Monday, September 19, 2011

4:30 p.m.

Room: Science Center 199

Swarthmore College (maps and directions)

The WikiLeaks have raised valuable questions about foreign relations, human rights, security, and how each of these things operate in an increasingly digitized and interconnected world. Private First Class Bradley Manning, a 23-year old Army intelligence analyst, has been charged with leaking a number of these files, including the infamous “Collateral Murder” video, along with the Afghan War Diary, the Iraq War Logs, and numerous U.S. diplomatic cables. Since May 2010, Manning has been held in solitary confinement awaiting trial for charges ranging from fraud to aiding the enemy.  His imprisonment has lead many to ask: Is unveiling the human cost of war and the inner-workings of the governments that wage them a crime or simply the right of an open and democratic society?

Courage to Resist staff member and Bradley Manning Support Network organizer Emma Cape will be presenting Courage to Resist’s new book on recent war resisters, About Face, which features the case of Bradley Manning. The discussion will focus on the contents of the leaked documents—mentioned in over a third of all New York Times editions of the past year—and the WikiLeaker’s motivations in publicizing the documents as well as attempted UN investigations into Manning’s alleged torture in Quantico, Virginia as well as ongoing international efforts to support him.