A coalition of peace groups held a rally outside the Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginia Sunday to show support for Private First Class Bradley Manning. Manning is the Army intelligence analyst being held on charges that he leaked classified documents including a video of a US military helicopter killing a group of people in Baghdad. Manning is also a suspect in the leaking of the Afghan war logs that were published by the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks last month. Speakers at the rally included Ray McGovern, who served as a CIA analyst for twenty-seven years. McGovern praised Bradley Manning for releasing the classified documents.

Ray McGovern: “He was not afraid to face the unknown, not afraid to resist the seduction of conformity, not afraid to follow his conscience, and not afraid, most important for us today, not afraid to give us the wherewithal so that we can have enough information to follow our own consciences.” (Video from William Hughes; see more video from rally here)