Unless we act now, whistleblower John Kiriakou will be the first and only person to go to prison in connection to CIA torture. Please donate $10+ to put this ad on YouTube and recruit supporters from across the country to call on President Obama to pardon John Kiriakou.

Why is the only American to go to prison over torture the man who blew the whistle on it?

President Obama and John Kiriakou share the belief that torture — and waterboarding in particular — runs counter to American ideals and values. Yet, as soon as Kiriakou began denouncing the CIA’s interrogation program in public, the government turned its sights on him.

Firedoglake put together a petition calling on President Obama to pardon John Kiriakou that has collected over 15,000 signatures in less than one week — but we need more voices if we hope to get the president’s attention. We put together this YouTube ad to recruit supporters into the campaign, and we need your support to get it in front of as many people as possible.

It’s worth noting that the president’s war on whistleblowers and activists is destroying lives — from Pfc. Bradley Manning’s inhumane and lengthy pretrial confinement, to potentially pushing Aaron Swartz to commit suicide. Now they want to send to prison the guy who spoke out against the brutal and inhumane treatment of detainees — not those who actually authorized or meted out torture.

Intense public outcry against the incarceration of John Kiriakou is our best hope at saving him from a similar fate and preventing the overzealous prosecution of others. We need to call attention to the grave injustice that puts the whistleblower behind bars before the torturer.

As Kiriakou told FDL investigative reporter Kevin Gosztola, “I am proud that I stood up to our government. I stood up for what I believed was right conviction or no conviction. I mean they can convict anybody of anything if they put their minds to it, but I wear this as a badge of honor. I am not a criminal. I am a whistleblower. The thing that I blew the whistle on is now the law of the land. Torture is illegal and it’s officially abandoned in our country and I’m proud to have had a role in that.”

Please donate $10+ to run this ad and call on President Obama to pardon John Kiriakou.