cite" id="Cite_10">
<p>Testify about the problem of
over-classification within the government.
Specifically, that he
supported and signed into law the Reducing
Over-Classification Act on 7
October 2010. Additionally, he will testify that
on his first full day
in office, 21 January 2009, he issued two
memoranda for the head of
Executive Departments and Agencies that were
related to transparency in
government. The first memorandum focused on the
administration of the
Freedom of information Act (FOIA), and the
second focused on
transparency and open government. --- will
testify that the transparency
memorandum he wrote committed the administration
to “an unprecedented
level of openness” and to the establishment of a
“a system of
transparency, public participation, and
collaboration.”...</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These requests represent an aggressive attempt by
PFC Manning’s legal
team to get at the heart of the issues at play in
this continuing
persecution: Government transparency or the lack
there
of, and the over-classification of documents for
no legitimate security
purposes.</p>
<p><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://couragetoresist.org/bradley-manning/936-obama-testify.html"
class="subheading">Read more...</a><br>
</p>
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