{"id":9802,"date":"2013-03-02T23:40:56","date_gmt":"2013-03-03T07:40:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/?p=9802"},"modified":"2013-03-03T00:07:05","modified_gmt":"2013-03-03T08:07:05","slug":"rouge-forum-dispatch-human-survival-and-the-wage-system-incompatible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.richgibson.com\/blog\/rouge-forum-dispatch-human-survival-and-the-wage-system-incompatible\/","title":{"rendered":"Rouge Forum Dispatch: Human Survival and the Wage System–Incompatible"},"content":{"rendered":"

We Say Fight Back!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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100 Million Strike in India! <\/strong>Last week was a historic moment for the Indian working class.
\nIrrespective of political ideology or affiliation, 20-21 February saw around 100 million workers come together in one of the biggest strikes in world history. \u00a0http:\/\/www.equaltimes.org\/opinion\/when-100-million-indians-went-on-strike<\/p>\n

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The Little Red Schoolhouse<\/span><\/strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n

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High Lead Levels Mean Low Test Scores <\/strong>The greater the lead poisoning in a Detroit Public Schools student’s blood, the higher the likelihood he or she will do poorly on achievement tests — even after accounting for contributing factors such as poverty. That’s the finding of a collaborative study that provides one of the most detailed assessments yet of the impact of lead poisoning on students’ learning ability.
\nDetroit has some of the highest levels of child lead poisoning among all large U.S. cities, largely because of the city’s older housing stock and the prevalence of lead paint usage in the 1970s and earlier, according to the study, set for publication in next month’s American Journal of Public Health. www.freep.com\/article\/20130225\/NEWS06\/302250140\/High-lead-poisoning-linked-to-lower-test-scores-in-DPS?odyssey=tab<\/a>|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE<\/p>\n

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The Air Force on the legacy of MLK <\/strong>“Dr. King would be proud to see our Global Strike team – comprised of Airmen, civilians and contractors from every race, creed, background and religion – standing side-by-side ensuring the most powerful weapons in the U.S. arsenal remain the credible bedrock of our national defense. . . Our team must overlook our differences to ensure perfection as we maintain and operate our weapon systems. . . Maintaining our commitment to our Global Strike team, our families and our nation is a fitting tribute to Dr. King as we celebrate his legacy.” \u00a0http:\/\/www.afgsc.af.mil\/news\/story.asp?id=123333051<\/p>\n

In Race to the Real Top, California 11th in US in Kiddie Incarceration <\/strong> California has more incarcerated youth than any other state in the nation and has the 11th-highest youth confinement rate, according to a report released Wednesday. \u00a0http:\/\/www.mercurynews.com\/breaking-news\/ci_22675185\/california-ranks-11th-nation-youth-incarceration-rate-report<\/p>\n

Why People Think Twice about Sending Kids to Detroit’s failed Capitalist Schools <\/strong>The lawyer for a Detroit teacher who says she was fired after criticizing the district’s handling of a sexual assault said Thursday he will fight an appeals court ruling that threw out a $750,000 verdict in her favor.
\nThe Michigan Court of Appeals ordered a new trial Wednesday, but narrowed the alleged violations of law in the case filed by Beverly Garvin, who alleged violations of the Michigan Civil Rights Act and the First Amendment.
\nUnder the ruling, she can maintain her lawsuit against certain school officials on the First Amendment claims, but not the school board or the district. The appeals court dismissed the civil rights part of the case.
\nGarvin was a Detroit teacher in 2004 when a fourth-grade girl alleged she was forced into a sex act by other students. Garvin said the principal and other school officials didn’t do enough to help the girl and others after the incident.
\nHer lawyer, Tom Pabst of Flint, said the case isn’t not over.
\n“I’m appealing to the Supreme Court because the Court of Appeals was wrong on this decision,” said Pabst. “In reversing her civil rights case, they’re saying a 9-year-old girl getting violated by boys in a public school is not a civil rights violation and no reasonable person thinks it is. I think that is outrageous.” \u00a0From The Detroit News: www.detroitnews.com\/article\/20130227\/SCHOOLS\/302270418#ixzz2M9JD7kFA<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Constant surveillance in US schools<\/p>\n

With Every Detroit School Worker Fired, Philly gets in Line. Who is Next? <\/strong>Some bullet points:
\nFirst, the financials – as already reported, pay cuts 13 percent for those who make $55,000 and above, with lesser cuts for those who earn less. (Employees who make under $25,000 would take a 5 percent cut.)
\nBut there would also be benefit givebacks. Teachers and other Philadelphia Federation of Teachers members who are paid over $55k would have to pay 13 percent toward their benefits, and so on – same percentages as the pay cut.
\nEmployees whose spouses or domestic partners are eligible for health coverage through their employer but take district insurance instead would pay a $70 surcharge. The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers Health and Welfare Fund, which has long administered benefits, would cease to exist; the district would administer benefits.
\nThere would be no more sabbaticals for teachers who\u2019ve worked 20 years. Termination pay for employees who leave or retire would be reduced to $160 per day, as opposed to the current daily rate teachers are paid.
\nThere would be no more \u201csteps\u201d – graduated salary levels within categories of employees. There would be no more elevated pay categories for teachers with master\u2019s degrees, master\u2019s plus 30 credits, doctorates, and \u201csenior career teachers\u201d – those at the highest pay scale. \u00a0 www.philly.com\/philly\/blogs\/school_files\/193560191.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Obamagogue’s Lap Poodle, Arne, Lied 4 times (meaning he spoke) <\/strong>\u201cI was on a call yesterday, people are starting to give RIF [reduction in force] notes,\u201d Duncan said in a meeting with reporters Feb. 21, three days before his appearance on CBS. \u201cSchools are already starting to give teachers notices.\u201d
\nOddly, however, the Education Department for days was unable to cough up the name of a single school district where these notices had been delivered. Then, on Wednesday, Duncan appeared before the White House press corps and produced a name \u2014 Kanawha County in West Virginia \u2014 with a major league caveat. \u201cWhether it\u2019s all sequester-related, I don\u2019t know,\u201d he said. \u00a0http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/fact-checker\/post\/4-pinocchios-for-arne-duncans-false-claim-of-pink-slips-for-teachers\/2013\/02\/27\/dac86324-8115-11e2-b99e-6baf4ebe42df_blog.html?hpid=z2<\/p>\n

What follows are the Opening Lines from a Current College President’s “dissertation” <\/strong>This is a grounded theory that explains conflict in the academic workplace. The core variable is realigning, which is a basic social process that individuals experience in social organizations, such as workplaces. Realigning is the process by which certain behaviors are employed to bring individuals back in alignment with the system\u2019s core values or to realign individuals to a change in the organization\u2019s core values. The aim of realigning behaviors is to diminish the impact of the individual who is perceived as not being in alignment and include actions to erode, isolate, and separate that individual. Therefore, realigning may include removing an individual from the organization. The theory explains the conditions, stages, and processes in which realigning occurs. The primary condition of social organizations is existence of core values at the organizational level. Organizational core values determine the context in which conflict arises. Conflict in terms of core values leads to the stages of the realigning process. The four primary stages and processes are presented here as changing tides, countering, justifying, and, resolving. The significance of this theory is that it is centered in the concept of organizational values, which provides a holistic understanding of workplace conflict rather than looking only at individual behaviors. The theory presents a framework within which to understand how conflict arises, the purpose of conflict, the forms conflict takes, and the consequences of conflict.” \u00a0http:\/\/www.edu-papers.com\/realigning-a-grounded-theory-of-academic-workplace-conflict\/<\/p>\n

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Capitalists Love Obamagogue’s Capitalist PreSchool Scheme to Produce loyal\/Obeidient Kiddies <\/strong>As two longtime corporate executives who have been engaged in education for decades, we have no doubt about the answer to this question. Children who attend high-quality preschool do much better when they arrive in kindergarten, and this makes an enormous difference for their later success. The data on preschool is overwhelmingly positive. Although some studies suggest that the positive impact decreases over time, this is mainly attributable to differences in the quality of preschool and of the schooling that follows \u2014 not a deficiency in preschool itself.
\nThe effectiveness of quality early childhood education has been affirmed by many business-related groups, including ReadyNation, a coalition of business leaders, organized in 2006.
\nThe Institute for a Competitive Workforce, an affiliate of the United States Chamber of Commerce, found in a 2010 report that \u201cfor every dollar invested today, savings range from $2.50 to as much as $17 in the years ahead.\u201d \u00a0 www.nytimes.com\/2013\/03\/02\/opinion\/the-business-case-for-early-childhood-education.html?emc=tnt&tntemail0=y&_r=0<\/a><\/p>\n

The International Hot War of the Rich on the Poor<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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“Modern bourgeois society, with its relations of production, of exchange and of property, a society that has conjured up such gigantic means of production and of exchange, is like the sorcerer who is no longer able to control the powers of the nether world whom he has called up by his spells. For many a decade past the history of industry and commerce is but the history of the revolt of modern productive forces against modern conditions of production, against the property relations that are the conditions for the existence of the bourgeois and of its rule. It is enough to mention the commercial crises that by their periodical return put the existence of the entire bourgeois society on its trial, each time more threateningly. In these crises, a great part not only of the existing products, but also of the previously created productive forces, are periodically destroyed. In these crises, there breaks out an epidemic that, in all earlier epochs, would have seemed an absurdity \u2014 the epidemic of over-production.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Society suddenly finds itself put back into a state of momentary barbarism; it appears as if a famine, a universal war of devastation, had cut off the supply of every means of subsistence; industry and commerce seem to be destroyed; and why? Because there is too much civilisation, too much means of subsistence, too much industry, too much commerce. The productive forces at the disposal of society no longer tend to further the development of the conditions of bourgeois property; on the contrary, they have become too powerful for these conditions, by which they are fettered, and so soon as they overcome these fetters, they bring disorder into the whole of bourgeois society, endanger the existence of bourgeois property. The conditions of bourgeois society are too narrow to comprise the wealth created by them. And how does the bourgeoisie get over these crises? On the one hand by enforced destruction of a mass of productive forces; on the other, by the conquest of new markets, and by the more thorough exploitation of the old ones. That is to say, by paving the way for more extensive and more destructive crises, and by diminishing the means whereby crises are prevented.<\/strong><\/em> www.marxists.org\/archive\/marx\/works\/1848\/communist-manifesto\/ch01.htm<\/a><\/p>\n

Fisk: The Stages of the AQ War (barbarians vs barbarians as we plunge into pre-feudalism) <\/strong>Stage one was to “provoke the ponderous American elephant into invading Muslim lands where it would be easier for the mujahideen to fight it”. Stage two: The Muslim nation wakes from its long sleep and is furious at the sight of a new generation of crusaders intent on occupying large parts of the Middle East and stealing its valuable resources. “The seeds of the hatred towards America that al-Qa’ida was banking on,” Atwan says, “were planted when the first bombs dropped on Baghdad in 2003.” In fact, as I outlined after the invasion, an oblique message from Bin Laden just before the Bush adventure \u2013 typically ignored by the CIA \u2013 actually urged al-Qa’ida members to co-operate with the hated Baathists against US forces. This was the first call from al-Qa’ida to collaborate with other groups \u2013 hence the plague of al-Qa’ida units which are fighting alongside other rebel organisations in Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Algeria, Mali and now Syria.
\nStage three is a Nato-al-Qa’ida conflict in a “triangle of horror \u2026 in Iraq, Syria and Jordan”. In part four, “Al-Qa’ida becomes a global network that \u2026 makes enfranchisement exceptionally easy”. In part five, the US military budget “is crashed into bankruptcy and economic meltdown ensues”. The sixth stage is the “overthrow of the hated Arab dictators. Finally, “the ultimate clash of civilisations and a mighty, apocalyptic battle”. Al-Zawahiri, by the way, is always quoting the Yale historian Paul Kennedy’s The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, which sees economic collapse as the basis for the collapse of empires. \u00a0http:\/\/www.zcommunications.org\/war-on-terror-is-the-wests-new-religion-by-robert-fisk<\/p>\n

There Will Be No Peace Dividend After Afghanistan <\/strong>By Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes
\nNearly 12 years after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan began, a war-weary America is getting ready to leave. But there will be little in the way of a peace dividend for the US economy once the fighting stops.
\nThe direct costs of the war are already $700bn. The original mission was to root out al-Qaeda and the Taliban. But in 2003, the US shifted nearly all of its attention and resources to Iraq. The Taliban regrouped and strengthened in Afghanistan, making the conflict far more expensive. Meanwhile, al-Qaeda shifted operations into Pakistan, Yemen and Mali, where France this month sent troops.<\/p>\n

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Who Lost This Key Afghan Province to the Afghans? <\/strong>The Afghan government on Sunday banned elite American forces from operating in a strategic province adjoining Kabul, citing complaints that Afghans working for American Special Forces have killed and tortured villagers in the area. \u00a0The ban is scheduled to go into effect in two weeks in the province, Maidan Wardak, which has long been seen as a crucial link in the defense of the capital against the Taliban. If fully enacted, it would effectively remove the American military\u2019s main source of offensive firepower from the area, which lies southwest of Kabul and is used by the Taliban as a staging ground for attacks on Kabul. \u00a0http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/02\/25\/world\/asia\/afghanistan-orders-us-troops-from-key-province-of-wardak.html?ref=global-home&_r=0<\/p>\n

Oopsie! We Lied about things improving in Afghanistan. Yeow! They’re worse! <\/strong>American officials, when looking to quickly illustrate progress in Afghanistan, have in the past few months highlighted a 7 percent drop last year in what they call \u201cenemy-initiated attacks.\u201d Fewer attacks, the reasoning went, meant Afghans were safer and the Taliban were weaker. \u00a0 The problem: There was no decline. The numbers were wrong.
\nThe American-led NATO coalition said Tuesday that it had discovered a clerical error in its reporting and that the number of enemy-initiated attacks \u2014 defined as attacks with guns, mortars, rockets or improvised explosive devices \u2014 remained constant from 2011 to 2012. \u00a0 …In fact, the same measure, when looked at over a wider sample of years, actually depicts a drastic growth in violence since 2009, when American commanders first began inching toward a counterinsurgency strategy that focused on reducing violence rather than solely on battling militant \u00a0 www.nytimes.com\/2013\/02\/27\/world\/asia\/coalition-says-afghan-attacks-didnt-fall-after-all.html?ref=global-home&_r=0<\/a><\/p>\n

At Least 30 Afghan Police Killed in 48 Hours <\/strong>Showing that the insurgency\u2019s goal of attacking Afghan police is not shifting, a series of attacks on Afghan police have left at least 30 of them killed over the past 48 hours, with IED attacks targeting police in the Kunar Province today.\u00a0The largest single incident of the period came Wednesday, of course, when an insider attack hit the US-backed Afghan Local Police (ALP), with other members of the force poisoning and killing 17 of them before leaving, apparently to join the Taliban.
\nIt wasn\u2019t an isolated incident though, as a series of IEDs today killed eight in Kunar, while another insider attack among ALP forces saw two fresh recruits attacking and killing two others on their way to a checkpoint. Other bombings and shootings killed three others nationwide.
\nThe Taliban claimed responsibility for each of the attacks, but it is often unclear whether insider attacks are really being carried out by Taliban infiltrators or simply discontented recruits. Either way, the poorly paying job of Afghan police officer keeps getting more dangerous, a fact that will surely continue to weigh on recruitment efforts. \u00a0http:\/\/news.antiwar.com\/2013\/02\/28\/at-least-30-afghan-police-killed-in-48-hours\/<\/p>\n

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US Backed Nato Returns to Murdering Children–sorry about that <\/strong> Two boys out collecting firewood with their donkeys were killed by weapons fired from a NATO helicopter, Afghan and American military officials announced Saturday.\u00a0The new American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., promptly issued an apology and said the killings were an accident.
\nThe victims, Toor Jan, 11, and Andul Wodood, 12, were brothers and had been walking behind their donkeys in the Shahed-e-Hasas district of Oruzgan Province when the helicopter fired on them, according to Afghan officials in the district. The two donkeys were killed as well.
\nGeneral Dunford said that coalition forces had opened fire on what they thought were insurgent forces, and killed the boys by accident. \u201cI offer my personal apology and condolences to the family of the boys who were killed,\u201d General Dunford said. \u00a0http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/03\/03\/world\/asia\/two-afghan-boys-accidentally-killed-by-nato-helicopter.html?ref=global-home<\/p>\n

Broken Iraq <\/strong>At least 34 people were killed and 70 more were wounded in a string of attacks. The most significant violence took place in the capital and in towns south of Baghdad.
\nIn Baghdad, 19 people were killed and about 40 more were wounded in a double bombing near a stadium in the Shoala district. In a common tactic, the first bomb drew responders to a second bomb waiting for them. One person was killed and seven more were wounded during a separate bombing in Shurta al-Rabea.
\nFour people were killed and at least seven more were wounded in Mahmoudiya, during a multiple bombing that included a hand grenade blast. A militant detonated the grenade as security forces were trying to arrest him. At least six bombs exploded nearby.
\nA blast killed three people and wounded 15 more in Aziziya.
\nGunmen killed two Sahwa members, one of them a commander, in Sabbaghiya.
\nIn Hawija, a sniper killed a soldier.
\nAn I.E.D. killed two policemen and wounded a third one in Mosul.
\nGunmen in Falluja killed a policeman.
\nPolice killed a suicide car bomber in Kirkuk. \u00a0 original.antiwar.com\/updates\/2013\/02\/28\/baghdad-bloodbath-34-killed-70-wounded-in-attacks\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Reagan and the Guatemala Extermination Campaigns <\/strong>A newly discovered document reveals that President Reagan and his national security team in 1981 approved Guatemala\u2019s extermination of both leftist guerrillas and their \u201ccivilian support mechanisms,\u201d a green light that opened a path to genocide against hundreds of Mayan villages, reports Robert Parry. \u00a0http:\/\/consortiumnews.com\/2013\/02\/21\/how-reagan-promoted-genocide\/<\/p>\n

The International Economic War of the Rich on the Poor<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sequestration Means Enhanced attacks on Working people until the world resembles Detroit <\/strong> <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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above, one of thousands of burned and wrecked Detroit homes.<\/p>\n

Detroit: The Most Miserable City in the USA <\/strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Detroit, Mich.
\n2. Flint, Mich.
\n3. Rockford, Ill.
\n4. Chicago, Ill.
\n5. Modesto, Calif.
\n6. Vallejo, Calif.
\n7. Warren, Mich.
\n8. Stockton, Calif.
\n9. Lake County, Ill.
\n10. New York, N.Y. <\/strong><\/p>\n

www.npr.org\/blogs\/thetwo-way\/2013\/02\/22\/172687598\/which-is-the-most-miserable-u-s-city-detroit<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n

below, the feet of Johnny Redding stick out of the ice in the basement of a \u00a0large abandoned Detroit <\/strong>building. Redding was seen by young men playing hockey. They notified the police. Days passed. Nothing. They notified the EMTs. Days passed. Nothing. They called the press. Photos appeared on the front pages. Three days later the fire department chopped out the body of Johnny Redding. The city collapses. Barbarism rises, worldwide.<\/p>\n

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Government Motors To Raise top bosses $, Big boss =$11.1 Million (thanks taxpayers!) <\/strong>General Motors Co. wants to pay its chief executive $11.1 million in total compensation this year \u2014 an increase of more than 20 percent over 2012 – and offer raises to most of its highest paid executives, according to a document turned over to Congress.
\nThe Detroit automaker, which received a $49.5 billion bailout in 2008 and 2009, must get approval for the pay packages for its top 25 executives from the Treasury Department, as a condition of its government bailout.
\nAccording to a copy of the proposal obtained by The Detroit News from a source familiar with the documents, GM is proposing raises for 18 of its top 25 executives for 2013, with each of those making at least $1.8 million.
\nFrom The Detroit News: www.detroitnews.com\/article\/20130225\/AUTO0103\/302250430#ixzz2LyqKGWA1<\/a><\/p>\n

So Long Detroit Governance, Pensions, Contracts (after all, the teachers are gone) <\/strong>Detroit \u2014 Gov. Rick Snyder said Friday he is prepared to sideline Detroit’s elected officials and bring in an emergency manager to handle the city’s affairs in an unprecedented effort to stave off financial collapse.
\nThe move, which the city has 10 days to appeal, would make Detroit the largest American city ever to operate under state control and could effectively leave the mayor and nine City Council members out of a job.
\nSnyder said Friday he concurs with a review team report released last week that concluded Detroit is in a state of financial emergency. He praised city leaders for working to fix problems, but said it’s clear the consent agreement forged in April hasn’t worked swiftly enough.
\nFrom The Detroit News: www.detroitnews.com\/article\/20130302\/METRO01\/303020334#ixzz2MSBRNZfD<\/a><\/p>\n

Remember “Buy American!”? GM Wants to Triple Sales in China <\/strong>General Motors wants to more than triple its Cadillac sales in China by 2015 after appointing a new global leader for the brand.
\nThe automaker today revealed a goal of selling more than 100,000 Cadillacs in China in 2015.
\nIn 2012, GM sold 30,010 Cadillacs in China, exactly two more than it sold in 2011 despite 11.3% growth for overall GM vehicle sales in China last year. \u00a0 www.freep.com\/article\/20130225\/BUSINESS01\/130225083\/GM-wants-triple-Cadillac-sales-China-by-2015<\/a><\/p>\n

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Americans saw their income drop so dramatically in January that it marked the deepest one-month decline in 20 years. <\/strong>– See more at: money.cnn.com\/2013\/03\/01\/news\/economy\/income-spending-saving\/#sthash.H51uch7G.dpuf<\/a><\/p>\n

Euro Zone Reports Record Joblessness and Low Inflation<\/strong> (because finance capital HATES inflation)\u00a0Unemployment in the 17-nation euro zone climbed to 11.9 percent in January from 11.8 percent the previous month, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
\nFor the 27 nations of the European Union, the jobless rate was 10.8 percent, up from 10.7 percent in December. All of the figures were seasonally adjusted. www.nytimes.com\/2013\/03\/02\/business\/global\/euro-zone-unemployment-rose-to-new-record-in-january-as-inflation-eased.html?emc=tnt&tntemail0=y<\/a><\/p>\n

T<\/span><\/strong>he Emergence of Fascism as a Popular Mass Movement<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Whistleblower Hero Bradley Manning Pleads out and Says “Why” \u00a0(see the video) <\/strong>Sitting at the defence bench in a hushed courtroom, Manning said he was sickened by the apparent “bloodlust” of a helicopter crew involved in an attack on a group in Baghdad that turned out to include Reuters correspondents and children.
\nHe believed the Afghan and Iraq war logs published by the WikiLeaks website, initially in association with a consortium of international media organisations that included the Guardian, were “among the more significant documents of our time revealing the true costs of war”. The decision to pass the classified information to a public website was motivated, he told the court, by his depression about the state of military conflict in which the US was mired.
\nManning said: “We were obsessed with capturing and killing human targets on lists and ignoring goals and missions. I believed if the public, particularly the American public, could see this it could spark a debate on the military and our foreign policy in general [that] might cause society to reconsider the need to engage in counter-terrorism while ignoring the human situation of the people we engaged with every day.” www.guardian.co.uk\/world\/2013\/feb\/28\/bradley-manning-trial-plea-statement<\/a><\/p>\n