Bradley Manning – The Undisputed Person of the Year
WHISTLEBLOWING - SURVEILLANCE, 16 Jan 2012
Eamonn McCann – Socialist Worker
IF BRADLEY Manning had committed war crimes rather than exposing them, he wouldn’t be in so much trouble.
He might even be hailed as an American hero. Instead, he’s held at a military prison in Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, facing more than 20 charges, including “aiding the enemy.”
Manning is the private who allegedly leaked sheaves of classified material to WikiLeaks while working as an army intelligence analyst in Iraq. The information he is accused of handing over included documents revealing details of crimes committed by U.S. soldiers in Iraq–and State Department cables showing that, far from promoting peace and democracy in the world, the Bush and Obama administrations, when it suited their interests, encouraged war and supported dictatorship.
Daniel Ellsberg, who passed the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times in 1971 and so helped end the war against Vietnam, and who is now seen as something of a secular saint, said last week: “Bradley Manning no more deserves to face charges of treason than I did.” Now 80, Ellsberg has been arrested twice on protests against Manning’s imprisonment.
The facts allegedly made public by Manning have served to expose the extraordinary hypocrisy of Barack Obama. Marking the (partial) U.S. departure from Iraq, Obama told an audience of soldiers on December 14: “Everything that American troops have done…has landed to [sic] this moment of success. We’re leaving behind a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq. This is an extraordinary achievement.”
“Everything that American troops have done in Iraq” will have included the routine use of torture and the deliberate killing of unarmed civilians.
One of the items supplied to WikiLeaks by Manning was the “Collateral Murder” video, depicting soldiers machine-gunning a group of civilians from an Apache helicopter in Baghdad in 2007, killing 12. Two of the victims were Reuters journalists. Other civilians rushing to the aid of the wounded were shot by soldiers, who could be heard cackling as they swung around their gun-sights. A U.S. tank can then be seen driving over one of the bodies, squashing it in half.
This, by any standard, was a war crime. But none of the perpetrators has been brought to book. Murder in the name of the American people wasn’t designated a crime. But allowing the American people to know that it happened is counted as treason.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
MANNING DIDN’T do what he did for personal gain. He might have made a fortune by actually “aiding the enemy” and selling the material to a government at loggerheads with the U.S. He acted, instead, out of moral conviction.
In an Internet chatroom conversation with Adrian Lamo, the hacker-turned-tout who ratted him out to the government, Manning explained:
I prefer a painful truth over any blissful fantasy. I think I have been traumatized too much by reality to care about the consequences. God knows what happens now. Hopefully, worldwide discussion, debates and reform. I want people to see the truth regardless of who they are, because, without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public. Information should be free.
Manning asked Lamo directly: “If you had free rein over classified networks, and you saw incredible things, awful things, things that belonged in the public domain, and not on some server stored in a dark room in Washington, D.C., what would you do?”
What would any of us do? We might hope we’d risk the wrath of a government involved in war crimes and cover-ups, and tell the people the truth.
Bradley Manning did that–and on his own. Unlike Ellsberg, he didn’t have a comforting constituency around him, including priests, nuns, lawyers and even a scattering of members of Congress.
Obama’s drive for the White House was fuelled by opposition to the war on Iraq and to George W. Bush’s sustained assault on civil liberties and constitutional rights. His rage against Manning is fuelled by the knowledge that his comprehensive betrayal of these principles has been detailed, annotated and demonstrated beyond doubt by a 22-year-old army private.
Obama pledged to create “the most transparent administration in history.” He has since presided over the prosecution of more whistleblowers who revealed government wrongdoing than all previous administrations combined–and at the end of December, he signed the National Defense Authorization Act that legalizes the detention in military custody of U.S. citizens for indefinite periods.
Bradley Manning, a beacon of moral light in the darkness which has deepened since the election of Obama, is, indisputably and by some distance, the American Man of the Year.
Go to Original – socialistworker.org
DISCLAIMER: The statements, views and opinions expressed in pieces republished here are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of TMS. In accordance with title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. TMS has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is TMS endorsed or sponsored by the originator. “GO TO ORIGINAL” links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the “GO TO ORIGINAL” links. This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
2 Responses to “Bradley Manning – The Undisputed Person of the Year”
Read more
Click here to go to the current weekly digest or pick another article:
WHISTLEBLOWING - SURVEILLANCE:
the truth shall set us free.
Re: “A Devil’s Advocate.”
“The truth shall set us free.” But what is the truth? That is the question.
The truth is probably the most dangerous thing in the world. Krishna told his truth and he was, it is said, persecuted. Buddha told his truth and he was ostracized by the Hindu community because his truth was different from the conventional teaching of Hinduism. Socrates told his truth and he was forced to die. Jesus told his truth and he was crucified. Rumi wrote his truth in his poems and he was persecuted. Hans Kelsen told his truth – about freedom and democracy — and Nazi expelled him from Europe. The same happened to Karl Popper who told his truth. Hironori Mizuno wrote the truth about war and peace and his government persecuted him. (http://www.mizuno-museum.or.jp/english.html ) In the contemporary world, investigative journalists, who do not blindly believe the official announcements of relevant authorities, and who pursuit for the truth behind these announcements, are arrested and persecuted. Shall the truth set us free or shall the truth put us into the jail?
Proclaim your truth which is “the truth” for you (and/or for everyone). And let’s see the consequence – if the truth shall set you free or put you into the jail… The truth shall prove if what you say, “The truth shall set us free,” is true or not.