On July 12, 2007, two U.S. attack helicopters fired on idle civilians, on an ambulance picking them up and on some moribund civilians as they slowly dragged on the ground, to finish killing them. None were armed. Up to more than 18 were killed and 2 children were injured. The soldiers were caught on video, begging “Come on, let us shoot!” and making remarks like “Nice shooting”. The video is in the public’s hands due to being leaked by Chelsea Manning. Manning was then sentenced to 35 years of prison. We thank Manning for providing this valuable piece of evidence providing insight into the capitalist system.

Manning also leaked other material, including almost 500,000 U.S. army reports. Experiencing great mental suffering, she confessed her actions to Adrian Lamo, thinking he would provide emotional support. Instead, while pretending to be sympathetic and gaining her trust, he then took advantage and reported her to the U.S. government, manipulatively and falsely claiming that he “potentially saved lives” by that action. This is how Manning was caught. Now, due to popular pressure, Manning is actually set to be released from prison today. We’re appalled at how degrading the conditions of her imprisonment were.

Also on the US rulers’ crosshairs are Edward Snowden, for revealing US mass surveillance spying millions of worldwide citizens with remarkable insight into details like exactly what the emails of certain individuals say, the Web sites they visit, the people they chat to and other data, and Julian Assange, key person in WikiLeaks, an organization which publishes much leaked material showing the capitalist governments’ violation of every possible democratic ideal and ethical principle. We also thank both of them for these valuable insights into capitalist rule. Hands off WikiLeaks, Assange and Snowden!