“Disclosing fraud, waste, abuse, a risk to public safety or an illegal act is heroic."Coleen Rowley
Tom Palumbo, a 12-year veteran of the US Army and registered nurse, told members of the media that the conditions of Manning's pre-trial confinement - including sleep deprivation and extreme isolation - were unethical and could lead to long-term physical and mental health problems for the 23-year-old private.
Rowley spoke about her experience exposing both the failure of US intelligence agencies to follow leads on the planned 9/11 attack and the increased risk of terrorism that would result from an invasion of Iraq. She said that after 24 years in the FBI she is convinced that transparency is vital to democracy and national security. “Disclosing fraud, waste, abuse, a risk to public safety or an illegal act is heroic," she said, but added that "it’s very difficult to do,” especially for members of the military who have "no ability to speak up." Unfortunately, whistle-blower protection laws have little chance of clearing Congress, she said, and Obama appears more eager than Bush to prosecute people who expose wrong-doing, as evidenced by Manning's case.
Check out local coverage of the press conference here:
Later that evening, Rowley delivered the final lecture in the Terrorism and Human Rights series at the College of St Scholastica. If you missed it, here's the full lecture. You can watch other speakers in the series at St Scholastica's YouTube channel.
On March 21, state representative Bill Hilty (8A) introduced a resolution to the Minnesota House urging the federal government to cut military spending and re-invest the savings into cash-strapped states. House File 1249 calls on President Obama and the Minnesota congressional delegation "to shift federal funding priorities from war and the interests of the few, to meeting the essential needs of us all