Bradley Manning’s pre-trial hearing, called an Article 32 hearing according to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, began December 16, 2011 in Maryland. Manning is an Army intelligence analyst accused of leaking classified materials to WikiLeaks. The defense rested it’s case on Wednesday.

Manning was charged with transferring classified data onto his personal computer and communicating national defense information to an unauthorized source in July 2010 following his March arrest. An additional 22 charges were added in March of 2011, including “aiding the enemy”, a capital offense.

After spending 9 months in maximum security and in essentially solitary confinement at the Marine Corps Brig in Quantico, Virginia and under mounting pressure, Manning was transferred to a medium security prison in Kansas.

The military is not the only option for an education or job training. We have compiled a list of resources, some Brooklyn, some New York City, some national, that can help students apply to college and find financial aid, get vocational training and prepare for job interviews, and learn about paid community service positions. To learn more about alternatives to the military, check out our guide Go to College or Work–Not War!

Please feel free to make and distribute copies of our guide or use the information in your own materials. If you know of additional resources, please let us know.

For more information, Please email nowar@brooklynpeace.org

First, the past decade shows us that American foreign policy badly needs public supervision. In the past ten years, our foreign policy has moved from disaster to calamity, doing great harm to other nations while damaging our own national interests. Our self-defeating response to 9-11 in Iraq and Afghanistan has killed easily over a hundred thousand Afghan and Iraqi civilians and 6,000 thousand American soldiers, cost us at least $1 trillion and severely damaged American prestige in the eyes of the world. Read the rest of this entry »

On May 31 the Anti-militarism committee was a co-organizer of a demonstration against Henry Kissinger. Angry protesters demonstrated outside the 92nd Street YMHA-YWHA in NYC, demanding that Henry Kissinger, the featured lecturer for the night, be arrested as a war criminal. Protesters reminded thousands of passersby that Kissinger had warrants for his arrest in France and Spain and that the war crimes of Kissinger included the bombing of Cambodia, the overthrowing of the democratically elected socialist government of Chile, the support of the nun-killing government in El Salvador, and the support of the massacres in East Timor. These should not go unpunished.

While protesters gathered outside the building, there were also protests inside the lecture hall. Despite a large security presence, and a written-questions-only policy to stifle any real debate, protestors in the large lecture hall interrupted Kissinger and his moderator, Council of Foreign Relations member Leslie Gelb. Each time someone called out from the audience to challenge Kissinger’s or Gelb’s assertions, they were hustled out by plainclothes security. The protests however could not be covered up completely-the lecturer was being beamed by satellite to several venues and the host of the show, Tom Kaplan, had to admit on the air that there had been some protests.

The purpose of the lecture was to hawk Kissinger’s new book on China. Kissinger was unrepentant in his refusal to criticize the Chinese publicly on their human rights record. “We must balance morality with power . . . I have always aimed to put American Foreign Policy interests first.” As Kissinger waxed nostalgic about his meetings with Mao, a protester in the audience stood up and yelled out, “this man is a war criminal and I place him under citizen’s arrest!”

Demonstrators expressed outrage not only at Kissinger, but the Y as well. One protester said, “It’s a shonda-the Yiddish for shame-that the Y would allow him to speak. It’s against all Jewish ethics. They should and do know better. I will never attend another Y event again. Kissinger is not an “elder statesman” with amusing anecdotes. The young must learn of his crimes, and the old must be reminded to hold him accountable for the destruction he has caused.”

Here are some photos of the Saturday, March 2o. 2011 demonstration for Bradley Manning in Qantico VA at the military base where he is imprisoned. Daniel Ellsberg and Ann Wright among about 30 people were arrested for doing CD. They were released about two hours later. There were about 500-1000 demonstrators from all over the country.

Military recruiters are active in Brooklyn high schools. We’re active too, telling students and students there are alternatives to military service, and that they can say no to being contacted by military recruiters.

• Learn more about your right to say no to releasing information about your child to the military.Get downloadable resources.
• Visit Brooklyn Alternatives to the Military.
• Find out how you can go to college without joining the military (PDF) as well as opportunities to travel and have adventures (PDF).
• Help stop the Pentagon’s supersecret JAMRS database.
• Email us for more information

WE SAY NO

We welcome your participation in any manner, as well as suggestions, questions, thoughts, criticisms etc.

www.Bkam.org for more information on activities and events!

Email nowar@brooklynpeace.org or call 718-624-5921.