Truth Lies Deception and Coverups - Democracy Under Fire

Truth Lies Deception and Coverups - Democracy Under Fire



The Lies of War 10 of the major revelations of the Manning WikiLeaks leaked US military documents

The Lies of War

10 of the major revelations of the

Manning - WikiLeaks leaked US military documents





Below is a list of 10 revelations disclosed by the leaked US military documents that were released by Bradley Manning to WikiLeaks - and from there released by WikiLeaks to the world. This list may help you understand why he did it - and put the leaks in perspective.


While the US government has been on a determined campaign to persecute Manning/Assange/WikiLeaks for disclosing the mortifying truth about what US foreign policy has actually involved; as well as for exposing the public to the grim truths of some of the more abhorrent violence that occurred in the Iraq and Afghan wars - we feel that it is important that this type of information become public knowledge, irrespective of the country that has acted in a wrongful manner.

War is hell - for civilians as well as the soldiers who put their lives on the line for their countries. If there are unwarranted secrets and lies on the part of governments - the underlying motivation for war becomes suspect.




It is one thing to fight to defend your own country or to fight for the civil liberties of others - it is quite another to put life and limbs at risk and to kill innocent people - if the underlying forces driving a war are in fact predominantly driven by the desires of a select few for more power or money or both. Such wars are imperialistic, not idealistic in purpose. Like the empire of the warlord, Genghis Khan, there is no end to imperialistic war - as long as there are other places to be conquered and more resources to be won.

The manipulation of the public of any country through secrets and lies, and the deceptive use of the ideologies of human rights or religion to perpetuate hate and war; or to manipulate the public through fear factors associated with terrorism in order to perpetuate war, rather than peace - is wrong. War consumes lives and resources. It destroys infrastructure. It harms people, whether civilians or the military on either side - not just physically, but also emotionally and psychologically.




In every country where the leaders have a military mind-set influenced by a desire for the power and control of resources of other countries; where military leaders have become immune to the atrocities of war and are spurred on by the goals of their political leaders; and where  people and corporations who have a lot to gain financially from war manipulate the government - the truth may be a closely guarded secret.

War is not a game. It is in the public good for the people of any country involved in war to know the truth - and be able to influence their elected representatives on policies regarding their country's participation in any war. The public needs to know the truth, not every nit-picky detail, but major and important facts, particularly facts that relate to: wrong-doing, injustice, corrupt practices or corruption. When the truth is hidden, the public can become easily manipulated through lies and propaganda by those who wish to perpetuate war and/or  transfer governance from democracy to autocracy or worse.

Contrary to the double-speak credo of Big Brother in Orwell's 1984
War is not Peace.
War is Hell.




The list, in no particular order, is far from comprehensive but encompasses some of the most significant information brought to light by the leaked documents:
During the Iraq War, U.S. authorities failed to investigate hundreds of reports of abuse, torture, rape, and murder by Iraqi police and soldiers, according to thousands of field reports.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/oct/22/iraq-war-logs-military-leaks

There were 109,032 “violent deaths” recorded in Iraq between 2004 and 2009, including 66,081 civilians.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/oct/22/true-civilian-body-count-iraq

Leaked records from the Afghan War separately revealed coalition troops’ alleged role in killing at least 195 civilians in unreported incidents, one reportedly involving U.S. service members machine-gunning a bus, wounding or killing 15 passengers.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/7909742/Afghanistan-war-logs-90000-classified-documents-revealed-by-Wikileaks.html

The U.S. Embassy in Paris advised Washington to start a military-style trade war against any European Union country that opposed genetically modified crops, with U.S. diplomats effectively working directly for GM companies such as Monsanto.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jan/03/wikileaks-us-eu-gm-crops

British and American officials colluded in a plan to mislead the British Parliament over a proposed ban on cluster bombs.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/01/wikileaks-cables-cluster-bombs-britain

In Baghdad in 2007, a U.S. Army helicopter gunned down a group of civilians, including two Reuters news staff.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/04/06/us-iraq-usa-journalists-idUSTRE6344FW20100406

U.S. special operations forces were conducting offensive operations inside Pakistan despite sustained public denials and statements to the contrary by U.S. officials.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/156765/not-so-secret-anymore-us-war-pakistan#axzz2cnyYcMn9

 A leaked diplomatic cable provided evidence that during an incident in 2006, U.S. troops in Iraq executed at least 10 Iraqi civilians, including a woman in her 70s and a 5-month-old, then called in an airstrike to destroy the evidence.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/08/31/122789/wikileaks-iraqi-children-in-us.html#.Uhd8y2ScTlc
The disclosure of this cable was later a significant factor in the Iraqi government’s refusal to grant U.S. troops immunity from prosecution beyond 2011, which led to U.S. troops withdrawing from the country.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/02/wikileaks-iraq-massacre-inquiry

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/21/world/meast/iraq-us-troops

 A NATO coalition in Afghanistan was using an undisclosed “black” unit of special operations forces to hunt down targets for death or detention without trial. The unit was revealed to have had a kill-or-capture list featuring details of more than 2,000 senior figures from the Taliban and al-Qaida, but it had in some cases mistakenly killed men, women, children, and Afghan police officers.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jul/25/task-force-373-secret-afghanistan-taliban

The U.S. threatened the Italian government in an attempt to influence a court case involving the indictment of CIA agents over the kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric. Separately, U.S. officials were revealed to have pressured Spanish prosecutors to dissuade them from investigating U.S. torture allegations, secret “extraordinary rendition” flights, and the killing of a Spanish journalist by U.S. troops in Iraq.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/cia-rendition-case-us-pressured-italy-to-influence-judiciary-a-735268.html

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/nov/30/wikileaks-us-spain-guantanamo-rendition

In apparent violation of a 1946 U.N. convention, Washington initiated a spying campaign in 2009 that targeted the leadership of the U.N. by seeking to gather top officials’ private encryption keys, credit card details, and biometric data.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/nov/28/us-embassy-cables-spying-un


Acknowledgement:
The data above has been extracted from:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/06/04/bradley_manning_trial_10_revelations_from_wikileaks_documents_on_iraq_afghanistan.html


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http://www.TruthLiesDeceptionCoverups.info

Lies disguised as truth



Some politicians and bureaucrats think the general public are dumb. They want to keep us that way by controlling what information we are given.

The information we are provided may be "truthiness" (which is not the truth, and involves all manner of deception), not truth. Lies and deception are often used to put a positive spin on matters  we would not agree to, or would disgust us if we knew the truth. Secrecy is another tool of "impression management" to cover up wrong-doing, or shameful or corrupt acts.

Freedom of information is a cornerstone of democracy and justice. Without it, the risk of a decline into an authoritarian form of government is virtually inevitable.

Are we "sheep-les" or mere puppets who can be led to believe and do whatever our masters say; or are we thinking people who want to be truthfully informed?

Are we willing to speak up and insist on the truth? Are we prepared to take action to guard our democratic rights and our rights to justice and fair treatment?
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The people generally trust their government, law-makers and the publicly funded bureaucrats who are responsible for representing their interests. But the "people" are being deceived in many instances. We feel this is wrong.  The "people" - ordinary folk like you and me have great power in democratic countries. We can and should do something about this.

Lies, deception, cover-ups and corrupt practices must be "out"-ed if they are to end. This is necessary for democracy and justice to survive.


The "people" are like a sleeping tiger.





If you pull the tail of the tiger; it is to be expected that the tiger will wake up, take notice of it's tormenters and give chase.












In the interests of democracy, justice, world peace and a stable economy for ordinary people - the tiger must run wrong-doers to the ground.







All that is required for evil to take hold and grow is to: close your eyes, block your ears, shut your mouth - and do nothing.

If we do nothing - then nothing will improve.



Spread the Word!
One person can achieve little or nothing.
Many can move mountains.


3 Freedom of Information Monkeys

Thank you from
3 Monkeys & me