Prisoners

"The actions by these young men who destroyed the United States and launched the storm of planes against it have done a good deed."

"735 days in North Korea was long enough. But I’m thankful."

"There was an enormous amount of pressure on Joe Biden to keep the war in Afghanistan going from within his own party, certainly from the military brass... Joe Biden made clear when he announced his withdrawal from Afghanistan that the United States was going to still have the capability to strike remotely. It is a harrowing grotesque flashback to many of the incidents we saw during the Obama era where the Biden administration authorized a drone strike on what they claimed was a vehicle carrying ISIS operatives. And you just recently had this terrorist attack at the Kabul Airport during the withdrawal. On the surveillance feed that the drone operators were looking at, we now know that they saw clearly at least one child and still went forward with the strike. Seven of the ten people killed in that strike were children. Ten of the ten people were civilians. Joe Biden was part of the Obama administration, of course, which operated as a global octopus with lethal tentacles that could strike anywhere. Daniel Hale should be freed. He is an American hero for revealing what we now see continuing under Joe Biden."

"Hale, thirty-three, believed the public wasn't getting crucial information about the nature and extent of U.S. drone assassinations of civilians. Lacking that evidence, U.S. people couldn't make informed decisions. Moved by his conscience, he opted to become a truth-teller... Had he gone to trial, a jury of his peers might have learned more details about consequences of drone attacks. Hale's honesty, courage, and exemplary readiness to act in accord with his conscience are critically needed. Instead, the U.S. government has done its best to silence him."

"I could only look on as I sat by and watched through a computer monitor when a sudden, terrifying flurry of hellfire missiles came crashing down, splattering purple-colored crystal guts on the side of the morning mountain. Since that time and to this day, I continue to recall several such scenes of graphic violence carried out from the cold comfort of a computer chair... Not a day goes by that I don't question the justification for my actions. By the rules of engagement, it may have been permissible for me to have helped to kill those men—whose language I did not speak, customs I did not understand, and crimes I could not identify—in the gruesome manner that I did."

"The first time that I witnessed a drone strike came within days of my arrival to Afghanistan... Early that morning, before dawn, a group of men had gathered together in the mountain ranges of Patika province around a campfire carrying weapons and brewing tea. That they carried weapons with them would not have been considered out of the ordinary in the place I grew up, much less within the virtually lawless tribal territories outside the control of the Afghan authorities... Except that among them was a suspected member of the Taliban, given away by the targeted cell phone device in his pocket... As for the remaining individuals, to be armed, of military age, and sitting in the presence of an alleged enemy combatant was enough evidence to place them under suspicion as well... Despite having peacefully assembled, posing no threat, the fate of the now tea drinking men had all but been fulfilled..."

"Drone strikes are a form of extrajudicial execution that is illegal under international law... These antidemocratic impulses of the national security state are what’s actually harmful to our country — not a whistleblower who seeks to empower us to make democratic decisions about the crimes our government carries out in our name. Hale’s actions are both heroic and laudable. The fact that the government once again seeks to destroy a truth teller who exposed its crimes highlights the immorality of the system that Hale and others have exposed... The Espionage Act... has become the government’s go-to weapon against whistleblowers and journalists who challenge the US national security state. Hale conceded to giving documents about the US drone program to an investigative journalist (unnamed in court documents, but clearly Jeremy Scahill of the Intercept) and anonymously authoring a chapter in The Assassination Complex: Inside the Government’s Secret Drone Warfare Program. Far from a spy, Hale is a whistleblower — and a courageous one at that — whose actions have given us key insights into the unjust nature of US imperial power in the twenty-first century."

"It requires an enormous amount of faith in the technology that you’re using. There’s countless instances where I’ve come across intelligence that was faulty... This outrageous explosion of watch-listing — of monitoring people and racking and stacking them on lists, assigning them numbers, assigning them ‘baseball cards,’ assigning them death sentences without notice, on a worldwide battlefield — it was, from the very first instance, wrong..."

"The people who defend drones, and the way they are used, say they protect American lives by not putting them in harm’s way... What they really do is embolden decision makers, because there is no threat, there is no immediate consequence. They can do this strike. They can potentially kill this person they are so desperate to eliminate because of how potentially dangerous they could be to the US. But if it just so happens that they don’t kill that person, or some other people involved in the strike get killed as well, there are no consequences for it. When it comes to high-value targets, every mission you go after one person at a time, but anybody else killed in that strike is blanketly assumed to be an associate of the targeted individual. So as long as they can reasonably identify that all of the people in the field view of the camera are military-aged males, meaning anybody who is believed to be age 16 or older, they are a legitimate target under the rules of engagement. If that strike occurs and kills all of them, they just say they got them all."

"On Aug. 8, 2014, the FBI raided Hale's home. It was his last day of work for the private contractor. A male and female FBI agent shoved their badges in his face when he opened the door. "Immediately behind them came about 20 agents, basically all of them with pistols drawn, some wearing body armor," he says in the film. "At this point I was extremely scared. By the time they finished his house was stripped of all electronics, including his cell phone. For the next five years he lived with the uncertainty of his fate. He struggled to find work, fought off depression and contemplated suicide. He was barred by law from speaking about his plight, even with a therapist. In 2019, the Trump administration indicted Hale on four counts of violating the Espionage Act and one count of theft of government property. The thousands of targeted assassinations carried out by drones, often in countries that are not at war with the United States, are an egregious violation of international law. They are turning huge swathos of the planet against us. The secret kill lists, which include US citizens, have transformed the executive branch into judge, jury and executioner, obliterating the right to due process"

"I know that without some fervour in the love of Christ, religion cannot be to you savoury, nor any work of goodness can be delectable, but every virtuous deed shall seem laborious and painful. For love maketh every work appear easy and pleasant, though it be right displeasant of itself. And contrariwise right easy labour appeareth grievous and painful, when the soul of the person that doeth the deed hath no desire nor love in doing of it. This thing may well appear by the life of hunters, the which out of doubt is more laborious and painful than is the life of religious persons, and yet nothing sustaineth them in their labour and pains but the earnest love and hearty desire to find their game."

"In all of German Occupied Europe, there resided 2.4 million Jews before the war, according to the world Jewish encyclopedia. After the war, 3.8 million Jewish ‘Holocaust survivors’ were receiving pensions from the German government … Tragically, the remaining 6 million were lost."

"Hey, comrades! Why are you looking so sad? Be brave, fight, beat the Germans, burn, wipe them out! I'm not afraid to die, comrades. It is happiness to die for one's people!"

"Farewell, comrades! Fight, do not be afraid! Stalin is with us! Stalin will come!"

"You hang me now, but I'm not alone. There are two hundred million of us. You can't hang us all. They will avenge me."

"I'm very pro-democracy, and I would definitely encourage the people of Egypt. But at the same time I would warn them to look at and learn from Iran, Mubarak has destroyed the opposition in Egypt; the only opposition left is the Muslim Brotherhood. And while I certainly can't say that the [democracy movement] will lead to another dictatorship, I am saying there's a possibility - a real danger - that it will go the wrong way. So I'd ask them to please learn from history. Iranians are still suffering from a revolution that turned into much more of a dictatorship than the Shah's. So please don't dismiss the possibility that things can go wrong."

"The BBC named Nu to its Top 100 Women list in 2014, and in 2015 she was named a Top 100 Global Thinker by Foreign Policy Magazine and among the 100 Most Inspiring Women by Salt Magazine. She also participated in a democratic-transition training program for young leaders at the George W. Bush Presidential Center that year... Nu has spoken at human rights forums around the world, including the Oslo Freedom Forum last May. She recently helped persuade the United Nations to conduct a fact-finding mission in Burma — though she lobbied for a more intensive Commission of Inquiry... Nu wants to channel the legal expertise she gains in Berkeley this summer and next toward reforms aimed at the rule of law. She hopes to advance constitutional reform, in part by developing analytical research papers on certain laws, and eventually set up a small law firm to counsel and support international businesses in Burma — which can help support her nonprofits... Nu has fond memories of growing up on Burma’s western coast, where she faced little discrimination and interacted freely with people in different communities and ethnic groups. Now, however, she sees a region rife with fear and hopelessness."

"Wai Wai Nu, who turns 31 this month, endured more in her teens and twenties than most people will in a lifetime. In 2005, when she was 18, Myanmar’s military regime arrested her father, an opposition MP, on political offences, along with her entire family... She and her mother spent their nights over the next seven years sleeping on the floor of a group cell. In 2012, as her country’s fitful — and still incomplete — transition to democracy began, the family were finally freed. Wai Wai Nu completed the law degree she had started before her arrest, and then enrolled in a one-year political-education programme organised by the British Council. Her experiences in prison laid the groundwork for what was to become a career in activism... Wai Wai Nu set up the “Women’s Peace Network — Arakan”, an NGO that organises civics-education workshops, training and other activities aimed at promoting understanding between different groups. The initiative has expanded to include men and other areas of Myanmar since then."

"When the female judge read out their sentences — 47 years for her father, 17 for herself, her mother, sister and brother — she asked herself: “Is this really true?” Wai Wai Nu’s father was sent into solitary confinement... she, her mother and sister were jailed at Yangon’s notorious Insein prison. There, they were held in the same room as more than 100 other women — prostitutes, thieves, murderers, drug dealers and illegal gamblers. Once the shock of the filth and discomfort wore off, Wai Wai Nu began to talk to the other women and listen to their stories. Some were indeed hardened criminals but others were victims of circumstance... In 2015 she launched the #MyFriend campaign, meant to showcase love and tolerance among Myanmar’s diverse communities through social media... The aim, says Wai Wai Nu, is “to bring a positive narrative to the public to promote tolerance”."

"Instead of being cowed by her seven-year imprisonment, Wai Wai Nu, emerged stronger and more determined to fight for the rights of all people, including the Rohingya in her native Myanmar... Wai Wai says her prison experience made her all the more aware of the need for human rights activism. What kept her going during her prison years was the desire to help other women inmates to ‘have a dream’. The youngest of three siblings, Wai Wai (33), spent seven years as a political prisoner with her family. Imprisoned at only 18, she was forced to give up her education, her everyday life. Still, she came out of prison undeterred and today is an inspiration to many women and activists fighting for human rights and dignity of their communities and beyond... She considers her most outstanding achievement to be the ability to emerge as a woman leader from her community and inspire many like her to be changemakers."

"I feel I was privileged when I compare myself to the other young girls and women that I interacted with while I was in prison... Most of them were unaware of how corrupt the political system was. I had a dream, a vision, whether or not I could achieve it because of my imprisonment was secondary. I felt I could help them have a dream... I started my activism when I was 25-years-old. Apart from the many challenges, I was faced with patriarchy from within my community initially as there were close no women in leadership roles. Now I see an acceptance from the same community, and I am proud to have been able to break this stereotype... I speak Burmese fluently, I grew up in the city, and I think, through my activism, I have been able to break the stereotypes created in part by the media and address the Islamophobia around my community, which is seen by so many as alien."

"Some were sentenced without having had a fair trial... Some were put in jail because they didn’t have enough money or couldn’t get legal counsel, or were the victims of false accusations... I was able to learn about the life of women, and to learn about structural corruption in the political system... It was really a life education — to understand people’s lives and feelings, mainly about women."

"When I was young, I was told only criminals went to prison... [I was thinking] did we really commit crimes? Were we really criminals?... There is a big gap in terms of gender inequality and social justice.... If we really want democracy, it’s not just about being able to say or do what you want but to respect what others have to say and do... Intolerance goes from the individual level to the group level... That has to be changed... I think I have the ability to reconcile society, to build trust and mutual understanding among youth... I think I can play a major role in building social harmony to promote the universality of human rights, respect and dignity."

"I thought, ‘What’s going on? How can I be here without committing a crime?’ I couldn’t accept that reality for some time... I saw how corrupt Burma’s legal system was and how there was no independent judiciary... I had thought only criminals go to prison, but I met so many women there who never committed a crime. I thought, ‘When I get out, I’m going to fix it.’ I had no idea how, but I knew I had to try.... Our constitution is not democratically written, and the text allows the military the most powerful positions in government... Power should be in the public’s hands, not the military’s. Another problem is our number of discriminative laws that don’t protect the people. Our so-called democratic legislation in fact restricts freedom and rights. That’s why I started advocating for legal and constitutional reform... young people are still open to a different perspective, and that’s how we can change public opinion. Once we change public opinion, it’s easier to change the policies... I want to give hope and empower those who are disempowered. Sometimes the work feels overwhelming, but I always think I should be doing more."

"Our so-called democratic legislation in fact restricts freedom and rights. That’s why I started advocating for legal and constitutional reform."

"I am what you might call a controversial figure: people either hate me or despise me."

"All our great spiritual leaders are dead. Moses is dead, Muhammad is dead, Buddha is dead, the Reverend Jim Jones is dead, and I'm not feeling so hot myself!"

"I never answer my telephone unless it rings."

"My mumsie and my popsie both died years before I was born, and my sister and my uncle were identical twins, which is probably more than you can say for yourself."

"I foretell the future. I predict the past. I don't need a crystal ball; a football, a tennis ball, a moth ball, any old ball will do. When the power is upon me, there is no holding me back, I just let loose and prophesy all over the place."

"Only what we have lost forever, we possess forever. Only where there are graves, are there resurrections. Only when we have drunk from the river of darkness, shall we truly see. Only when our legs have rotted off, shall we truly dance."

"If only the Earth would open and swallow you up."

"I find it hard to sit still in one spot, and impossible to sit still in two spots."

"Years and years of marriage prepared me for years and years of divorce."

"Ladies and gentlemen, I resent this applause."

"As long as there is death, there is hope. The only thing that keeps me alive is the hope of dying young."

"My name, as you may have guessed, is Theodore. I come from a strange stock. The members of my family were mostly epileptics, vegetarians, stutterers, triplets, nailbiters. But we've always been happy."

"I am squirming with delight to meet an intellectual colossus."

"Lately, I've become quite involved in psychic vibrations. I vibrate whenever I get the chance."

"I have gazed into the abyss, and the abyss has gazed into me. And neither of us liked what we saw."

"With our sweat we took the bunkers, with our tears we took the plain With our blood we took the mountains and they gave it back again Still all of us are soldiers, we`re too busy to complain As we go marching on"

"I'm just another soldier from the shores of U.S.A. Forgotten on a battle field a thousand miles away While life goes on as usual from New York to Santa Fe As we go marching on"

"When I reach my final campground in that land beyond the sun And the great commander asks me, 'Did you fight or did you run?' I'll stand both straight and tall stripped of medals, rank and gun And this is what I`ll say: Sir, I followed all my orders and I did the best I could It`s hard to judge the enemy and hard to tell the good Yet there`s not a man among us would not have understood"

"My name is William Calley, I'm a soldier of this land I've tried to do my duty and to gain the upper hand But they`ve made me out a villain they have stamped me with a brand As we go marching on"

"The time has come to reconsider Lt. William Calley. He may not have been a saint, but he was following orders and certainly was not the only man who killed civilians. While he does not deserve a monument, his actions are important because they raise questions about our military and government. Does the United States only involve itself in just wars? What are the real, long term consequences of Sherman’s march and the total war tactics of The “Civil” War? Will the United States ever stop fighting wars and rebuilding foreign countries? These are just a few major points that make Calley’s story important from a historic perspective."

"C Company featuring Terry Nelson, "The Battle Hymn of Lt. Calley" (1971), Plantation Records, written by Julian Wilson & James M. Smith"

"As it happened, the fifth anniversary of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam occurred at the time of the 1973 siege of Wounded Knee. It was difficult to miss the analogy between the 1890 Wounded Knee massacre and My Lai, 1968. Alongside the front-page news and photographs of the Wounded Knee siege that was taking place in real time were features with photos of the scene of mutilation and death at My Lai. Lieutenant William "Rusty" Calley was then serving his twenty-year sentence under house arrest in luxurious officers' quarters at Fort Benning, Georgia, near his hometown. Yet he remained a national hero who received hundreds of support letters weekly, who was lauded by some as a POW being held by the US military. One of Calley's most ardent defenders was Jimmy Carter, then governor of Georgia. In 1974, President Richard Nixon would pardon Calley."

"In November 1970, Lt. William Calley (a Florida native born in 1943) went on trial for his life. He was being court-martialed by the U.S. military for his participation in the My Lai Massacre and was accused of killing twenty-two civilians. Even though twenty-six officers participated and an estimated five hundred South Vietnamese were killed, Calley was the only man tried and convicted. The debate surrounding Calley’s actions intensified after politicians became involved. Georgia governor and future President Jimmy Carter instituted “American Fighting Man’s Day,” and asked Georgians to drive for a week with their headlights on in support of Calley. Alabama governor George Wallace visited Calley in the stockade and personally requested that President Nixon issue a pardon. Edgar Whitcomb, the governor of Indiana at the time, asked that all state flags be flown at half-staff for Calley."

"The whole operation took about 30 minutes, Meadlo said. As for Calley, Meadlo told of an incident a few weeks before Pinkville. “We saw this woman walking across this rice paddy and Calley said, ‘Shoot her,’ so we did. When we got there the girl was alive, had this hole in her side. Calley tried to get someone to shoot her again; I don’t know if he did.” In addition, Calley and Medina had told the men before Pinkville, Meadlo said, “that if we ever shoot any civilians, we should go ahead and plant a hand grenade on them.” Meadlo is not sure, but he thinks the feel of death came quickly to the company once it got to Vietnam. “We were cautious at first, but as soon as the first man was killed, a new feeling came through the company...almost as if we all knew there was going to be a lot more killing.”"

"Musicians around the country also came to Calley’s aid and wrote songs in his defense. “Big Bill” Johnson wrote a song called Set Lt. Calley Free, which stated “We’re a sick, sick society, we’ve nailed Lt. Calley to a tree…We Americans are tired of a war that can’t be won, where a soldier is charged with murder if he uses his gun.” Another song by C Company, featuring Terry Nelson, titled The Battle Hymn of Lt. Calley features lyrics like “I’ve seen my buddies ambushed…all the rules are broken…it’s hard to judge the enemy”. The artist also criticised the anti-war movement, claiming that those “marching in the street…were helping our defeat”. Nelson Truehart wrote a song called Morning in My Lai, which asked Americans not to judge Calley because “after all, he’s just fighting for you and me.” While most of the songs were country and performed by southerners, many songs of multiple genres went beyond defending Calley and portrayed him as a scapegoat. Even anti-war songs like Hang Lt. Calley and The Cry of My Lai were more critical of the government than they were Calley."