Sibel Edmonds and the NSWBC are asking for your help

Sibel Edmonds' group, the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC), is holding a fundraiser.

With the Democrats taking over Congress, we have a great opportunity to understand what the hell happened these last 6 years and to punish those responsible. We also have a opportunity to make sure that things don't get any worse.

But this won't happen by magic. We need whistleblowers, and whistleblowers need NSWBC, and the NSWBC needs our help. You can donate here.

Being a whistleblower sucks. A recent USA Today article described it thusly:

Even advocates have begun to dissuade some government employees from coming forward.

"When I get calls from people thinking of blowing the whistle, I tell them 'Don't do it,'" says William Weaver, a professor at the University of Texas at El Paso and a senior adviser to the National Security whistle-blowers Coalition. "Most of the time they go ahead and do it anyway and end up with their lives destroyed."

Those who come forward often face harassment, investigation, character assassination and firing — not to mention the toll their whistle-blowing takes on their families.

The reason, I presume, that most whistleblowers "go ahead and do it anyway" is because they feel it's their patriotic duty to do so, and they feel that fixing a particular problem is worth the cost.

Unfortunately, I presume that the reason Weaver often counsels against blowing the whistle is because more often than not, the problem doesn't get fixed. Congress doesn't hold hearings, and the perpetrators aren't held accountable. Nothing happens - except the retaliation, resulting in the destruction of the whistleblower's career, their family, and their sanity. It's all pain, with no gain.

That's why we, and the whistle-blowers, need the NSWBC. Among other things, the NSWBC helps mitigate the 'pain' and helps maximize the likelihood, and the magnitude, of the 'gain.'

The NSWBC helps maximize the gain by publicizing cases, assisting whistle-blowers in 'packaging' their cases and 'lobbying' Congress to open investigations and hold oversight hearings etc.

And the NSWBC is helping to minimize the pain of whistleblowing by pushing for new legislation. The NSWBC has drafted the "first ever meaningful whistleblowers’ protection model bill" and already has two congressional offices sponsoring the bill. The new year will see a new push to get this legislation passed - starting with a petition drive at the end of January (I'll post the details as soon as they become available.)

We're all looking forward to Henry Waxman and John Conyers and others holding hearings in 2007 - investigating the Iraq war, the illegal spying, and a long list of other crimes. Imagine how much more explosive, and effective, these hearing will be if whistleblowers feel comfortable, and protected, in coming forward. We'd have more whistleblowers, they'd be more forthcoming, and they'll be treated appropriately. That's why we need the Dems to pass the whistle-blower protection bill, and soon. And that's why we need the NSWBC. And that's why we should support them.

NSWBC already has an amazing list of members - among them, Daniel Ellsberg, Larry Johnson, Karen Kwiatkowski, Ray McGovern, Russ Tice, Robert Wright, and of course, Sibel Edmonds - with an average of over 20 years experience working to keep the country safe. Imagine how many other would-be whistleblowers there are out there, imagine how much more we could learn from them, and imagine how much safer we'd all be if we could entice more whistleblowers to come forward.

We will be safer, and we will have more accoutability, if we can change the pain/gain equation for whistleblowers. That's why we need the NSWBC. And that's why we should support them. Do you agree?

Sibel describes how the funds will be used thusly:

Now, we are entering a new stage. For this stage we need resources to help us move forward. We need resources in getting help with research and legislative initiatives. We need resources to review all whistleblower applicants’ cases. We need resources for necessary travel and conference meetings. We need resources for the expansion of our website and publications.
We need your help to do this.

Please help us by donating to our collective cause, by informing all your friends, family members and supporters and asking for their support and donations. Here is the link:

http://nswbc.org/donation.htm

Please send this link to everyone you know, and ask them to support whistleblowers. Enable us to get our voices heard.

If you'd like to help Sibel, and the NSWBC, and all of us, you can donate here.

(and as I mentioned, there'll be another chance to help at the end of January - with the petition to Congress to pass the whistleblower protection legislation.)

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