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Col. Ann Wright, activist on many fronts, returns to talk about recent developments in the military sex crime crisis; Kevin Gozstola from Firedoglake returns with detailed report on Bradley Manning trial.Col. Wright served 28 years in the military, then worked at the State Department. Active in Code Pink and many other efforts, today we focus on the scandal of sex crimes in the US military. This week, we saw the top officer in the Air Force sexual assault and prevention program arrested and charged with sexual battery near the Pentagon. Wright recaps other recent cases and reports that Congress is paying more attention to the issue. We talk about a possible “stand down” to underscore the urgency of the problem, and the need for prosecutors who are independent of the chain of command. Wright also calls for dishonorable discharge for sex crimes, a national sex offender registry for ex-military and supports Sen. McCaskill’s hold on the confirmation of a female Air Force general, because she overruled a jury verdict in a rape case.
At 28:30, Gozstola joins us with a great report on the maneuvers in the court martial proceedings against Bradley Manning, which formally begin on June 3. We talk about this week’s hearings regarding secret witnesses and secret testimony, and the absurd effort of the government to declare that information that’s now very public is somehow officially “secret”. There was a “dry run” for an anonymous witness, expected to be a member of Seal Team 6 who will offer a link between Manning’s leaks and bin Laden–without any independent validation. We also talk about Gozstola’s coverage of the dispute between members of the organizing committee for the San Francisco LGBT Pride events–some had proposed naming Bradley Manning as honorary Grand Marshall of the parade, but they have been blocked by the group’s leader.