Point of no return: The US government  broadens the NDAA definition of people and organizations that support terrorism to include Bradley Manning and Wikileaks.

The accusation set a disastrous legal precedent for who the US can define as an enemy combatant or organization that supports terrorism under the National Defense Authorization Act.

It further opens up the possibility that any person or organization which reprinted, wrote a story, or provided a link to one of the Wikileaks files can now be designated as an enemy combatant or as an organization that  provides support for Al-Qaeda.

Recapping on the NDAA, which has already been passed into law:

 

Atomic Mushroom Cloud Associated With World War 3

The United States Congress is set to vote on legislation that authorizes the official start of World War 3.

The legislation authorizes the President of the United States to take unilateral military action against all nations, organizations, and persons, both domestically and abroad, who are alleged to be currently or who have in the past supported or engaged in hostilities or who have provided aid in support of hostilities against the United States or any of its coalition allies.

The legislation removes the requirement of congressional approval for the use of military force and instead gives the President totalitarian dictatorial authority to engage in any and all military actions for an indefinite period of time.

It even gives the President the authority to launch attacks against American Citizens inside the United States with no congressional oversight whatsoever.

Just to recap, because that was a mouthful:

    • Endless War – The war will continue until all hostilities are terminated, which will never happen.
    • No Borders – The president will have the full authority to launch military strikes against any country, organization or person, including against U.S citizens on U.S soil.
    • Unilateral Military Action – Full authority to invade any nation at any time with no congressional approval required.
    • No Clearly Defined Enemy – The US can declare or allege anyone a terrorist or allege they are or have been supporting “hostilities” against the US and attack at will.
    • Authorization To Invade Several Countries – The president would have full authority to invade Iran, Syria, North Korea, along with several other nations in Africa and the Middle East and even Russia and China under the legislation all of which are “known” to have supported and aided hostilities against the United States.

The NDAA authorization for the use military force is justified under the pretense of the war on terror.

The government is granted these powers under the NDAA over said enemy combatants by affirming the “US and its coalition allies are in an armed conflict domestically and abroad with associated forces and that those entities continue to pose a threat to the United States and its citizens.”

The armed conflict is defined under the NDAA “to include nations, organization, and persons that are part of, or are substantially supporting,  the associated forces that are engaged in hostilities or have directly supported hostilities against the US or its coalition allies.”

By accusing Bradley Manning and Wikileaks of aiding Al-Qaeda, Bradley manning is now being declared an enemy combatant engaging in hostilities against the US.

Wikileaks is now being designated as an organization that is supporting the hostilities against the US.

While there is no connection between Al-Qaeda and Wikileaks the government is now going after them as an organization providing support to their hostilities against the US.

This precedent will undoubtedly be applied to other organizations in the future and further be used to target individuals organizations and websites to crush political dissent.

U.S. says Bradley Manning helped al Qaeda with leaks

US soldier Bradley Manning aided Al-Qaeda by leaking troves of classified information to the secret-spilling website Wikileaks, military prosecutors said Thursday.

Manning, who served as a low-ranking intelligence analyst in Iraq, has previously been charged with 22 counts, including aiding the enemy.

[…]

“The government must disclose every discovery if necessary for the defense. It doesn’t have to be relevant; it has to be helpful to the defense,” said David Coombs. “The government doesn’t understand its obligations.”

Coombs asked the government to provide an assessment of the damage Manning caused to US national security by sending WikiLeaks military field reports from Afghanistan and Iraq, a quarter million State Department cables and war videos.

But military prosecutor Ashden Fein said the State Department “has not completed its damage assessment.”

During a pre-trial hearing, the military identified that enemy as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a lethal branch of the group based in Yemen.

[…]

Source: The Raw Story