By Debra Sweet 
When an activist from World Can’t Wait sent me a link to Thursday’s Pentagon press conference, and called Geoff Morell, their spokesman a "pompus ass," I thought that wasn’t really a news flash.
But really, to get the full impact of the government’s threat to Julian Assange & Wikileaks for revealing the government’s "property," you have to see Morell’s sneer as the Pentagon reacted to Wikileak’s posting of its huge "insurance" file, presumably designed to make sure the information is still available if their sites are shut down, or they are rounded up.
The press corps pushed Morell to answer why the Pentagon wants Wikileaks to physically turn over material that’s been viewed and downloaded by millions, and is in the possession of major world newspapers, and what would happen to Julian Assange in particular. Morell ominously repeated that Wikileaks has to "do the right thing" and comply… or else.
For his part Assange is assuredly firm in his motivations for releasing the documents detailing the every day operations of the US/NATO occupation of Afghanistan in War Diaries (wardiary.wikileaks.org). In a video interview with The Economist Assange says "true information does good." And below, the Guardian interviews him, headlining, "Julian Assange on the Afghanistan war logs: ‘They show the true nature of this war.’"
The editors of Revolution newspaper ended their coverage of the government threats on Wikileaks with a message I think we should spead everywhere in WikiLeaks: Exposing War Crimes of a Criminal War:
"All of the people involved in releasing these WikiLeak documents are taking heroic actions to tell the world about the crimes U.S. imperialism is committing in Afghanistan. They are literally risking their lives. And it is up to anyone with a sense of moral responsibility to humanity-to not turn their eyes, to not change the channel- but instead to act with real resolve to put an end to such crimes."
World Can’t Wait’s SF Bay Area Chapter shows the Wikileaks "Collateral Murder" video on the street in CA. They are helping us all learn. YOU too can do this and bring this message into public view. Read about the effect that these screenings can have:
Some passersby walked by slowly, stopping just long enough to see what we were doing – but then as they kept going they’d start talking about it. A guy commented to his friend "Oh that’s Wikileaks, the helicopter video." Couples would start exchanging views about the war in Iraq. A group headed into a restaurant would be chatting about wine and vacations — then suddenly they were talking about Wikileaks and what each other thought about the whistleblowers leaking war documents.
Quantico August 8th 70 protesters gathered to demand the release of accused whistleblower Bradley Manning. World Can’t Wait brought a banner with quote from Howard Zinn: "There is no flag large enough to cover up the shame of killing innocent people." Ray McGovern spoke, stating the exact location of Manning’s prison is now… "classified information" – but protesters chanted anyway: "Thank you private Manning!" If Bradley Manning is the sources of any or all of the recent information about Afghanistan and/or the "Collateral Murder" video released by Wikileaks, he is a hero. Whether or not he is the leaker, he should be released immediately. Ray McGovern:
"Our Secretary of Defense had not one word of regret about the dozen human beings, including two employees of Reuters, murdered on that fateful day in July 2007 – or about the now-fatherless children who were seriously wounded.
Abortion, Morality and the Liberation of Women with Dr. Susan Wicklund, author of This Common Secret: My Journey as an Abortion Doctor and Sunsara Taylor, writer for Revolution newspaper, is now available on YouTube. This video is divided into 15 short sections: presentations followed by questions and answers. Watch this clip to get a taste, then follow the links to watch the whole film! Here’s the entire playlist.
Bring this message to your community or campus!
Abortion, Morality and the Liberation of Women is also available on DVD, specially designed for use in classrooms and by school groups. Order a copy (or several) online today! If you are a student, professor or teacher, you may be eligible for a free copy. Let us know you are interested!
